deafbajagal

This year I am teaching English Composition, Reading, Literature, and Drama at the high school level.

My students are telling me that they cannot write because they are deaf. They really believe this...apparently there's a notion that deaf people cannot write in proper English. And even worse...many adults are agreeing with them.

That notion is bullshit. Even though a deaf person's native language may be ASL (note: not ALL deaf people will fall into the category of having ASL as their first and primary language) and even though that person cannot hear spoken English, that person is very likely able to learn written English.

How? READ, READ, READ. Be assertive...learn grammatical rules. Ask questions. Write as much as you can and get feedback (and be sure to accept constructive criticism as part of the growing process).

We CAN do it! CAN!

It is time we go back to our roots. Back in the early days of Deaf Education, deaf children were writing as well as, if not better, than their hearing peers. What happened? How did we fall so low that many of our students cannot read above the fourth grade level? At what point do we finally stop and say...enough! Our kids CAN do it. And will.

What are the obstacles of learning English? The list is too long for me to include it in here. But what we should be discussing...what are the measures we can take to ensure success.

Deafness

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HorseRace

yes we can do it.. it is not too late to learn that.. smile

~SG~

You could find a deaf people who are in or done college or university. They can tell the students in your class that deaf people can write in proper English. It is kinda like a role model to show the students.

Your students might need to see a different deaf person to tell them to read more books, learn grammar rules etc. Just a thought.

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madison069

I am deaf but I wear hearing aids and can speak English well. But I never claimed to be a grammar expert.

I am finishing up my last semester of Mechanical Engineer at Texas Tech University, and I have gotten by without interpreters or note takers. But I can hear and have good speech comprehensive considering I was born deaf.

I use to read books all the time during my younger days, but these days in college I haven't read as much unless it was text books.

But when it comes to writing papers I always take them to the writing center to get proofread and lately I have made less mistakes. So it can be done but the students has to have the will to do it. If they don't want to do it, all effort that you put into this will be fruitless.

Good luck.

Almyra

Lack of expectations may be one obstacle to reading.

When my parents were told I would not read beyond 4th grade level, they were confused. There is nothing wrong with my brain. Why would I not be able to read on par with peers?

When I worked in the dorm I pushed reading. The kids came in from school one day and told me their teachers said they are supposed to be behind on reading. I was livid. My fifth grade students could not recognize or spell the word, "friend".

My solution was to implement a reading program and offer weekly rewards for reading x many books.

David

Almyra, can you PM me, please?

shel90

That's why at my work, we are very very anal about the elementary classes reading and writing everyday. We have a 30 min block just for reading only and I am not talking about sending the kids to a corner just to sit down and read cuz that does not work since they just look at pics. All the teachers and aids are assigned to a level (by alphabet order) and get the students who are on that level and during that reading block, focus on reading the same book for one week using different reading strategies. I did that with my class last year and it worked.

We have one hour block just for writing..half hour focuses on expressive writing and the other half hour focuses on the grammatical aspects of English.

This is required everyday no exceptions.

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~Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

Oddball

I can't believe it. Teachers are idiots.

shel90

All teachers are idiots or just those in that post?

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~Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

Oddball

Sorry. I should have clarified this. just those in that post.

shel90

Wanted to catch that before someone else takes u seriously and gets upset. I kinda figured u did mean those in that post.

I agree with u.

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~Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

RedFox

Wow! They should see someone like me who can read and write beyond the 4th grade level. I was reading at 8th grade level in 6th grade. I hope I can be a role model.

Maybe it's because of oral only education causing delays in language skills of many deaf people, causing later generations to expect so little of themselves.

sequoias

Awww, maybe you should get a good role model to teach a English lesson that a student wouldn't forget. It would help a lot for sure.

deafdyke

Have you ever thought about using English As A Second Language techniques for Deaf kids? I wonder if that might help them get over the English fluency hump. Granted, most of them will never be as fluent as someone at a Harvard level, in English but teaching them ESL techniques might help many of them.

shel90

Yea, we use the writing curriculm designed for ELL/ESL students and it works big time.

Also, get them to read at least a half hour everyday..

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~Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

Almyra

That certainly could be one explanation for certain groups of people. For the 5th grade kids I worked with however, they had six years of the "bi-bi" curriculum that obviously left out the bi in the bi-bi.

I believe it has more to do with what reading strategies are in place and what expectations adminstrators, teachers, and parents have. I never understood why this particular school (or any deaf programs) did not at least review ESL curriculums and adapt them for deaf needs.

It sounds like Shel90 works in a good environment.

HDfreak316

KUDOS!!! We need more English/grammar teachers like you.

Phillips

Ugh No Wonder!! Because I am grown up with my mom taught me only speech! As a result, I am behind the English grammar

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***Enjoy life today, Yesterday has past and Tomorrow may never come.***

Oddball

I don't want to get chased by many angry Deaf teachers!

imdeafsowhat

I recommend you showing the books written by deaf people. IF YOU CAN FIND ANY, if there are none, looks like you're screwed.

Bottesini

The Last Servant, Stevie Platt, Book - Barnes & Noble

Above is a link to Barnes and Noble for one book you could buy who was authored by a deaf person.

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AllDeaf

dead money

which is why i support stem-cell research and human cloning. I mean look at the big picture here...just clone deafbajagal 100 times and you'll have plenty of inspiring, determined teachers to get those english skills in gear!

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mike matusow...or god for short.

Grummer

difficult, hate to say it, but i think 'role model' doesnt cut it anymore. but a more active use of 'grammar vitamins' concepts from a thread you have created recently, but do it on a rotational basis and have it more 'tuned' to groups of smilarily-leveled students.

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It's like you go to the beach. It's a little cold. You're not sure you want to go in. There's a pretty girl standing next to you. She doesn't want to go in either. She sees you, and you know that if you just asked her her name, you would leave with her. Forget your life, whoever you came with, and leave the beach with her. And after that day, you remember. Not every day, every week... she comes back to you. It's the memory of another life you could have had. Today is that girl.

Liza

We need more caring teachers like you and shel90!

Bringing in deaf role models who have excellent command of the english language is a great idea. I used to tutor english at Gallaudet and participated in the honors program for English and several other classes. Deaf people and children can actually transcend the fourth grade level reading! Gotta show it can be done and how it can be done.

netrox

"How? READ, READ, READ. Be assertive...learn grammatical rules. Ask questions. Write as much as you can and get feedback (and be sure to accept constructive criticism as part of the growing process). "

Please, how the hell are they able to read if they don't know the language in the first place?

I'd give you a book written in Russian and tell you, "READ READ READ!" but you will NEVER learn to read simply because you don't know Russian in the first place! To know language requires interaction. To make them do well in English, you just have to spend SO much time explaining concepts and why sentences are structured and all that.

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shel90

Yes, they can learn if they have a strong first language in the first place. That's why it is so important for deaf children to acquire a strong L1 language before entering school so they can acquire English as their 2nd language.

Yes, we have to spend a lot of time explaining concepts and why sentences are structured and that is supposed to happen during the elementary school years. That is what I am doing now with my 4th graders...they achieved reading fluency last year so now I am working with them on the different aspects of English-figurative, idioms, declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory statements, antonyms, and so forth- They are picking up the concepts rather quickly this year already.

That's why it is so critical for deaf children to enter kindergarten with a strong language foundation so they can tackle on literacy skills at a young age. If they dont, then they wont be ready therefore delaying them even further. Unfortunately, too many deaf children come to school with a weak L1 language...all children, whether deaf or hearing MUST have a strong first language before developing literacy skills and acquring a second language.

However, you are making an assumption that Deafbajagal's students do not have any English background and since they are in high school, I find it highly impossible. We can only speculate..if these kids are coming in high school with no reading skills nor any understanding in English, then something went wrong during their earlier years in the educational system. By high school, all deaf kids should know the English language unless they came from another country. Let Deafbajagal answer this question before making any speculations.

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~Shel~

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana