Tri-lingual: The gift of Language

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loml

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Pearl - seven-years old and profoundly deaf but fluent in French and English with the help of Cued Speech.


Pearl, who is profoundly deaf, lives with her English parents and younger brother in France. Now 7 years old, she is fluent in spoken French and
English. She has age-appropriate reading age in French and is starting to read in English. She has achieved this through a combination of good
audiological support and unambiguous access to both spoken languages through Cued Speech. She also uses French sign language. Her mother Tracey explains: ‘When our children were born we naturally communicated in English, however Pearl and Eugene (now 5 ½) were exposed to French outside the family. Pearl was finally diagnosed deaf at the age of 2 and we had to make the difficult choice of how to communicate with her. We received much conflicting advice – mum and dad should speak French at home … just mum should speak her native language and dad French … use LPC (French equivalent of Cued Speech) and no signing … use sign-supported
French … the choice was confusing, to say the least.

We chose to follow our instincts, stick mainly with our native language and be guided by Pearl and the way she progressed. As well as starting to learn
French Sign Language we also learnt LPC, the French version of Cued Speech, which we inadequately adapted to English.

Pearl has always been very vocal and started to utter recognisable words 6 months after being fitted with hearing aids. We contacted the Cued Speech Association UK to learn English Cued Speech and to our relief, (after attending their brilliant course in Exeter as a family, where grandma also learnt the basics) realised that we could cue anything we said. Like other bilingual cueing families we decided to cue in French with our left hands and in English with our right – to give Pearl an immediate visual support and a clue as to what language we were using. This has proved to be successful, and although Pearl can cue both languages (choosing only her right hand!) she usually communicates using speech.


Pearl enjoys her school work; in the early stages she was moved up a year as she was in advance of her hearing peers. She has an age-appropriate
reading age. She is taught in French, with LPC (Cued Speech) and sign-supported French and an additional 3 sessions per week in pure Sign Language one-to-one with a deaf teacher. The French signs we use are an efficient and constant way of bridging spoken English and French. For
example, we could sign ‘dog’ and explain at school they say ‘chien’ and at home we say ‘dog’.


Pearl is tri-lingual and adapts her language to the person she is with. I watch her signing with deaf children and see the skills of a natural signer – spatial awareness, expression, fluidity, intensity etc. At home however, she prefers English, clarified by Cued Speech, especially for bedtime stories. Despite her deafness she has a strong auditory memory and loves to find rhyming words. She is also an excellent lip-reader and likes to play guessing games with us – mouthing sentences and we all have to guess and take turns. Of course Pearl wins hands down.

Both our children switch from one language to another with complete ease. We have noticed that their English is not yet as sophisticated as that of their cousins in England – I suppose because they speak it only with mum and dad. Conjugations get mixed up or past tenses are based on regular verbs – ‘I broked it’. In French, gender tends to be confused, ‘Is it LE or LA bouteille?’ This doesn’ t worry me, it is such a pleasure to hear Pearl saying a perfect sentence like ‘I chose that, it’s exactly the same as Mina’s’ or ‘Eugene did you do that? It’s not allowed!’ and I am confident that it will sort itself out.


Cued Speech has allowed Pearl to understand both English and French. There are drawbacks and advantages to being brought up to be tri-lingual, but
I see these languages as a gift and if has to make a choice then she has the means to do so.’
Click to expand...

Cued Speech
 
This child is not tri-lingual. She is bi-lingual. English and French. Count 'em. 1....2.
 
actually the child is tri-lingual... sheesh.. read the article again! Don't skim!
 
Count. Sign supported speech does not constitute another langauge, nor does CS.
 
Jillio -

Boult is quite right. This young deaf child, has accomplished thus far, three languages, with I am sure, a combination of: hard work, dedication, love and support of her family and professionals.

Focus on the success of the child and her family jillio. That is the big picture.
 
jillio said:
Count. Sign supported speech does not constitute another langauge, nor does CS.
Click to expand...

I think they may be referring to the LSF, French Sign Language. Just like we have ASL, American Sign Language. According to the article, she can read and write in both English and French and sign in French Sign Language too.
 
Banjo said:
I think they may be referring to the LSF, French Sign Language. Just like we have ASL, American Sign Language. According to the article, she can read and write in both English and French and sign in French Sign Language too.
Click to expand...

Yes. I saw that and took it into consideration. But it also says that she uses sign supported speech, which would no doubt be the French equivalent of MCEs.
 
Now this is exactly what I'd love to see more dhh kids be exposed to. ....this is actually the perfect ideal set up......she knows English, French and Sign.....very cool! This is proof that kids can grow up with a full toolbox!
 
Dunno, from the article it certainly seems like she's trilingual to me. Good for her, and doubleplusgood for her parents!
 
You know...............right now the argument really isn't about methodology.
It's more about which language should be a dhh kids' first language.
Maybe too by full toolboxing dhh kids, they could more easily have access to the tools which would allow them to really suceed, instead of just dogpaddling with one methodology.
 
loml said:
Cued Speech
Click to expand...
Thanks for this article loml...
And it shows something many people forget....
The world is bigger than USA. ASL is just another sign language..
Cued Speech is widely used in France, Spain, Switzerland and many other countries.
It is not just something very few people use. It's established in many countries....

So, insinuations like the one below show how judgemental one can be
jillio said:
There are some research papers regarding CS. However, the population using CS is so miniscule, copmpared to the rest of the deaf/communication disordered population, that there are virtually no results demonstrating any form of generalizability or efficacy over time. The studies cannot be replicated, as the mjority are based on case study, not scietific methodolgy. Therefore, the preponderance of the evidence does not support CS.
Click to expand...
There are many studies in French and Spanish, and many other languages. But even in English there is a tremendous increase in papers written about CS - especially in combination with CI.
The above post is so misleading, that I thought it's time to gather some articles... and as said there are plenty papers...

The data found is some of the articles and the research done over 40 years. Interestingly, 50% of it is written in the last 10 years. The focus for this research has mainly been towards phonological awareness and literacy.
A big part has focus on neurological aspects and consequences on the use of cued speech and are mainly quantitative experimental studies.

Attached is the text-file with that data... I removed some of the info (keywords etc) because it's otherwise too big to attach..
 

Attachments

  • Cued Speech - 5 databases - 2007 - reduced.zip
    48.2 KB · Views: 9
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jillio said:
This belongs in the sign language and oralism forum.
Click to expand...
Leave it to the moderator.... Practice you moderating skills elsewhere please....
Like you always say... Anything to add to the topic?

jillio said:
This child is not tri-lingual. She is bi-lingual. English and French. Count 'em. 1....2.
Click to expand...
1: English
2: French
3: French sign language ( The parts "I watch her signing with deaf children and see the skills of a natural signer" and "3 sessions per week in pure Sign Language one-to-one with a deaf teacher." )

Am I missing something or are you wrong Jillio ?
 
Cloggy said:
Thanks for this article loml...
And it shows something many people forget....
The world is bigger than USA. ASL is just another sign language..
Cued Speech is widely used in France, Spain, Switzerland and many other countries.
It is not just something very few people use. It's established in many countries....

So, insinuations like the one below show how judgemental one can beThere are many studies in French and Spanish, and many other languages. But even in English there is a tremendous increase in papers written about CS - especially in combination with CI.
The above post is so misleading, that I thought it's time to gather some articles... and as said there are plenty papers...

The data found is some of the articles and the research done over 40 years. Interestingly, 50% of it is written in the last 10 years. The focus for this research has mainly been towards phonological awareness and literacy.
A big part has focus on neurological aspects and consequences on the use of cued speech and are mainly quantitative experimental studies.

Attached is the text-file with that data... I removed some of the info (keywords etc) because it's otherwise too big to attach..
Click to expand...

I opened the text file, and checked your data bases. Thanks for supporting my above claims. These data bases include a minuscule amount of research compared to the research done in the areas I have defined in my original post. Likewise, there is no longitudinal data, and longitudinal data is crucial in supporting efficacy. The problems I cited above regarding the research that has been done still applies.

http://www.alldeaf.com/parenting/51338-early-communication-home.html#post957832 post #28
 
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Cloggy said:
Leave it to the moderator.... Practice you moderating skills elsewhere please....
Like you always say... Anything to add to the topic?


1: English
2: French
3: French sign language ( The parts "I watch her signing with deaf children and see the skills of a natural signer" and "3 sessions per week in pure Sign Language one-to-one with a deaf teacher." )

Am I missing something or are you wrong Jillio ?
Click to expand...

Yep, as usual, you are missing quite a bit, cloggy. But that's to be expected from you.
 
jillio said:
I opened the text file, and checked your data bases. Thanks for supporting my above claims. These data bases include a minuscule amount of research compared to the research done in the areas I have defined in my original post. Likewise, there is no longitudinal data, and longitudinal data is crucial in supporting efficacy. The problems I cited above regarding the research that has been done still applies.

http://www.alldeaf.com/parenting/51338-early-communication-home.html#post957832 post #28
Click to expand...
Sure JT...
Minuscule is any number below 10.000, foreign countries don't count, You decide the rules so you will always be right, your bubble and 1 + 1 + 1 is not 3..

btw... found anything that shows cs is bad for anyone......
 
Cloggy said:
Sure JT...
Minuscule is any number below 10.000, foreign countries don't count, You decide the rules so you will always be right, your bubble and 1 + 1 + 1 is not 3..

btw... found anything that shows cs is bad for anyone......
Click to expand...

No, cloggy, academics decide the rules, and perhaps below 10,000 is your definition, but no where have I stated that. As usual, when your claims have been refuted, you attempt to insert things that aren't there.

The issue is not whether CS is bad for anyone, but whether it is beneficial in developing literacy skills as applied to the deaf child. There simply is no longitudianl data that supports the claim that it is.

You can keep pulling unsuccessful methods tied to oralism out of history and trying to make them work...I prefer to move forward.

What exactly does "JT" stand for? You keep using it in your posts.
 
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