INTEGRATION OF SPEECH AND SIGN LANGUAGE TRAINING USING THE QUBRAIN PLATFORM FOR DEAF STUDENTS

Abstract

Communication skills are an important foundation for learning, social interaction, and independence among deaf and hard-of-hearing students. This article describes the implementation of QuBrain, a snakes-and-ladders board game equipped with speech and sign-language challenge cards, to support communication practice in a special school in Malang, Indonesia. A descriptive qualitative approach was used through direct observation, an interview with the accompanying teacher, field notes, and visual documentation. The activity was conducted on 10 November 2025 with two ninth-grade students with hearing impairment. The implementation began with introductory practice in pronunciation and simple signs, followed by a game session in which students responded to speech and sign-language challenges. The observed results indicated increased enthusiasm, participation, willingness to attempt verbal vocabulary, and willingness to demonstrate signs. Peer interaction also appeared when students helped or corrected one another. Nevertheless, the students initially had difficulty with SIBI and required repeated demonstrations and facilitator support. The findings suggest that QuBrain has potential as an interactive and visually accessible learning aid for communication practice. Because the activity involved only two students and lacked pre-post measurement, the findings should be interpreted as descriptive evidence of engagement and participation rather than experimental evidence of effectiveness.