Language and the Deaf

Language and the Deaf February 22, 2012, Session 6 Jessica Scott Boston University

Food for Thought • “Deaf people can do anything except hear.” • I. King Jordan

Agenda • Discussion: Colleen • Theories of language development and application to Deaf Education • Thinking about child-centered education • Break • Cochlear Implant Corner • Practice: Applying theories to your pre-pracs or other experiences

Goals for the Session • To understand various theories of language development • To apply these theories of linguistic development to Deaf children • To discuss how child-centered education promotes ASL development in a natural way

Discussion!

Discussion board interlude • The articles impressed me that the bilingualism is important for Deaf children. The article mentioned that there are materials that are published by both Swedish and Swedish Sign Language. Providing both educational resources is equal opportunity to Deaf children to get both language inputs. • In the Sweden/Denmark example, attitudes shifted as Doctors became informed and parents empowered. Where would we begin with a PR campaign in the US? The medical field? Hollywood? Government? • We talked last week about the power of the Cochlear Implant companies, and I have to agree, they are extremely powerful. There's really no way that we can change that, but what if we worked WITH it? I know that this might sound strange, but I'm wondering what would happen if the Deaf Community tried to work with CI companies instead of against them, by showing that CI's are more effective if children have access to ASL from the start?

Language development • There are many theories about how language develops in all children • The readings this week discussed language development, so I thought we could think about these theories in some depth

The activity • In pairs, you will consider the strengths and weaknesses of one theory of language development • Pick a card to find out which theories you will be working with • Read (skim) the handout with your theory of language development

The activity • On the appropriate chart paper, identify • The major belief/argument of your theory • The strengths of the theory • The weaknesses of the theory

Behaviorism • Based on the work of Skinner • Belief: Language learned through reinforcement • Environment is the most important factor under this theory • Children mimic/imitate the language they hear around them, and adults in the environment reinforce correct forms • Children progressively move toward using adult-like language through feedback

Nativism • Based on the work of Chomsky • Belief: Human beings are born with a capacity for language • Biology, rather than environment, is the most important factor under this theory • The Language Acquisition Device (LAD) is a reservoir of language structure knowledge – this theory believes this is how where children learn language • Emphasis on the grammatical structure of language

Pragmatism • Based on the work of Chomsky • Belief: Language is functional and used for communication • Three elements to every speech act: • Locutionary Act – The words we use • Illocutionary Act – The meaning or purpose behind what we say • Perlocutionary Act – The effect our words have on a listener

Cognitivism • Based on the work of Piaget • Belief: Speech and language development is related to cognitive development • Do not believe that LANGUAGE is innate, but that cognitive functions that allow humans to develop language are innate • Believe that language emerges through learning, not because of innate capacity for language • Language and cognitive development are intertwined

Information-Processing • Based on the work of Bates & MacWhinney • Belief: The function of language generates structure, rather than grammar • Language acquisition occurs when a child hears language models and uses their speech acts as “evidence” as they speak • Children are born with a capacity to understand symbols – language is the symbol that is reinforced, and therefore learned • Parallel distributed processing (PDP) – the belief that children process information on many levels simultaneously

Social Interactionist • The middle ground between nature (biology) and nurture (environment) • Belief: Both biology and environment are important in the acquisition of language • Language is a product of children’s social interactions • Importance of motherese – the way that caregivers speak to children • Modeling and expansion of language by adults • Children learn rules through experimenting (goed for went)

Discussing Theories • Which theories do you think are most appropriate for use with signing Deaf children? • Which theories do you think are not appropriate? • Sue Livingston states that she does not believe English grammar should be taught explicitly to Deaf children, but they should be exposed to it and learn it naturally through exposure • Which development theory do you think she supports? • Do you agree?

The opposite of Livingston • Reading Milestones is one of the few reading programs that says it is designed for children with “hearing impairment” • They control: • Sentence length (easier books have shorter sentences) • Grammar (certain types of sentences are a focus) • Vocabulary (introduce a limited number of “new” words in each story) • Verb endings (start with simple past and get more complex) • Which theory of language development do you think such a program is based on? What are the problems with it?

Agenda • Discussion: Colleen • Theories of language development and application to Deaf Education • Thinking about child-centered education • Cochlear Implant Corner • Break • Practice: Applying theories to your pre-pracs or other experiences

Child-centered education • The article emphasizes the importance of child-centered education • In all areas of education, people are starting to reconsider the traditional model and realize that student-centered education may be important • There is still discussion as to how much instruction should be teacher-centered versus student-centered

Comparisons… Teacher Centered Student Centered Children do most of the talking Exploration/discovery Children responsible for their own learning Self-evaluation • Teacher does most of the talking • Lecture-based • Teacher responsible for imparting knowledge • Evaluate students

Application to Deaf Ed • One article has discussed such approaches in Deaf education in a classroom that used ASL • Found that the instruction was teacher-centered • Teacher controlled the topic, evaluated student responses • However, students were encouraged to share opinions and the room was arranged in a way that made sense for Deaf children (communication was appropriate and accessible) • Smith and Ramsey, 2004, Classroom discourse practices of a Deaf teacher using American Sign Language

What do you think? • Should instruction be • Teacher-centered most of the time? • Student-centered most of the time? • A balance?

Break!

CI Corner • Spoken language development in oral preschool children with permanent childhood deafness. • By Julia Sarant, Colleen Holt, Richard Dowell, Field Rickards and Peter Blamey • 57 students at various ages (1-3 or 3-6) • Average age of identification: 10 months • Average age of implant: 12 months • Abstract is being passed out

What did they find? • Most young children (between 1 and 3) developed age appropriate language skills • However, 13 of 42 (about 1/3) of students aged 3-6 had delayed vocabulary • 19 of 42 (almost half!) 3-6 year olds had delayed receptive language, and 25 of 42 (MORE than half!) had delayed expressive language • Children whose parents were more involved tended to have better spoken language

Any thoughts on this? • Why do you think so many of the younger students seemed alright while the older students had fallen behind? • What do you think of the fact that parental involvement predicted better spoken language? • How is this related to ASL use and family involvement? • How can we encourage families to be more involved, perhaps thinking of the article on Sweden?

Applications • I believe that each of you are currently in a pre-practicum setting • In groups of three, we will spend the final hour of class applying theories and ideas we discussed today to the classrooms in which you are working • If you are not in one now, feel free to discuss a classroom you visited in the past

Protocol • We will focus on one classroom at a time • 5 minutes: One person describes the classroom he/she is in, including grade level/subject(s), language use, instruction you have observed • 5 minutes: Other group members ask questions about the classroom • 5 minutes: Lead student identifies something problematic he/she has observed in that classroom (in terms of language) • 5 minutes : Whole group brainstorms ways this problem could be solved • Repeat with other group members

Housekeeping • Next week, the topic for the second essay will be posted. It is due March 7th • The topic for next week is L2 (English) acquisition through reading and writing • David will be our discussion leader!

Have an excellent week

Language and the Deaf