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U of A researcher advances suggestions for deaf education | The Gateway Online
A University of Alberta researcher is investigating the quality and efficacy of sign language interpretation in the education of deaf children.
Debra Russell, director of the Western Canadian Centre of Studies in Deafness, is in the final year of a three-year study on the effects of classroom instruction mediated by sign language interpreters. She is examining the deaf education experience from the perspectives of students, parents, teachers, administrators, and interpreters.
Russell’s goal is to compile data on how well deaf children can access the language of instruction through interpretation and how well this learning environment supports their emotional and social development.
The study includes only students who are already using sign communication and whose families have accepted sign language. However, not all deaf and hard-of-hearing students encounter a positive attitude toward sign language.
Tracy Hetman, coordinator of communications support services at the U of A’s Specialized Support and Disability Services (SSDS), said that one of the obstacles to sign language efficacy is the negative stigma surrounding its use.
“What I think is lost [on] the K–12 system, the parents, and the medical system is that they don’t see that [sign language] provides a student with independence; they see it as providing dependence on an interpreter,” Hetman explained.
Hetman said that parents are often encouraged to oppose sign language by school administrators and medical professionals.
This attitude has negative effects on the number of deaf and hard-of-hearing students in postsecondary schools. There are currently 13 students enrolled in the U of A who use SSDS communication services. While there are no official statistics on the drop-off rate between high school and postsecondary deaf students, a correlation can still be drawn between inadequate K–12 deaf services and low student enrolment.
“It’s only logical that the deficiency in services is related to the low number in university,” Hetman said.
Most of the deaf university students come from major urban centres where more sign language services are available. Hetman also said that upgrading programs at colleges have a disproportionately-high population of deaf students, likely to make up for gaps in their education from an oral-based K–12 education system.
In order for improvements to be made, it’s important to keep in mind that deafness, unlike other disabilities, involves a language barrier. Russell said that administrators in the K–12 system must adopt an attitude toward sign language that recognizes this aspect of deafness. Hetman emphasised that sign language should be seen as a tool of independence.
“You wouldn’t say to a person who’s blind that they can only listen and they can’t learn braille, or to a person who’s paralyzed that they have to stay in bed and they can’t use a wheelchair. Sign language allows deaf kids to hear with their eyes,” she said.
Despite the shortcomings of the K–12 system, Russell has found that deaf students who do get into university receive quality support services such as those offered by SSDS.
“Many of them report that the quality of their education is really fabulous when they get to U of A,” Russell said.
Once the study is complete, Russell hopes to use the data to offer recommendations and provide information for school boards so that they can better serve deaf children.
A University of Alberta researcher is investigating the quality and efficacy of sign language interpretation in the education of deaf children.
Debra Russell, director of the Western Canadian Centre of Studies in Deafness, is in the final year of a three-year study on the effects of classroom instruction mediated by sign language interpreters. She is examining the deaf education experience from the perspectives of students, parents, teachers, administrators, and interpreters.
Russell’s goal is to compile data on how well deaf children can access the language of instruction through interpretation and how well this learning environment supports their emotional and social development.
The study includes only students who are already using sign communication and whose families have accepted sign language. However, not all deaf and hard-of-hearing students encounter a positive attitude toward sign language.
Tracy Hetman, coordinator of communications support services at the U of A’s Specialized Support and Disability Services (SSDS), said that one of the obstacles to sign language efficacy is the negative stigma surrounding its use.
“What I think is lost [on] the K–12 system, the parents, and the medical system is that they don’t see that [sign language] provides a student with independence; they see it as providing dependence on an interpreter,” Hetman explained.
Hetman said that parents are often encouraged to oppose sign language by school administrators and medical professionals.
This attitude has negative effects on the number of deaf and hard-of-hearing students in postsecondary schools. There are currently 13 students enrolled in the U of A who use SSDS communication services. While there are no official statistics on the drop-off rate between high school and postsecondary deaf students, a correlation can still be drawn between inadequate K–12 deaf services and low student enrolment.
“It’s only logical that the deficiency in services is related to the low number in university,” Hetman said.
Most of the deaf university students come from major urban centres where more sign language services are available. Hetman also said that upgrading programs at colleges have a disproportionately-high population of deaf students, likely to make up for gaps in their education from an oral-based K–12 education system.
In order for improvements to be made, it’s important to keep in mind that deafness, unlike other disabilities, involves a language barrier. Russell said that administrators in the K–12 system must adopt an attitude toward sign language that recognizes this aspect of deafness. Hetman emphasised that sign language should be seen as a tool of independence.
“You wouldn’t say to a person who’s blind that they can only listen and they can’t learn braille, or to a person who’s paralyzed that they have to stay in bed and they can’t use a wheelchair. Sign language allows deaf kids to hear with their eyes,” she said.
Despite the shortcomings of the K–12 system, Russell has found that deaf students who do get into university receive quality support services such as those offered by SSDS.
“Many of them report that the quality of their education is really fabulous when they get to U of A,” Russell said.
Once the study is complete, Russell hopes to use the data to offer recommendations and provide information for school boards so that they can better serve deaf children.
