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Yonkers teacher helps launch summer program in Italy for deaf people
Most students dread language classes. Debra Cole struggled to enter them.
"In the United States, a lot of deaf people are waived from a foreign language requirement, but actually I had to fight for it," said Cole, 36, who attended high school in Queens. "They said to me I didn't have time. I studied speech therapy all my life. It was time for me to study something else."
Cole's interest in foreign languages led to her learning Italian and Chinese sign languages and she hopes to make foreign language study more fulfilling for deaf college students.
Cole, a Columbia Teachers College doctoral student, helped coordinate a Siena, Italy-based summer program that will launch in June. The Siena School for Liberal Arts will offer art history, written Italian and Italian Sign Language courses to American deaf students.
Cole will teach at the Siena School, and she helped develop the program while teaching English in Italy. Previously, she traveled to Italy on a Fulbright Scholarship in 2001 and 2002.
The intensive, three-week course will be held in June at the Siena School. Italian students will also take classes at the school to study art history, written English and American Sign Language.
The program is designed to have deaf Americans and deaf Italians study the art history together.
"This is the first of its kind," said Cole, referring to the Siena School's summer program. "A lot of (Italian) universities have English classes for their students, but this is the only one where two different language groups can interact."
Through a sign-language interpreter, Cole said deaf people don't use the same sign language around the world.
For example, Cole noted that Italian deaf people have several signs for different kinds of pastas, while American Sign Language has just one word for pasta.
Of course, three weeks is not enough time to learn any language. Cole said the course is designed for students who have already studied their respective languages.
Deaf students can attend study abroad programs that are not designed for the deaf, but attendance requires special preparation.
In the two years that the Rochester Institute of Technology has sent its deaf students to summer abroad programs, costs associated with interpreters and note-takers accompanying the deaf students were a significant concern.
The Siena School program eliminates the need to send a non-deaf companion with the student, so the school decided to test Cole's program.
Tynelle Stewart, director of study abroad programs at Rochester Institute of Technology, said there has been a lot of interest in the Siena School summer program among students attending her school's National Technical Institute for the Deaf.
Rochester Institute of Technology, a private school, has 15,500 students, and about 1,100 of those students attend the school's National Technical Institute for the Deaf.
"Last summer we sent three deaf students abroad (to nondeaf programs), but this year I have met with 10 students and probably six are interested in the Siena program," Stewart said.
Cole said that so far 10 American students and 15 Italian students signed up for the program, which costs 3,000 euros for classes, boarding, meals and field trips.
Whether the Siena School continues its deaf study abroad program in 2008 depends on this summer's attendance and feedback. Whether the program succeeds or not, Cole said, the study of foreign languages is becoming more important for everyone, including deaf people.
Most students dread language classes. Debra Cole struggled to enter them.
"In the United States, a lot of deaf people are waived from a foreign language requirement, but actually I had to fight for it," said Cole, 36, who attended high school in Queens. "They said to me I didn't have time. I studied speech therapy all my life. It was time for me to study something else."
Cole's interest in foreign languages led to her learning Italian and Chinese sign languages and she hopes to make foreign language study more fulfilling for deaf college students.
Cole, a Columbia Teachers College doctoral student, helped coordinate a Siena, Italy-based summer program that will launch in June. The Siena School for Liberal Arts will offer art history, written Italian and Italian Sign Language courses to American deaf students.
Cole will teach at the Siena School, and she helped develop the program while teaching English in Italy. Previously, she traveled to Italy on a Fulbright Scholarship in 2001 and 2002.
The intensive, three-week course will be held in June at the Siena School. Italian students will also take classes at the school to study art history, written English and American Sign Language.
The program is designed to have deaf Americans and deaf Italians study the art history together.
"This is the first of its kind," said Cole, referring to the Siena School's summer program. "A lot of (Italian) universities have English classes for their students, but this is the only one where two different language groups can interact."
Through a sign-language interpreter, Cole said deaf people don't use the same sign language around the world.
For example, Cole noted that Italian deaf people have several signs for different kinds of pastas, while American Sign Language has just one word for pasta.
Of course, three weeks is not enough time to learn any language. Cole said the course is designed for students who have already studied their respective languages.
Deaf students can attend study abroad programs that are not designed for the deaf, but attendance requires special preparation.
In the two years that the Rochester Institute of Technology has sent its deaf students to summer abroad programs, costs associated with interpreters and note-takers accompanying the deaf students were a significant concern.
The Siena School program eliminates the need to send a non-deaf companion with the student, so the school decided to test Cole's program.
Tynelle Stewart, director of study abroad programs at Rochester Institute of Technology, said there has been a lot of interest in the Siena School summer program among students attending her school's National Technical Institute for the Deaf.
Rochester Institute of Technology, a private school, has 15,500 students, and about 1,100 of those students attend the school's National Technical Institute for the Deaf.
"Last summer we sent three deaf students abroad (to nondeaf programs), but this year I have met with 10 students and probably six are interested in the Siena program," Stewart said.
Cole said that so far 10 American students and 15 Italian students signed up for the program, which costs 3,000 euros for classes, boarding, meals and field trips.
Whether the Siena School continues its deaf study abroad program in 2008 depends on this summer's attendance and feedback. Whether the program succeeds or not, Cole said, the study of foreign languages is becoming more important for everyone, including deaf people.