Deaf and multilingual Mole McColl Vale

Deaf and Multilingual by Judith Mole, Hilary McColl and Mireille Vale Direct Learn Services Ltd. Published by Direct Learn Services Ltd., The Limes, Norbury, Shropshire, United Kingdom www.directlearn.co.uk © Direct Learn Services Ltd. 2005 First published in 2005. This edition published 2008. This book is subject to copyright laws. No reproduction or transmission, in part or in whole, is permitted without the written permission of the publishers. Any unauthorised copying, reproduction, transmission, or distribution of this book is strictly prohibited. ISBN 978-1-905938-03-2 2 Table of contents Foreword ............................................................................... 6 Acknowledgements............................................................... 7 Notes on terminology and abbreviations............................ 8 Introduction: Why learn languages?................................ 11 PART ONE: UNDERSTANDING DEAFNESS AND ITS IMPACT ON LEARNING ................................................ 14 Audiological Equipment ................................................... 16 Communication .................................................................. 19 How communication is affected by deafness.................... 19 Communication strategies used by deaf people................ 20 Making the most of residual hearing ................................ 21 Lip-reading........................................................................ 21 Sign language.................................................................... 23 Strategies for communicating with deaf learners.............. 26 The role of support staff .................................................... 28 Note-takers........................................................................ 30 Electronic note-takers (Speech-to-text reporters) ............. 31 Sign language interpreters (SLIs) ..................................... 31 Lip-speakers...................................................................... 32 Cued Speech...................................................................... 33 Working with support staff: aspects of good practice ...... 33 PART TWO: TEACHING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE TO DEAF LEARNERS ..................................................... 35 3 The place of foreign languages in the curricula................ 35 Mainstreaming .................................................................. 37 The language learning environment: challenges and opportunities ..................................................................... 39 Affective issues................................................................. 43 Technological assistance................................................... 44 Communication modes ..................................................... 44 The ‘four modes’ (listening, speaking, reading, writing) . 46 Listening ........................................................................... 46 Speaking............................................................................ 49 Reading ............................................................................. 50 Writing .............................................................................. 50 Language teaching approaches and their impact on deaf learners.............................................................................. 51 Multi-sensory learning ...................................................... 53 Communicative approaches, including use of the target language for classroom management................................ 56 Teaching grammar ............................................................ 56 Co-operative and peer learning......................................... 58 Information Communications Technology (ICT ) and Individualised learning...................................................... 59 Teaching styles and use of course books .......................... 60 Course planning.................................................................. 61 A note on differentiation................................................... 61 Advance planning ............................................................. 64 Lesson delivery ................................................................. 71 The planning grid.............................................................. 76 Case Study: A language teacher's perspective ................ 78 4 PART THREE: THE ROLE OF SUPPORT WORKERS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES........................... 99 Initial considerations....................................................... 100 Some problems that may arise ........................................ 105 Support strategies for foreign language learning.......... 110 Patterns of language support........................................... 110 Lip-speaking ................................................................... 111 Cued speech .................................................................... 113 Note-taking ..................................................................... 114 Electronic notes and captioning ...................................... 117 Flash cards ...................................................................... 119 Interpreting...................................................................... 120 Fingerspelling ................................................................. 123 Other professionals ......................................................... 125 General tips ..................................................................... 126 PART FOUR: PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO SPECIFIC SITUATIONS................................................ 127 Listening ......................................................................... 127 Speaking.......................................................................... 134 Writing ............................................................................ 141 Reading ........................................................................... 143 General teaching situations ............................................. 144 Assessments and tests ..................................................... 148 The matrix....................................................................... 150 About the authors............................................................. 151 References ......................................................................... 153 Glossary............................................................................. 156 5 Foreword T his book is about deaf people learning spoken/written foreign languages. To date there has been a dearth of information on this subject, and in that vacuum there has been a tendency to think that deaf learners should be steered away from foreign language learning. This book hopes to go some way towards filling the gap and correcting that impression. The book is written primarily for those teaching and supporting deaf learners attending standard foreign language learning classes. It may also be of interest to deaf learners themselves, their parents, and those professionals who are involved in making decisions about curriculum content for deaf learners. Although the authors all have a background in the English speaking world, and the book is written in English, we have tried hard not to assume that English will always be the medium of instruction for those teachers, learners and support workers who will use this book. We have used abbreviations which we believe will make it possible for this book to be used in any linguistic context, including teaching the local oral language as if it were a 6 second language to learners whose first language is sign language. However, inevitably, many examples have been taken from the contexts we have worked in and the languages in which we have taught and supported learners. We have not attempted to address the issue of deaf learners either learning foreign sign languages or learning the signed language of their country as a second language. Don’t be put off by the size of the book. As far as foreign language teachers are concerned, we have assumed no previous knowledge or experience of deafness. Deaf learners, like all learners, come with a wide range of strengths and weaknesses, and we want this book to be as comprehensive as possible. Not all of it will apply to you or to your particular deaf learner. We hope you will be able to navigate easily to those parts of the book which are relevant to your situation. Acknowledgements T his book had its origins in a paper, workshop and discussions on the topic of deaf people learning foreign languages which were featured in the course of two international Supporting Deaf People online conferences in 2004 and 2005. These conferences included delegates from twenty-three countries and there were 7 many contributions from deaf people, teachers and support workers on the topic. The authors would like to thank the delegates who participated in the discussions which contributed many of the ideas and strategies described in this book. We would also like to thank all the contributors of case studies who allowed us to build up a picture of current practice and describe real strategies for support and learning inclusion. We would also like to thank Andrew Hearn, Jess Clover, Claire Özel and her students, and all the teachers, learners and support workers who have shared their experiences and knowledge with us. Notes on terminology and abbreviations T he terminology used by and about deaf people varies greatly. Everyone feels sensitive about how they are described by others and some deaf people will feel strongly about it, whereas others (typically those deafened in later life) will not want attention drawn to their hearing loss and will see themselves as 'hearing'. A few terms occasionally used about deaf people have now become unacceptable, for example, the term 'deaf and dumb' is now seen as offensive and should be avoided at all costs. 8 Readers may see the terms 'deaf', 'Deaf' or 'd/Deaf'. These terms are now commonly used and mean the following: • 'deaf' denotes the medical condition of hearing loss. • 'Deaf' is the political and social term for belonging to the Deaf community. It is capitalised in the same way that Somali, Muslim or French is written with a capital letter. • 'd/Deaf' is used to mean both people who do not consider themselves culturally deaf and do not belong to the Deaf community, and those who do. The best way to ascertain which words are appropriate to use is to ask the deaf learners themselves. For the purpose of this book, we have used the word ‘deaf’ to include people with any form or degree of deafness and from any background. Languages Though this book is written in English we have tried hard not to be Anglo-centric. We have used the abbreviation L1 to stand for the ‘source language’ which is also usually the ‘home language’ of most members of the class. We also use this for referring to the 9 language of instruction. For many learners, but perhaps not for all, this will also be their mother tongue. L2 denotes the foreign language or target language being learned. Similarly, the sign language normally used by a deaf learner is referred to as SL. Personnel The word ‘teacher’ has been used for simplicity, but also, of course, refers to tutors, lecturers, instructors, etc. Also for the sake of simplicity, all the people who work to support deaf people in their learning are referred to as ‘support staff’ or ‘support workers’ or, occasionally, as SW. All other abbreviations are explained in the text. 10 Introduction: Why learn languages? Why would deaf people want to learn a foreign language? W hen asked why they chose to learn foreign languages some deaf people gave the following reasons: "In my schooldays I wanted to learn Russian and French. These were available at my school but these classes were denied to me based on the grounds that there was no support worker that could handle either of these subjects. My first language is sign language and we need to dispel the myths that d/Deaf people (both children and adults) need English in order to learn other languages! I'm now studying Latin." "I have always been fascinated with learning languages. I am profoundly deaf with deaf parents - I am bilingual in English and BSL. I have learnt French and French Sign Language (LSF). I learnt this in France. I did try to go to a French class in the UK and was given a sign language interpreter but it didn't work as the interpreter didn't have a working knowledge of French. Although I tried to use lip-reading to learn French, this isn't easy. You have to 11 be a good lip-reader and the lip-speaker has to get the pronunciation absolutely right. This isn't easy for a non-native speaker. I do still have problems in lip-reading French hearing people speaking English because their lip patterns are not familiar to me. I would rather them speak in French - there's more of a chance of understanding them that way!" "Children can learn two languages when used in the area where they grow up. Why should this be different for Deaf children?" "I am learning languages because I love languages as vehicles to convey ideas. An innate code which two parties can use to bring concepts out in the open. The more I learn, the less I take any language I use for granted. Also, with English being the lingua franca, we are disadvantaged with not having a greater onus to learn additional tongues at primary school level. Latin was taken up more for the etymological benefits of most European languages - I'd like to see if the hypothesis that learning Latin will accelerate learning of any other languages afterwards is true! (My brain also enjoys a good work-out!) And new avenues for variety of ways of expression open up like never before." "Because it was part of my course." 12 However, other reasons why deaf people might want to learn foreign languages could be: • They have an interest in other countries and communities. • Their family may be bilingual and they wish to learn the language of their community. • They wish to travel or work abroad. • They have relatives or friends in other countries. • They feel that it might teach them about their own language and culture. • They want to meet other people socially. In other words, for exactly the same reasons that hearing people might want to undertake foreign language study. 13 PART ONE: UNDERSTANDING DEAFNESS AND ITS IMPACT ON LEARNING What it means to be deaf D eafness is a condition affecting not only the volume of hearing but also the frequency. Often a person can hear in certain situations (for example, when there is no background noise or if the speaker's voice is low pitched), but not in others. There are broadly two types of deafness - conductive and perceptive hearing loss. Conductive hearing loss generally refers to condition where there is damage to, or a blockage of sound through, the hearing organs. Damage or blockage can influence the way sound is conducted and frequently affects the volume of sound received. Perceptive hearing loss affects how the brain interprets the sounds it hears. This type of deafness is often linked to frequency of sound, rather than just volume. This is an important distinction volume can be increased with sound augmentation and a decrease of background noise (see the section on hearing aids for more explanation), but a problem with perceiving different frequencies can cause more fundamental difficulties in understanding speech. 14 Most common with a perceptive hearing loss is the inability to hear high frequency sounds. Low frequency hearing loss is less common. However, a person who cannot perceive high frequency sounds may have problems hearing English speech sounds like /Ʒ/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /θ/, /ð/, /tʃ/. For a deaf learner trying to study English, this can cause problems. For example, failure to detect the ‘s’ at the end of an English noun is likely to result in failure to understand the intended plural. The lowest frequency consonants are those produced by the letters /ŋ/, /m/, /n/, /b/, /d/, /l/; which means that some deaf people with low frequency hearing loss may not be able to hear many of the consonants most commonly used in Western European languages. Another aspect of the frequency at which people speak which can cause problems is that children's voices are usually more highly pitched than adults’, so the deaf learner may be able to hear a teacher more or less easily than their peers. It is important to remember that deafness is a spectrum and that the onset of deafness, the educational and parental background, 15 audiological equipment preferences and language choice all contribute to determining the learner’s preferred learning style. Audiological Equipment Deaf people can use a number of audiological assistive devices. Exactly which equipment a deaf person uses depends largely on the level of deafness and personal preference. Some commonly used assistive devices are described below, together with some of the issues arising from their use. Hearing aids are probably the most commonly used assistive listening devices. However, they do not restore 'normal' hearing in the way glasses can restore normal vision. They can increase the volume of sound (all sound), but cannot fully compensate for loss of frequency. New digital hearing aids can be tuned to amplify sounds at certain frequencies, while depressing others, although they still cannot compensate for the full range of frequencies lost. Because hearing aids amplify all sound, it can be difficult for a learner to locate where a noise is coming from and therefore to concentrate on one voice or on a tape recording. 16 Many deaf people use hearing aids even if they are profoundly deaf and cannot use the aids to understand speech. They like to be able to hear some noises and get feedback from their surroundings. Radio aids (also often called ‘phonic ear’) can be used by deaf people with some residual hearing. They can be used alone or in combination with a hearing aid. They are usually made up of a receiver and a microphone transmitter, which transmits what is being said directly to the deaf person. This means that any distracting background noise is eliminated, allowing the learner to concentrate on one voice only. However, this means that learners will not be able to hear other sounds, for example, other students. Radio aids were formerly big and bulky and were strapped to children's chests with a harness. Although they are small and discrete today, many older deaf people do not like using them, because they were forced to do so when younger. Radio aids can also be used with additional equipment, for example with a conference microphone. However, the conference microphone often degrades the quality of the sound, as it is designed to pick up a number of voices. 17 Radio aids work over a great distance and through walls. If a teacher leaves the room and does not want to be heard, the equipment should be turned off. Direct input devices can be used to connect hearing aids directly to other audio equipment. For example, it is possible to connect hearing aids to a personal CD player, personal tape player, video/TV and computer. Cochlear implants are electronic devices which are surgically inserted into the skull behind the ear. They use an external speech processor which picks up sound and transmits this to a microphone which is magnetically attached to the head. The processor translates the sound into electrical signals. These signals are then processed and the cochlea (part of the inner ear) interprets them as sound. At first these sounds may not be intelligible, and the deaf person has to undergo a period of rehabilitation during which he/she learns to interpret the new sounds he/she is now hearing. It should not be assumed, however, that a learner who has had a cochlear implant will now be able to cope in the same way as a hearing learner. While this may be true, the results of implantation 18 are variable, and in any case do not compensate for any previous language delay a learner may have experienced. The needs of learners with implants therefore should be assessed as carefully as those of other deaf learners. Communication How communication is affected by deafness S ome deaf people become deaf before the time when speech is usually acquired. In this case, speech may need to be taught. Teaching speech mechanically means that deaf children learn to produce the sounds needed for their national spoken language. Kyle and Woll (1985) state that "deaf children's spoken language [ ] is worked at and learned sound by sound, syllable by syllable, often at the expense of disruption of natural communication flow. The more deaf the child, the harder this work becomes and the less related to normal language development." In adulthood, some deaf people choose not to speak, especially if they consider sign language their preferred communication mode. People who have developed a hearing loss later, or who have a 19 mild to moderate hearing loss, will usually use speech as their preferred communication method, and will have speaking skills equivalent to those of a hearing person. However, some deaf people, depending on the severity of their hearing loss, can develop problems with speech. They may not be able to regulate the volume of their speech, especially when wearing additional audiological equipment like a radio aid or direct input devices, or, because their own voice is not heard by themselves. This can lead to lack of confidence in public speaking or, in the case of learners, to a reluctance to speak out in class. Communication strategies used by deaf people Deaf people use a variety of communication methods. The vast majority of people with a hearing loss will use their national spoken language as their first language. Many profoundly deaf people will use sign language (SL), and/or lip-reading. The communication methods deaf people choose depends mostly on the timing of the onset of their deafness (see above), and whether they were educated in a signing, oral or bilingual school. Most deaf people use a variety of communication methods, often simultaneously. No communication method used by deaf people is 20 inherently better or more effective than another – it depends on the individual and the precise nature of their hearing loss. Making the most of residual hearing Residual hearing is the useful hearing which remains after hearing loss. Depending on the degree and onset of loss and which frequencies have been lost, a person will have more or less useful residual hearing. If the degree of hearing loss is severe or profound from an early age, then the amount of residual hearing may be less useful, as the person has not had the opportunity to learn to interpret sounds. Similarly, a person who has a relatively mild hearing loss will have a great deal of useful residual hearing and will be in a position to use audiological equipment to augment and increase their use of this remaining hearing. Having some residual hearing also makes lip-reading much easier. The choice to use any residual hearing rests with the deaf person, as only they will know how useful any hearing they have is to them personally. Lip-reading Lip-reading or speech reading, means following the lip patterns, facial expressions and body language of a speaker in order to 21 follow what is being said. There are many myths about the reliability and effectiveness of lip-reading; however, many phonemes are not actually lip-readable and it is estimated that only about 30% - 35% of English (Bauman, 2000) and 30% of German (Volkers, date unknown) speech sounds are lip-readable. For example, plosives (/p/, /b/, etc.), laterals (e.g. /l/) and trills (e.g. /r/) are easily lip-readable whereas some fricatives (e.g. /s/, /z/) are not. Once there is a flow of speech, accents and dialects can significantly influence the success of lip-reading. For example, the name 'London' looks very different when said by a person from New York, from Glasgow or from London itself. Similarly, a person from southern Spain has a different pronunciation of the same words from those from northern Spain or South America. These differences can sound less obvious than they look. Many words look very similar too and misunderstandings can occur. For example, the following English words all look identical on the lips, though they sound different: please - meat - meet - beans - peas Much of lip-reading is guess work, based on the context, facial 22 expression and gesture. It is most effective when used with some residual hearing. Sign language Sign language is the generic term for hundreds of national and regional visual languages. Each country has its own national sign language, for example, British Sign Language (BSL), American Sign Language (ASL), German Sign Language (DGS), French Sign Language (LSF) or Dutch Sign Language (NGT). However within countries there are also regional variations, for example, Scottish Sign Language (SSL) uses many signs which are different from BSL or Catalan Sign Language (LSC) which is very different from Spanish Sign Language (LSE). Within these regions there are also local dialects, with variations on how numbers and common words are signed. There is no natural international sign language, other than an artificially created language called Gestuno which is not widely used. Sign languages have traditionally evolved over centuries and have their own distinct grammar and syntax. They are not collections of gestures nor do they mirror their spoken language equivalents; they are fully functioning languages in their own right. They are visual23 spatial languages and are three dimensional, rather than linear. Most sign languages are not grammatically linked in any way to their national spoken language. For example, typical English word order is SVO (subject-verb-object), but BSL uses OSV (objectsubject-verb) or TC (topic-comment) syntax. One of the features of sign languages is that they borrow from their national spoken languages in the form of fingerspelling. (Fingerspelling is using a manual alphabet to spell proper names, places, new concepts, etc.) These manual alphabets are therefore not international either, and different countries use different fingerspelling systems. For example, BSL uses a two-handed fingerspelling system, whilst ASL uses a one-handed system. Although some linguistic work has been undertaken to study and analyse sign languages, they are not taught widely in schools. Deaf children rarely have the opportunity to study the grammar and 24 syntax of their language as hearing children do for their native spoken languages. There are no widely used written versions of sign languages (with the exception of systems such as SignWriter), so some native sign language users, especially those who are not bilingual, may write their native spoken language in an idiosyncratic way. Note that teachers and assessors are expected to take this into account when grading deaf students’ work so that, for example, in a comprehension task, marks are awarded for proof of understanding the source material and the deaf student is not penalised for errors in expression. Other common differences between some spoken and signed languages are: • SLs do not have a passive voice. • There are no articles. • SL verbs are not inflected for tense, but do have inflections for aspect. • Because SLs are visual languages, verbs are directional i.e. 'phoning' and 'being phoned' are signed differently. 25 Similarly, the word ‘walk’ is signed differently if one or a number of persons are walking. • In common with some spoken languages not belonging to the European family, SLs employ a system of ‘classifiers’ to indicate features such as the size, shape or usage of the object. Strategies for communicating with deaf learners Here are some tips for ensuring good communication: • Wait until you know you have the deaf learner’s attention before you start to speak. • In groups, deaf learners do not always know who is speaking and when they look around, they may have missed the first part of a contribution. Discretely pointing at the learner who is speaking can help. Similarly, pointing whilst calling out the name of the learner whose contribution you are inviting is helpful. • All deaf people use lip-reading, observation of facial expressions and body language, therefore it is important not to cover your mouth or face. Avoid walking up and down in front of a class. If there is a light behind you, e.g. 26 a window or lamp, your face will be in silhouette and the deaf learners will not be able to see your face easily. Make sure the classroom is well lit. Inadequate lighting will make communication more difficult for the deaf learner. • The deaf learner may not be able to lip-read what you are saying so you may have to say it a different way. • Lip-reading is most easily done if you speak clearly, without exaggerating your lip patterns, at a normal pace. • Learners may be able to hear some peers better than others, depending on the volume they speak at and how much they enunciate. • If there is a lot of background noise, this can make listening more difficult. If there is too much background noise in the place where you are teaching, then try to minimise this. For example, when not using a projector or tape recorder, switch them off so that the fan stops making noise. • When asking students to open their books, pause for a second, as the class may make a lot of noise opening bags, getting out their text books and opening them. • Hearing aids amplify all sounds, so the teacher’s voice may be at the same volume as other incidental noises. 27 Hearing aid wearers cannot select which noises they wish to listen to like hearing people can. • If you are using audiological equipment, be discrete about it. Check that it is working by looking at the student and waiting for them to give you a nod or thumbs up. • If the learner is using a radio aid, then they will only hear the person using the microphone. So unless the microphone is passed around they will not hear their peers. Another strategy is for the teacher to repeat any contributions from others. • When making last minute announcements at the end of the class, make sure to write them down as learners are likely to be making a lot of noise packing up their belongings after the class too. The role of support staff T he ‘human aids’ who help deaf people to communicate are often referred to in educational circles as ‘support staff’. The term ‘support staff’ is used very broadly here to refer to staff other than the foreign language teacher and foreign language assistants who are supporting the deaf or hearing impaired learner. They 28 could have a direct function in the classroom or an indirect support role in terms of advising teachers. Examples of job titles of specialist personnel are note-taker, electronic note-taker, lip-speaker, sign language interpreter, communication support worker, learning needs assistant, classroom assistant for deaf student(s), teacher of the deaf, speech and language therapist, audiologist and there are many more. The roles and functions of these members of staff may be different from their job titles, for example a teacher of the deaf could act as a lip-speaker or note-taker in the classroom; there may be no specialist audiologist but the teacher of the deaf may take on that role; some interpreters may also lip-speak or note-take for part of the time. The job of a support worker is to assist you in including the deaf learner in the classroom learning environment. An effective working relationship and good team work can overcome most communication barriers. Deaf people use different types of support workers. Below are brief descriptions of their roles and functions. More information on working with support workers and what 29 teachers should consider prior to their first meeting with their support co-worker can be found in subsequent chapters. Note-takers Professional note-takers aim to write down everything that is being said in the classroom – like subtitles on the TV. They also aim to note informal information like jokes, stress, emphasis and contributions from other learners. Some deaf learners use notes as their main method of accessing information given in class. However, it is not possible to follow the rapid flow of speech whilst hand writing, as the delivery of spoken language is too fast. In order to note the majority of what is said the note-taker has to develop and agree strategies with the learner. In the foreign language classroom the note-taker will have to note and give access to any instructions given in L1 but may also be required to note instructions given in the L2. A good working knowledge of the L2 is therefore advisable, if not essential. Teachers can effectively work with note-takers by providing handouts, copies of notes and particularly lists of new vocabulary to be introduced in the class in advance of so they can annotate 30 these and therefore increase the amount of information learners can get. Electronic note-takers (Speech-to-text reporters) Like manual note-takers, electronic note-takers aim to note all that it said, verbatim, for the deaf learner to read from a screen. There are a number of speech-to-text systems which electronic notetakers use. It is useful for electronic note-takers to have a list of any new vocabulary to be introduced in advance of the class, so they can program keyboard shortcuts into their computer package. Sign language interpreters (SLIs) Interpreters undertake simultaneous translation from a spoken language into a signed language and vice versa. SLIs usually only work from one language into another, but in a foreign language classroom they are required to work in three languages: SL, L1 and L2. They need to translate the L1 instructions into SL, the responses of the learner from SL into L1 and support the learner in 31 their acquisition of L2. Teachers should bear in mind the following when working with a SLI: • Most sign languages have a different grammatical structure to their national spoken language, so an interpreter will have to wait until a sentence is finished before starting to interpret. • It is useful for interpreters if teachers speak at a normal pace. • All interpreting is tiring and interpreters who work on their own for long periods will need breaks. • There are few trained interpreters and even fewer who are fluent in three languages. • There are several other sign systems used in educational contexts, but the exact one agreed upon by learner and support worker need not concern the classroom teacher. Lip-speakers Lip-speakers repeat everything that is said, clearly and silently. Lip-speakers are aware of which sounds are invisible and which words are difficult to lip-read, and they assist deaf people by clarifying these using finger spelling and some gestures. 32 If the lip-speaker is skilled in the L2, then they may lip-speak in both languages. However, their accent in L2 may be different from that of the teacher. This may require acknowledgment and accommodation during assessment. Cued Speech Cued Speech is a method of illustrating speech sounds, using hand shapes. Different hand shapes are used to supplement lip-reading, to show each consonant and vowel shape. Because cueing makes speech sounds visible, there are cueing systems for different languages and accents. Working with support staff: aspects of good practice • In class, always speak to the deaf learner, not their support worker. • Each type of support worker will require different seating arrangements. For example, a note-taker will have to sit next to the deaf learner, whilst an interpreter will need to 33 face them. Allow the support worker to seat themselves and make allowances for their space requirements in the classroom. This may include making space for laptops in the case of electronic note-taking. • When confirming understanding, allow a little time lag for interpreting or noting, so the deaf students' understanding can be ascertained too. • Assist the support worker practically by repeating what other students say to clarify difficult to understand accents and correcting mistakes. • All support work is tiring, and when working for long stretches, support workers may need a break. These can be built into the lesson plan, by giving exercises which learners undertake on their own. • It is essential to take a team approach with a support worker and to discuss strategies for supporting deaf learners with them. After a few sessions ask for feedback from the support worker and the learner as to how your team approach is working for all concerned. 34 PART TWO: TEACHING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE TO DEAF LEARNERS The place of foreign languages in the curricula E ntitlement of all citizens to language learning opportunities is now established in many parts of the world. In spite of this, even where foreign languages are seen as an important, even compulsory, part of school curricula, deaf learners do not always have the opportunity to take part in such classes. Educators are sometimes tempted to assume that, since L1 is already creating problems for deaf learners, there is little point in adding L2 to their burden. This assumption takes no account of the evidence that deaf learners can be successful language learners. (For example, of 51 deaf candidates presented for Scottish National Qualifications in Modern Languages in 2005, only one was unsuccessful; almost half of the others (23) obtained the top grade available at their level.) 35 A recent survey of Scottish special schools and units in mainstream schools (McColl et al., 2002) found that access to foreign language learning for learners with additional support needs was variable. Despite recognition of learners’ skills and their ability to benefit from language learning programmes, access often depended on other factors, such staff and parental attitudes, the availability of appropriate staff and certificated curricula at appropriate levels. Educational institutions have reacted to this situation in different ways. In the UK, some special schools have excluded foreign languages from the curriculum altogether, and in some mainstream schools individual deaf learners have been withdrawn from foreign language classes in order to allow time for individual support work in other areas of the curriculum (Tucker and Powell,1991, p. 147). Other institutions have chosen to introduce British Sign Language as an alternative to a European spoken language (although McColl et al. (2002) note that this opportunity has only rarely been extended to hearing learners in the school). And in some institutions offering bilingual programmes, the national spoken language may be taught as a second language with the national sign language being used as the language of instruction (see e.g. 36 Strong, 1988 for ASL and English, and Bouvet, 1990 for LSF and French). Where alternative arrangements such as these are not set up, the remaining option is for deaf learners to take part in mainstream foreign language classes. This is also often the option taken by students wishing to undertake foreign language classes beyond the compulsory curriculum, for example at university or in adult education. However, these classes do not expressly cater for deaf students and the institution may therefore be required to make reasonable adjustments and accommodations to facilitate access. Mainstreaming Where possible, in the case of mainstreaming, a specialist teacher or teaching assistant is appointed to work alongside the foreign language teacher, or the deaf learner is provided with such human and/or technological help as may be required in order to ensure access to the mainstream curriculum. In practice, however, human resources are limited, especially where familiarity with a foreign language is desirable. The deaf learner may well find him/herself dependant for some or all of the time on the foreign language 37 teacher’s ability and willingness to make necessary adjustments to the teaching process. In the past, many teachers had low expectations for deaf learners, seeing the subject as too challenging or too difficult for them, and advising them to concentrate on other areas of the curriculum. But we know that deaf people often do succeeded in learning one or more foreign languages so none should be denied the right to high quality, accessible language study. Davis, Smith and Moore (Date unknown) state that in the foreign language classroom teachers should "find a way to accommodate the student without lowering your expectations". Although in this book the term ‘deaf learner' has been used as an umbrella term, in reality individual learners vary widely in terms of their hearing loss, preferred language and previous educational experience. Deaf learners are individuals with individual preferences, talents and ambitions, and many of those with a hearing loss will want to learn all the four communication skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. Some learners may choose only to learn to read and write in a foreign language, but will probably also want to learn to lip-read simple spoken language. Generally, all learners should attempt all tasks set by a teacher and 38 enabling strategies should be sought in the first instance. Where a deaf learner cannot undertake a task then an educationally equivalent one should be offered so that they can progress at the same pace as their hearing peers. All this imposes considerable demands not only on the deaf learner but also on the foreign language teacher. To date, little practical advice for mainstream foreign language teachers has been available. We hope the remainder of this chapter will go some way towards rectifying that by indicating the kind of adjustments that can be made by the teacher, and by advising on how best to make use of whatever specialist expertise is available. The language learning environment: challenges and opportunities The language learning environment is a challenge to all concerned. The first challenge may even be to persuade people that it is possible for deaf students to learn in this environment. We should first consider where the challenges and the opportunities will be. 39 Language is the focus as well as the medium Challenges: • Both form and meaning of foreign language vocabulary/structure may present difficulties. • The deaf learner’s first language may not be shared with the rest of the class. • Even where L1 (the language of instruction) is the deaf learner’s first language, it may have been imperfectly acquired/learned and so may provide only a shaky foundation for foreign language learning. Opportunities: • All learners start at same level and will make mistakes in pronunciation etc., which can be encouraging for deaf learners. • Learning the structure of a new language and being explicitly taught vocabulary can have benefits for the acquisition of L1 too. This allows for a discussion on cultural and linguistic diversity in a less charged environment. 40 Technology is widely used Challenge: • Resources are not always designed inclusively and rely on ability to hear. Opportunity: • New amplification equipment, new ways of making speech visible, subtitling and the spread of DVDs, electronic notetaking and interactive web/computer-based activities can all be used to support the deaf learner. Emphasis on collaborative activities Challenge: • Ensuring that other learners can be understood. Deaf people often have a different view of the world and learning activities can assume a background knowledge that deaf learners may not have because their access to 41 other curriculum subjects, the mainstream media or incidental information, has been restricted. Opportunity: • Foreign language learning involves learning with, from and about other people; this can expose deaf learners to new ideas and perspectives, perhaps for the first time. Layout of the language classroom can be different from other classrooms Challenge: • Language lab-type environments, whether old-fashioned sitting in rows with built-in tape decks or newer computerbased labs, can create visual barriers for deaf students. Acoustics may have been considered as part of the language lab design, but often aren’t. Using ordinary classrooms as language rooms requires often restricts sight-lines for deaf learners. 42 Opportunity: • Good acoustics and visibility are important for all learners and language teachers may be more aware the needs of all students to facilitate this. All learners will benefit from seeing each other. Improving sound and vision for deaf learners will benefit all learners. Affective issues It is well known that the student’s motivation, self-confidence and anxiety level can affect their language learning (see e.g. Richards and Rodgers, 2001, p. 183). Deaf students’ previous educational experiences may be a factor here. For example, if students have previously been educated in small classes together with other deaf students, they may be anxious about being the only deaf student in a large class. Some students may not feel confident about using their voice because they are worried they may not be understood. Both teachers and support workers have a role in ensuring that the student can take full part in classroom activities but is not pressured. Below are some of the barriers which may have to be overcome. 43 Technological assistance Those learners who normally use hearing aids and are able to hear sounds in the speech range may benefit from technical aids such as radio aids or induction loops in the classroom. It is likely that many students will not be able to rely on sound alone and other adjustments will therefore need to be made to the layout of the classroom and the position of the teacher to enable the student to lip-read the teacher and other students. Students who do not use hearing aids or who cannot hear speech sounds will require any spoken message to be represented visually. In this case, lip-patterns alone will be unlikely to provide sufficient access. Support workers may therefore provide alternative visual input in a number of ways. Communication modes The preferred language of the student affects the type of support offered in two ways: 44 1. If students do not use sign language they will require the spoken information to be presented in written form or through a lip-speaker. Other students may choose to access the spoken message through a signed or fingerspelled form. 2. Foreign Language teachers sometimes make use of the students’ first language to explain features of the second language. Where English is L1, for example, this will be the language through which features of L2 will be explained. Depending on the L1 used, teachers may make assumptions about the types of errors that students are likely to make in L2. Deaf learners in the UK, for example, may use British Sign Language as their first language, and will therefore have a different profile from the other learners in their class. The teacher may need to be made aware of this and the support worker may need a good knowledge of British Sign Language grammatical features. 45 The ‘four modes’ (listening, speaking, reading, writing) Listening (NOTE: In this section ‘listening’ is taken to mean all the ways of absorbing information from speech, including hearing, lip-reading and seeing speech interpreted through a support worker). When listening to the foreign language, the deaf learner may have problems if he/she cannot hear certain frequencies. For example, not being able to hear a plural /s/ sound makes understanding English more complicated. Similarly, a person with a low frequency hearing loss will have more difficulty learning a language which relies heavily on low frequency vowel sounds. There is an added problem in that there are many endings which sound and look the same. For example, in French there are approximately 27 endings which sound more or less the same. Some of these are: é, ée, és, ées, ai, ais, ait, aient, et, est, aille. When lip-reading, the learner may have problems distinguishing between important phonemes which look the same, but sound different. Sometimes these phonemes can be the part of the word which denotes the tense or conjugation. For example, the following 46 verb endings in Spanish, though they sound different, look nearly identical on the lips: infinitive we - form -ar -amos -er -emos -ir -imos Accents and dialects can cause confusion in deaf learners, because they can affect lip patterns to such an extent. Traditionally, learners were introduced to standard or 'high' forms of a language, e.g. Hochdeutsch or received pronunciation, and this was useful for deaf learners as these accents are those which often resemble the written form of the language or are most represented in the media. However, when using a communicative method of language teaching, as is more usual nowadays, it is considered desirable to introduce learners to a range of accents. If this is the case, it is useful for deaf learners to be made aware of the accent or dialect change. Some other language features which can be problematic for some deaf learners are: 47 • Paralinguistic features. For example, speaking in a 'breathy' or 'husky' way is a sign of respect in Japan, but can be impossible to 'see' when lip-reading. • Onomatopoeia. This is based on sound, so care should be taken when assuming learners will be able to detect the meaning of a word from its sound origin. • Borrowed words. For example, the Spanish words 'jersey', 'suéter'. These are given a local pronunciation despite having a similar written form to their English origins, and therefore look very different on the lips. • Prosodic features. E.g. shouting, question-rise, intonation can also be difficult to see or hear. • Accents (e.g. í, é). These can be difficult to recognise and reproduce. In Spanish, for example, they can change the meaning of a word. • Homographs (the same spelling of a word, but with different meanings) and homophones (words which sound the same but are spelt differently). 48 Speaking Some deaf people choose not to use their voice and may only want to learn to read, write and listen/lip-read the foreign language. Where this is the case, teachers should respect the choice of the deaf person and enable them to concentrate on their aims and develop an enabling curriculum which assesses the knowledge and skills of the learner fairly. Where deaf learners do want to learn to speak the language, it is important that they do so effectively. In order to develop effective pronunciation they may need some additional time with a language assistant, the tutor, support worker, a teacher of the deaf or a speech and language therapist. Practical arrangements to make this possible may need to be discussed with the educational organisation, support service provider or funding body. Some issues to bear in mind: • Some deaf learners will be less confident when speaking in front of peers. Be sensitive with any learners who feels this way and discuss this with the learner in advance. 49 • Group chants may be difficult for deaf learners who may not know if their time keeping is the same as other students'. Hearing aids may be rendered useless during these chants due to the noise level they create. • Tone languages, like Chinese, can be difficult for deaf learners. They may find it difficult to monitor their pronunciation of tones and therefore inadvertently make mistakes in L2. • Prosodic features, e.g. exclamation, question-rise or intonation can also be difficult to accurately produce. Reading Written language is not like spoken language. It is more formal, there are fewer redundancies, grammatical mistakes, colloquialisms, etc. What deaf students see in conversations may be difficult to link to what they read. It is worth informing or discussing with learners the type of written material being studied. Writing Although there are fewer issues for deaf learners with reading and writing than with listening or speaking, there may, in some cases be the following issues: 50 • Because learners cannot tell from watching, (or listening to) stress, they may not be able to place accents (e.g. í, é) correctly. • Similarly, hearing where punctuation should be placed can be difficult. For example, in Spanish and French, questions can be formed without question tags, simply by using question-rise. • Dictation can be difficult for deaf learners until they have become accustomed to, and confident in, working with speech sounds of L2. • Translating from one language to the other can be more laborious if the learner needs to work through a third language (i.e. sign language). Language teaching approaches and their impact on deaf learners Language learning is generally thought of as consisting of four main skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. When considering the needs of deaf learners it is useful to divide these into oral/aural (speaking and listening) and visual skills (reading and writing). In theory, at least, the visual skills should be easier 51 for the deaf learner to acquire than the oral/aural skills, but whether this proves true in practice will depend on the context in which the skills are acquired. It will still be necessary, for example, even when engaged in working with texts, for the learner to receive teaching and instructions orally from the teacher, to discuss content and to answer questions. The prime rule for supporting deaf learners in any of the four skills, as well as in vocabulary or grammar work, is to find ways of making the language visible in order to compensate for audiological difficulties. In a sense, this is what sign language does, but not all learners use sign language and even where they do, it has its limitations as far as learning spoken languages are concerned. Fortunately there are many other ways of ‘capturing’ language and making it visible; many of the strategies referred to throughout this book are about doing just that. This chapter deals with broader approaches commonly used in language learning and shows how adding a visual dimension to teaching and learning activities can benefit not only your deaf learner but other members of the class as well. 52 Multi-sensory learning Much is made these days of learning styles and the importance of matching activities to individual learners’ preferred styles. It might be considered counter-productive, however, if not impossible, to differentiate tasks to such an extent that every learner could work all the time in their preferred style. We all need to be able to learn effectively in many different ways; thus, an exposure to a range of stimuli helps to develop learners who can respond flexibly to the learning inherent in any context. The way we acquire learning is through our senses: eyes, ears, mouth, nose, sense of touch and being touched; and through hand or body movements (as when we practise a practical skill). The more of our senses that can be brought to bear on a learning task, the more effectively we are likely to learn it and the more likely we are to be able to recall the information when we need it. Traditionally, language learning has tended to be text based and to make most use of the aural and oral sensory channels, exactly the channels where the deaf learner is likely to experience impaired reception. For deaf learners, as well as for other ‘visual’ learners, 53 adding a picture or graphic element or a kinetic activity to illustrate the point being made can enhance learning significantly. Examples: • When a new word or expression is introduced, write it on the board, preferably in both languages. • If possible, point to an object or a picture of the object; carry out or mime an action. • Produce a graph or diagram to illustrate a grammar point; write examples on the board. • When giving instructions, write the important information on the board (e.g. page and exercise numbers, date due, etc.). • Use dice, cards, games of all sorts to add a kinetic element to learning. • Consider using colour to make points stand out more readily. A common use of colour in language learning is to use blue for masculine nouns and red for feminine ones, perhaps green for neuter, but there are many other ways of using colour to highlight specific language patterns. For example, foreign language vocabulary can be written in black, then how it is said in red and the meaning in blue. 54 In short, what ever the activity is, ask yourself what senses are employed and see if there is a way to enhance the task by involving other senses too. Phonetics and phonetic transcription each provide a way of capturing sound in writing. An early introduction to the phonetic system of the language being learned will benefit all learners. For those learners familiar with the International Phonetic Alphabet, there will be even more benefits as the sounds peculiar to the language being learned can be indicated with greater precision. It is worth finding out if your learner already has experience with this and building on it. Intonation and rhythm are important aspects of speech. They can be indicated manually as well as vocally, and again, many learners will benefit, especially if they can be encouraged to mimic the gestures as well as the sounds. You may be able to arrange access to computer technology which can provide on screen graphic representation of the frequencies of voiced input. This allows teacher and learner to compare their speech output graphically. 55 Communicative approaches, including use of the target language for classroom management Traditional text-based approaches and formal grammar lessons can often be easier for deaf learners to cope with than more active and informal approaches, but the needs of other learners may dictate a communicative approach. Provided strategies for making the language as visible as possible are put in place, and provided you are alert to expressions of puzzlement or incomprehension on the part of the deaf learner, serious problems should not arise. Mime, demonstrate, point, use facial expression, and expressive gesture to illustrate and underpin the spoken language. A poster reminding learners of frequent commands can provide a useful point of reference. Teaching grammar As ever, the aim is to make language as visible as possible, so write examples on the board, use coloured chalks or pens to emphasise grammatical functions, use grids and frameworks to show how language works. Make sure that materials you develop for this purpose remain on view or are otherwise available for future reference. 56 Some software packages support word animation which allows comparisons of word order to be made in interesting and comprehensible ways (e.g. Microsoft’s PowerPoint). Where ‘hi-tech’ solutions are not available, cards and dice such as those produced by MLG Publishing and other suppliers can help to demonstrate and practise word order and verb endings – both can be difficult for deaf learners to grasp, particularly learners whose first language is sign language. In researching this book, we heard of a learner whose first language is BSL, learning German. His teacher illustrated graphically for the class the difference between German and English word order. This was so successful that the deaf learner’s English improved as well as his German. He explained to the teacher that it was the first time he had seen a graphic explanation of word order in English. 57 Co-operative and peer learning One foreign language teacher reported to us that when she started to incorporate group work to her teaching, the deaf learner who had up until then been coping well, stopped participating. The more sources of sound there are in the classroom, the more difficult it will be for the deaf learner to cope. So if you tend to go in for paired speaking or group work, be aware that this will cause additional problems for your deaf student and take steps to mitigate these. Strategies for helping this situation are dealt with in detail elsewhere, but briefly, some, or all, of the following can help: • Find a quiet spot nearby where the deaf learner’s pair/group can work quietly. • If the deaf learner agrees, provide ‘deaf awareness’ training for the class or group, emphasising turn-taking, signalling who is speaking, the need to address the deaf learner directly, etc. • Conferencing technology might help, but training and practice will be needed for the whole group. 58 Information Communications Technology (ICT ) and Individualised learning ICT provides solutions to many of the problems faced by learners who have special educational needs, because: • it is multi-sensory (pictures, text, sound, animation, etc); • it puts them in control of their own learning; • learning is active/interactive; • chunks can be repeated or re-read as necessary; • feedback and sometimes remediation is available without delay; • learners can learn at their own pace without fear of ridicule or impatience; • sound can be enhanced; • some language labs have facilities for learners to compare their own voice with that of the teacher, and some even have visual displays of voice patterns for learners to mimic. Further information from BECTA: How to use ICT to support deaf learners http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section=tl&catcode=as_inc _sup_03&rid=607 59 Teaching styles and use of course books No two teachers teach in exactly the same way. It will have been clear from the above notes that life for deaf learners of foreign languages (and their support workers) is considerably easier if the teacher uses a single course book in a regular and predictable fashion, but this is not always the case. Some teachers prefer to make ad hoc selections from a range of materials with a view to providing interest and variety; some rely on their own ingenuity and performance skills; others use a mixture of different styles in response to learners’ preferences, needs and even moods! So, if choice is available, place a deaf learner with a well-organised member of staff who uses a course book in a systematic and predictable way, provided, of course, that the teacher in question is also sympathetic to the needs of the deaf learner. Where a more active and informal mode is prevalent, make sure the teacher understands the need for forward planning so that as much advance information as possible can be provided for the learners and his/her support worker. 60 Course planning A note on differentiation D ifferentiating the curriculum to take account of the specific learning needs of students in the class is a process most teachers now take for granted, but what is meant by the term ‘differentiation’? Depending on which manual you read or which guru you listen to, there may be varying numbers of ways to do the job (the ‘ten aspects’ or ‘the twelve dimensions’, etc.) Text books, particularly at secondary level, may be claim to be ‘differentiated’ because they offer three routes: the general class route intended for the majority of learners; extension work for those who finish quickly or need more of a challenge; and remedial material for those who need more practice before moving on. None of these, of course, can take account of the specific needs of all varieties of learner who may sit in front of the teacher on a specific occasion, so looking first at the desired outcome and then at the learner we are concerned about can give a better clue about the input needed. Looked at from this point of view, we might say that... 61 ... effective differentiation is any measure which enables a learner who was at risk of failing in a given task to complete it successfully. As far as possible, teachers aim to be pro-active; that is, to anticipate the problems that might arise and to put in place measures to circumvent them. Not all problems can be anticipated, however, so the need for supplementary measures will almost certainly occur, when it becomes apparent that a learner is still struggling despite our best efforts. Intervention at the time may be possible (e.g. by repeating a point, by providing help for a particular learner, by attempting to clarify a point, by giving a little more time, etc.) but sometimes one-to-one assistance may be needed which is difficult for the teacher to provide in class. For certain learners, and for deaf learners in particular, the need for one-to-one remedial assistance can be anticipated, and should be planned for as part of the differentiation process. The process of differentiation, then, spans three main ‘time zones’: 62 Before each lesson: • anticipating likely problems and putting in place measures to circumvent them; • planning teaching strategies which will maximise the learner’s chances of success; • anticipating that other problems are likely to arise which cannot be planned for in advance, and putting in place opportunities for recovering the situation. During each lesson: • implementing the planned teaching strategies; • being alert to difficulties as they arise and responding to them as needed within the limitations of the situation; • taking note of the difficulties that arise which will need to be dealt with later. After each lesson (or block of lessons): • providing regular opportunities for deaf learners on a oneto-one basis to resolve issues which have arisen. These ‘tutorials’ should be with whoever is best placed to assist: 63 the class teacher, the foreign language assistant, the support worker or another member of the support team. What does this mean for a deaf learner? Not all of the following points will apply to the age and stage you teach or to your style of teaching. If you have printed out this page, we suggest that you read the following section with a highlighter pen in your hand, marking off those that are relevant to you and your deaf learner. You might also find it valuable to look at the section on practical solutions to specific situations, which will allow you to analyse any issues which deaf learners may have in certain learning situations and exercises. At the end of this section you will find a planning grid that you might find useful for noting down important points emerging from these discussions. Advance planning The more you can find out now, the more effective your planning will be and the more likely it is that the deaf learner will be 64 successful in your class. Here are some steps you can take to preempt possible difficulties. 1. The course book Look out the course book you are planning to use and make sure there is a copy for both learner and support worker. Also look out for any teacher’s books that go with the course you are planning to use. Though you may not use it any more, it is likely to contain tape-scripts and other material which would be very useful to the learner and her/his support worker. 2. Information about the learner’s deafness Find out as much as possible about the deaf learner. Find out, for example: • how severe the deafness is; • at what age the learner has become deaf, and whether this has affected acquisition of first language (L1); • whether the learner’s first language is a spoken or a signed language; 65 • how the learner normally communicates with the hearing world; • what personal technology the learner uses (hearing aids etc.) and how effective this is; • whether, in general, he/she finds men’s or women’s voices easier to hear; • what support is being suggested; • if the learner has had previous experience of foreign language learning. 3. The learner in person If possible, arrange to meet the learner before the first lesson. This meeting will allow you • to form a rapport with the learner; • to appreciate first hand the learner’s strengths and difficulties in terms of personal communication; • to find out the aims the deaf learner has in learning the foreign language. • to demonstrate your concern for the learner’s welfare and progress in your class (s/he may be feeling apprehensive) and to assure him/her that you will do all you can to help; 66 • to find out if the learner has previous experience of foreign language learning, and if so how it went; to discuss what was good and what was bad about the arrangements as far as the learner was concerned; to determine whether the learner has a previous knowledge of phonetic transcription which could be used to advantage; • to provide a copy of the course book you will be using and, if possible a copy of the teacher’s book. If learners have to buy their own course books, show copies and make sure the learner knows what to buy. • to discuss what additional help can be provided and what the learner should do to access it; • to find out if the learner has any specific concerns which you can talk over together. 4. Support Find out who will be supporting the deaf learner and make an arrangement to meet before the first class takes place. The support worker will be very familiar with the types of problems faced by deaf learners and how they can best be assisted, so this is an opportunity to ask for advice and information. You and the support worker will be acting as a team from now on, so your discussion is 67 the beginning of a working relationship. As well as covering any points not previously answered, the discussion should cover the following points: • What strategies will the support worker use to help the student to understand what is said L1? • Does the support worker have any knowledge of L2? • What strategies will the support worker use to help the student to know what has been said in L2? (Understanding what has been said is the responsibility of the student.) • What strategies, if any are needed, will the support worker use to help the student to communicate orally in L1 and L2? • What other problems is the learner likely to face, and what strategies could be used to mitigate the problems? For more information see the Practical solutions to specific situations chapter. • Try to anticipate together what problems may arise in connection with assessment activities. Organisations responsible for formal examinations usually have special arrangements that can be put in place to help candidates with disabilities, but these need to be applied for well 68 before the date of the examination. If this is difficult to assess at present, make a note to review the situation when you have a better idea of the problems likely to arise. • Provide a copy of (or, at least, information about) any course book you intend to use. And provide (or draw attention to) the teacher’s book. • What technology will be used to assist the deaf learner? If new to you, is there an opportunity for you to familiarise yourself with this before using it in class? • How is the student likely to cope with whatever language learning technology that will be used during the course (e.g. Audio tapes, video/CD presentations, language lab, AA or PALE systems)? • How will the learner interact with other learners in the class? Are there any measures that need to be taken (e.g. ‘deaf awareness’ training for the class as a whole – teacher as well as learners)? • What conditions will the support worker require in order to work most effectively with the learner? Where will she/he sit/stand? What limitations are there on the length of time the support worker can work etc. • Make firm and clear arrangements for the first lesson so that you both know, as far as possible, what to expect. 69 • Agree to meet after the first lesson in order to review arrangements and to make whatever adjustments required in the light of experience. 5. The learning environment • Consider the rooms you will be teaching in. Are there some that are acoustically better than others? Are any of them fitted with a loop or other devices which might help? Are any of them particularly noisy, perhaps overlooking a busy road, or the canteen loading bay? Are any of them carpeted, which would help to deaden sounds of furniture and feet? • Consider the staff who will be teaching the deaf learner. Beards and moustaches obscure lip patterns, so a cleanshaven teacher would be better. Who speaks most calmly and clearly? • Do you often get your learners to work in pairs or groups? If so, see if there are any quiet areas nearby where you can send your deaf learner and group to work. • Can you provide a quiet room for the deaf learner to work on listening tasks or assessments? 70 • What are the implications of the above for timetabling and room allocation? Are there steps you need to make now in order to make sure that appropriate rooms are available when you want them? 6. Teaching styles Finally, give some thought to your normal teaching style and to the way you normally handle your class. Which of the teaching/learning activities are likely to be most difficult for your deaf learner to cope with? What strategies can you put in place to mitigate the effects of these? Sometimes quite small adjustments to normal practice can make an immense difference to deaf learners’ chances of success, but change can be implemented more comfortably if it is planned in advance. Lesson delivery Provide, for the learner and for the support worker, as much information as you can about the content of the lesson. This will allow the learner to come well prepared and able to concentrate on the action and interaction for which no preparation is possible. You might provide, for example: 71 • lesson or lecture notes, including lesson plan if possible; • texts and/or diagrams that will be encountered in the course of the lesson; • tapes or other resources that you plan to use; • tape-scripts; • details of workshops or other learning tasks; • if there is a course book, what pages will be covered; • vocabulary lists or other handouts. Consider the activities you have planned for the lesson and try to anticipate how your deaf learner will respond. Where problems seem likely to occur you may be able to put in simple supports which will make the task more meaningful to the deaf learner. At the beginning of the lesson... • If technology is in place to aid the deaf learner, make sure it is switched on and working. • Make sure that you, the deaf learner and support worker are positioned as agreed. In particular, pay attention to sources of light, including windows. Neither you nor the support worker should have your backs to the light or your faces will be in 72 shadow, depriving the learner of facial clues and making lip reading difficult or impossible. During the lesson • Try always to remain within the deaf learner’s line of sight, both so that you can be seen and heard as clearly as possible, and so that you can watch for signs of incomprehension and take the necessary steps to clarify or help. • Speak clearly and steadily (not fast or slow). • Where possible, use facial and other gestures to clarify meaning. • If you turn round to write on the board or other device, or if you have to lower the lights to watch a presentation, make sure that instructions are complete first. If you continue talking in the dark or with your back to the learner, your points will be lost. It will be as if your voice has been switched off. • If other learners speak, try to provide some indication of who is speaking so that the deaf learner has the best chance of following the interaction (e.g. point or gesture towards the speaker.) Try to keep the pace of the interaction steady; a quick-fire question and answer session will be impossible for the learner to follow. Repeating any learner contribution which 73 is not clearly articulated is helpful for all learners, but especially deaf learners. • Don’t expect the deaf learner to listen and take notes at the same time. • If you set homework, make sure your deaf learner knows exactly what to do and what is expected. Write down references on the board. At the end of the lesson... Find out from the deaf learner and support worker if any specific problems have arisen. In particular, find out what the learner wants to cover in the one-to-one tutorial you have organised. Be prepared to make adjustments in the light of feedback, provided that these do not interfere with the work of other learners (though this is unlikely). Finally, a few more tips: • Introduce language structures by drawing attention to similarities, then point out the differences. E.g. English and Spanish have the same word order, but adjective is after, not before, the noun. 74 • Avoid excessive reliance on a dictionary. • It is vital for deaf students to learn some grammar, as they will be less able to pick it up from conversation and to draw parallels to their own language. Make even less assumptions as to what prior knowledge deaf learners have. • Make sure that instructions in L1 are not so complicated that learner and support worker cannot understand them. The support worker may be trying to draw parallels to the grammar of a signed language, so thinking in three languages simultaneously. • Make sure there is reading material available at all levels so learners can progress at their own pace. This is particularly relevant if a deaf learner needs to substitute listening tasks with reading tasks. Literature supported by visuals is good, but it is useful to have these visuals to match the age of the learner. • Use class topics the learner is familiar with as they will then be able to concentrate on the language, rather than trying to work out what is happening. Use headings and subheadings to guide learners as context is really helpful. • If you know of good language learning strategies advise the learners of these. For example, make them aware of 75 annotating texts, flash cards with L2 on one side and L1 (or a picture) on the other. • English-speaking deaf students are often taught AngloSaxon words, rather than their Latinate equivalents, as these are often perceived as easier. This makes learning Romance language more difficult in comparison to their hearing peers. The planning grid You may have already looked at the http://www.judithmole.net/ForeignLanguageMatrix.doc matrix at which summarises many of the points covered in this book. If not, it would be a good idea to take a quick look at it now. Unlike the matrix, which attempts to provide ideas to help all types of learners in many different situations, the blank planning grid provided at the end of the matrix will allow you to describe the challenges which will face your particular learner and to record the specific strategies you plan to adopt to help the learner to meet those challenges. Use it firstly as a jotter to help you to collect the information you need, and then as a tool to focus your discussions 76 with the learner, support worker and others, and finally as an action plan. The completed grid may also serve as: • a record of decisions made; • an individual education plan for the deaf learner in modern languages; • a formal or informal record of measures you have agreed with others; • a means of evaluating progress at interim points in the course; • a means of updating plans for future implementation; • and you may well find other uses. 77 Case Study: A language teacher's perspective by Claire Özel, Disability Support Coordinator, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. http://engelsiz.metu.edu.tr This article was first published by Humanising Language Teaching online newsletter at http://www.hltmag.co.uk/mar04/mart1.htm. Claire is the first Disability Support Coordinator at a Turkish University and this post and her appointment are the direct result of her work with Emine. The following is a very personal account of a foreign language teacher who was asked to work with a deaf learner for the first time. A common learner type is that of the ‘reasonably able but fairly reluctant', one who has not chosen the experience but has no choice in the matter: the language simply must be learnt. Analysis of the frame of mind of such a learner is often reduced to ‘lack of motivation'. This article considers the situation of such a learner as reflected through experience with a hearing-impaired learner. Contrasting the response of an impaired learner with that of unimpaired peers highlights factors that might otherwise not attract attention (Thomas, 2001). Observations are then seen to have parallels in other situations. This account is a subjective reflection on similarities between my own experience years ago as a language learner and what I now see again in learners with disabilities. Two years ago I was asked before the start of the semester if I would take on a deaf learner. I had had a number of experiences with visually impaired learners but had no idea how I would manage this virtual opposite. While I had developed strategies to teach with minimal visual cues (Thomas, 2000), I would now have to maximise visual input, perfect blackboard use and remember never to talk while facing the board. Looking on the bright side, I felt I would not do worse than other teachers and I might learn something from the challenge. As I had guessed, she was the silent one who crept up to me at break to attempt to explain her situation to yet another new teacher. At least I was open, but I was a foreigner, the first she had ever met. For the first few weeks I took extensive notes about my observations, thoughts and feelings. I had no one to turn to, no experts to consult, and no texts to read. Emine and I simply had a go together, uncertain how to respond to each other, how much to trust or to demand. She knew what she could do and I had some idea of what she should be able to do; or so we thought. Over the next four months we were to readjust our expectations, break limits and surprise ourselves as we discovered a path towards realistic options. 79 Unaware of the complexity of factors, the implications of details, variations in mood or responses to events, I made assumptions, some inappropriate, some too definite. Emine was not a stereotype of ‘deafness'; she was a person with the richness of a human character, who happens to be insensitive to certain wavelengths. A number of my assumptions turned out to be based on myths (see www.engelsiz.metu.edu.tr). Others originated from the comments of colleagues, who summed up their 'special' learner in a couple of words: “Fine”, “No problems”; a learner was reduced to less than a sentence. Were these unsupported colleagues more capable than me? Or were they hiding their lack of confidence or competence behind a protective mask, denying reality, not wanting to look at the details for fear of seeing something they could not handle? I did not feel fine… As I endeavored to see deeper than the immediately obvious and to understand the position in the class of this learner with a difference, I had a growing sense of ‘déja vu'. Attempting to empathise with Emine, I found myself recalling my early experiences of living in Turkey, specifically those relating to the loneliness and occasional despair of one attempting to express needs and opinions in another language. Emine herself commented that she often feels she is among people speaking a 80 different language. I retrieved my 1991 notebook. Tackling the beginnings of what has now become my everyday means of communication, I had jotted down gut feelings and emotional outbursts triggered by linguistic immersion; while the front of the notebook recorded the language taught, the back still bristled with emotion. Thirteen years ago, I was the semi-aware subject; I am now more experienced. More importantly, this time I was not directly the prime subject; indirectly involved, I was less susceptible to the emotional reactions that upset rational thinking. Emine's specific situation has allowed me to identify a number of points which may go unnoticed in a regular classroom but affect the learning process. Where her situation has mirrored mine, she has shed light on the challenges, the sensitivities and the needs of learners in general. In the following text, extracts from my 1991 notes are in italics to contrast with recent reflections based on my notes while teaching Emine, both in terms of the situation of a learner with disability and that of regular language learners, and also of how I see my role as a teacher. Meaning: Without language, no information is received, so I'm vulnerable. 81 As an adult language learner 13 years ago, I was suddenly made aware of how restricted language competence limited my options. Likewise, Emine's communication, specifically her auditory reception, is severely limited. By the time she lost her hearing at the age of 10, she was fluent in her mother tongue: her linguistic processing is not impaired. In my case, though I had access to the sounds I could not process them. The end result is the same: neither of us could access meaning or information. As Emine's teacher, an early step was to create complementary communication. I had become aware that her lack of confidence stemmed partially from lack of certainty about what was going on in the class. To resolve this, we agreed on a number of discreet signals for communicating in class. This personalised sign language was not only a means of communication but also bonding and valuing of the individual. As her confidence grew, I relaxed, but not before noting that the need for information applied in both directions. While Emine clearly needed access to the material taught, I realised I had a more subtle need for feedback. As a teacher, I need to know whether what I am presenting is reaching its target. Without feedback from the learners in my class, I am liable to 82 making incorrect assumptions about their learning. Until teaching Emine, I had not consciously valued learners' facial expressions and postures, which reveal so much: the busy ‘processing' mind, the confused, the ‘Aha!' satisfied, the bored… While working with Emine, I was able to understand why the inscrutable few were undermining my confidence, and thus affecting my teaching. The silent and the motionless were giving me no idea of whether I had explained enough, not enough or too much. The passivity of these marble statues drew energy from me as I scrutinised for indicators and attempted to chisel beneath the mask. Huntington (1987), a specialist working with the parents of young children with disability, describes the concept of ‘readability', namely the extent to which behaviours are clearly defined and produce distinctive signals and cues. When a young child provides less than average feedback about their feelings and needs, the parent is less likely to be able to satisfy the child. In a similar manner, as a teacher, I rely on feedback, verbal or otherwise, to be able to satisfy the learners facing me. With this understanding, I am now able to explain to such learners my need for them to let me know, at least with a blink of the eyelids, that they have grasped the point, so that I may move on. 83 Skills and strategies: I'm not aware of what to do. Thirteen years ago I was aware of my desire to speak or at least to communicate, of the inadequacy of the teaching, of my helplessness, but without knowledge or guide I could go no further. Learners go through stages of awareness, progressing from lack of awareness, to awareness of lack of direction, on to awareness of direction and finally awareness of goal: the classic ‘unconscious incompetent - conscious incompetent - conscious competent - unconscious competent'. Thirteen years ago I was at the second stage. Aware of not knowing what to do, I was attempting to discover my own path, one most certainly previously traveled by others. As Emine's teacher, I was able to see her need to develop compensatory strategies. The strategies Emine needed to learn relate not only to learning skills directly related to language acquisition, but also more general abilities that allow individuals to function effectively in society. While working with disabilities is a complex task, far beyond the remit of an unsupported language teacher, the need for compensatory strategies so obvious in learners with special needs may also be seen in the majority of learners. How many of our regular learners come with a full range 84 of well-balanced learning skills? Wouldn't many benefit from a course in learning skills? In special education, skills that are incidentally learnt by most children are scrutinised so that they can be explicitly taught, e.g. to visually impaired children (Wolffe, 1999). At university level, a number of institutions now offer services to learners with disabilities to enable them to function effectively in a system designed for the majority. In an ideal education system, broad and flexible enough to address the needs of any learner, a counsellor would assist each learner in analysing the skills they have mastered and consider ways of improving or compensating for the lesser-developed skills. In an ideal EFL situation, all learners would be counselled in skills to be developed or compensated for. The disinterested majority: Monolinguals - people who only know their mother tongue - have no understanding of what I'm experiencing. The situation of a language learner is alien to monolinguals. Likewise few non-disabled people are aware of the implications of disability. How much do the majority need to know about those who are different? How much does the minority need to 85 explain? Language learning is not simply a logical process. Like all aspects of learning, it is susceptible to the effects of the chemicals that can flood through the blood stream at the flash of a threat or the excitement of stimulation. These chemicals (cortisol, adrenalin and others) modulate all experiences (Jensen, 1998). While the logical learning process can be read about in books, for a fuller understanding of the learning experience, a teacher needs to feel the rush of excitement or the suddenly blank memory when under threat, and recognise that performance fluctuations may be beyond learner control. As language teachers, we've all been requested to begin learning a foreign language, to experience a little of our learners' fear, excitement, confusion and insecurity. Empathy is based on experience not just on theory: it demands getting into the person rather than simply observing the outside with logic; it involves emotions. Simulation, even brief, can generate a flow of emotions that can then be analysed. Although Emine spoke in front of the class only once in four months, her fifteen minute oral presentation about ‘Living with deafness” was for many the most memorable time of that semester. Greater empathy reduces the risk of jumping to conclusions based on the 86 visual shell, without consideration for what might be behind the mask. Process: Bilinguals, people fully conversant in both languages, do not realise what information I have missed; they comprehend automatically, without conscious thought of which language they are using. All my Turkish language processes are a conscious act: much more exhausting, without a reflex loop. All neural signals have to go the long way round, via the thinking brain. The human brain has the ability to handle multiple inputs by processing these in parallel; however, at a given time, only one thought can be ‘concentrated on' at a conscious level. Language learning is biologically programmed for the early years (Obler, 1989). In terms of foreign language learning, the adult brain struggles to connect brain cells that in younger children are programmed to link automatically. Adults have lost the inborn language learning mechanism and grammar production ability that under-6s excel at and anyone in their early teens can still handle adequately (Pinker, 1994). Spoken communication, which in contrast to written language is acquired effortlessly, is usually taken for granted until the process 87 breaks down (Sacks, 1989). In L1, hearing and listening do not have to be taught; reading does. Oral communication is automatic while reading is a conscious, labour-intensive process. Though hearing-impaired people may compensate for lack of hearing by lip-reading, this is no easy substitute. The situation of a lip-reader may be partially understood if one considers what happens when one watches a subtitled film. 1. Effort is needed to read the text. Reading requires more effort than listening, eyes locked onto the text and brain processing the symbols to extract meaning. 2. The text may not always be understood: too fast, or - white letters on a pale background - difficult to read. Some people can ‘let go' and ignore what they have missed, but most of us are too used to being in control and knowing what is going on. Irritation at missing some of the words leads to anxious whispers to your neighbour for help just like learners in class. 3. There is input mismatch, the sound track of music, sounds and tone of voice, contrasting with the robotic regularity of the typescript of the subtitles. The mind has to struggle to superimpose incompatible audio and visual input. 88 4. One realises that in all of this one has missed those subtle facial expressions, the meaningful glances that give the uniqueness to the production and differentiate between a mechanical plot and a quality film. Thus a lip-reader has to focus on one point simply in order to get a message that others can get ‘anywhere within ear shot'. In other words, a lip-reader has to invest a lot more effort to extract information that others gather effortlessly. Likewise, some of us, whether unable to perceive sound or learn a language, are forever dependent on more laborious processing for what others do effortlessly via programmed neurological reflexes. Thus, the adult language learner struggles to comprehend new structures, to retrieve vocabulary, to construct sentences to convey the meaning in the mind. While teachers tend to focus on accuracy and level of complexity, many learners may be satisfied when getting the meaning across. Other criteria become excess demands not justified intrinsically, external expectations not internalised other than as grades and scores. Too frequently, these produce stress, which short-circuits the thinking process. Awareness: People forget I do not understand: I look ‘normal' . 89 While something ‘normal' is familiar, about which assumptions can be made, the unknown, on the other hand, is less predictable and demands more mental effort. Survival instincts developed over eons have led us to judge - or prejudge - a situation. Indicators such as body language and tone of voice are used to distinguish friend from foe. However, the impact is short-term; mental focus then moves on to newer stimuli, earlier ones becoming familiar. The mind habituates and takes less notice of ‘known' elements, even though they may be masks hiding a different reality. In 1991, though I was obviously a foreigner, nothing in my appearance indicated my level of linguistic competence. Similarly, a confident lip-reader, with an unobtrusive hearing aid and no knowledge of sign language, looks 'normal'. Emine confuses those around her 'She can't be deaf - she doesn't use sign language'. As Emine's teacher, I maintained my awareness during the semester. A rapid cost-benefit analysis reveals that the extra effort invested brings a number of benefits: increased learner confidence and competence, and for the teacher knowledge, skills and satisfaction. While a degree of professional obligation demands that a teacher interact with each and every learner entrusted to her, classmates are under no such obligation. Fellow 90 classmates often forgot about Emine's situation and had to be reminded how to interact. Though my demand for a minimum level of respect in the class provided extrinsic need for basic awareness, only those intrinsically motivated got involved. Only the self-motivated went beyond the basics: those learners with sufficiently developed interpersonal intelligence to grasp that they too could have a role (Gardner, 1993). Others were too distant. Sifting through noise: Language learners in the early stages have to sift through a lot of 'noise' for little or no meaning: great effort with little return. With my elementary Turkish vocabulary, I had built up a limited repertoire of known words. I could handle everyday "air and water" conversations. But when the subject deepened, I could only recognise some of the words. The rest were at best neutral, a burden of dead wood. But the wood could be thorny or poisonous. Formal language, for example, bristling with obscure structures and rarefied lexical items would be perceived as threatening, causing the brain to release more noxious chemicals. Adult language learners often have to come to terms with the fact that they no longer have the full control they are accustomed to. Many learners often have difficulty in admitting they can get 91 some partial meaning out of a reading or listening. Too used to the effortlessness of L1 and spoilt by the ease with which they glean information, they are now working with limits. This is particularly true of anyone learning ‘live' in the country, exposed to a random selection of material at all levels, not ‘designed with the learner in mind'. What goes through the mind of such a learner may have its parallels in someone hard of hearing, whose hearing aid picks up only a limited percentage of what is being said. Unfortunately, what is perceived has no relationship to need for meaning but rather airwaves, nerves and physical transmission. While the language learner is scanning for recognition within a limited memory store, those with impaired hearing grasp for anything that might make sense. While my original use of the word ‘noise' was metaphorical, referring to the meaningless sounds of unknown words, anyone using a hearing aid finds that all sounds are amplified indiscriminately. Emine has full exposure to all sounds, unfiltered by the mechanism that allows the hearing to focus on sounds coming from a particular source. Whispering learners, a humming OHP and traffic noise are all amplified as much as the teacher's voice. Sorting among sounds is another demand for effort and thus a source of stress. Guess-stress : I try to guess to fill gaps. 92 Gaps in meaning, vocabulary, syntax, relationships or intensity: some can be guessed easily and safely, but not all. Inaccurate guesses may be approximately correct or simply wrong, 'off target'. This margin of error, occasionally resulting in major misunderstandings, creates stress. What happens when someone can understand 70% of a conversation, whether as a lip-reader or an intermediate level language learner? One gets the general outline, the gist; but the specifics often get blurred and confused or just ignored. Intermediate learners are fine in a general conversation, on familiar topics. Repetition and paraphrase give a second chance to seize key items, allowing gaps to be filled. One complements with alternative strategies, or decides that what is missing is not so important. Subconsciously, however, the learner is aware of weaknesses. All appears fine on the surface until the weaknesses are pushed to their limits. Once the mind notices a mistake and confidence is damaged, recovery from emotional bruising may take time. One relief is that with practice one does get better at guessing. For lip-reading, this is true up to a point: certain sounds produced with identical lip movements (e.g. b and p) cannot be distinguished. 93 Courage: How can I join in? It is all too fast! How do you jump onto a moving train? A foreign language learner struggles to produce a sentence. The conversation moves on; the contribution may no longer be relevant, or if based on misunderstood input, inappropriate. The others, interrupted and distracted from their flow get irritated and the outsider is again pushed away. It takes courage to dive back in. I later learnt to claim my right for patience and understanding in group discussions. I have a stronger understanding of the valuable perception of someone with a difference. If my view, a different one, an outsider's perspective, is wanted, there is a price: I need a little more time, without interruptions, scorn or impatience. And so do others who are different. Most learners, people attempting new situations, need safe opportunities. While the occasional dare devil can jump into anything, other types of learners, the watchers, the thinkers, the planners need some degree of confidence that they will succeed. They may need to be explicitly made aware of the need and taught appropriate strategies. Crowds: Especially in a crowd... 94 The common reaction in crowds is striking: both the language learner and those with hearing impairment suffer disproportionately when facing more than one interlocutor. We lose the security of the known single source; while the language learner loses control of the pace of the conversation as native speakers get carried away and forget to speak in simple structures, hearing-impaired people are confronted with unpredictable changes of speaker, with some speaking simultaneously - no one can read two pairs of lips at one time. An active EFL classroom is a specific type of crowd. In what is now considered to be a ‘lively classroom', minimal teacher talk and multiple input from constantly changing sources minimises predictability to enhance class stimulation. However, to hearingimpaired people, buffeted in all directions, such classes are overstimulating. Exhaustion: Eventually, I turn off mentally. With minimal Turkish, after struggling to follow a conversation, I would find my mind drifting: the level was too high. Like a climber out of breath on too steep a slope, I would take a mental rest. I had also noted this switching off with blind learners, at 95 times too exhausted by daily challenges for any extra effort. A task was not necessarily something that they could not do, but it was simply too much, either in quantity or too intense in quality. To maintain motivation, stimulation must be at the correct level. If too high, as with the learner among natives or a deaf learner in a non-adapted environment, the brain grinds to a halt. Exclusion: I am conscious of being left out excluded from situations, discussions, decisions; this can later build up into resentment. I was pushed back into pre-speech childhood; adults occasionally deigned to communicate in my language, when THEY chose, or if I demanded attention. However, unlike young children, adults are used to being actively involved. The sense of deprivation and loss of such a fundamental ability leave one lonely amid friends, forcing a new consciousness to arise amidst strong feelings: feeling excluded from the group, ‘disabled', disempowered, demoted, forgotten, no longer counting and even dehumanised. While those who lose sight or hearing after early childhood have certain advantages in understanding concepts that others who were born deaf or blind can only imagine, they do have to come to terms with a sense of 96 loss which, unlike that of a language learner, is usually irreversible (Sacks, 1989). The exclusion I experienced 13 years ago primed me to understand a little of what Emine might be going through. In conclusion, besides the practicalities of providing suitable language activities, a teacher needs to be aware of the psychological conditions essential for effective learning. Learners need to be able to explore and reflect on the experience. Entering new territory, the unknown, implies facing threats and risks, and making mistakes. A competent adult is expected to be able to handle such challenges, but no longer has the agility and psychological readiness of childhood. As language teachers, we are expecting adults to use a part of the brain has essentially stopped functioning. Not only do learners come ill equipped intellectually but many are not prepared emotionally for the perceived threats and emotions which can block the learning process. The operations of the mind are not visible: mind reading is not yet on the curriculum. To make a big difference to a learner in need, a teacher does not have to be an expert: observe and listen without assuming. Probe beneath the surface; it may be a mask. Work with the learner, who 97 will be used to their own learning processes, though perhaps not be aware of how to improve them. Share the challenge and be humble enough to say” I don't know”. You may be the first to notice. 98 PART THREE: THE ROLE OF SUPPORT WORKERS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES T his section is aimed at staff who have experience in supporting deaf learners in other situations but may not have worked in a foreign language classroom. Use this section if you are in a support role yourself, or if you are a teacher or foreign language assistant who wants to know how to work with the wider team supporting the deaf learner. It will start with a short overview of the types of support roles that exist and that may be used in the classroom or beyond. If you have not already done so, it will be useful for you to read Part Two: Teaching foreign language to deaf learners. This will help you to learn more about the domain you will be working in. Many support workers have never worked in a foreign language class and unless they are familiar with the target language would not consider doing so. However, many support workers (notetakers, interpreters and lip-speakers, etc.), some with and some without prior skills in the foreign language, do work in this domain and do so successfully despite initial scepticism. 99 Initial considerations Supporting a deaf learner in a foreign language class does require more personal preparation and a more flexible approach to the job, but it can be immensely rewarding, especially if the deaf learner has a high degree of motivation to succeed. The first assumption of many support workers is that in order to effectively work with the learner they will have to be fluent in the L2. Whilst knowledge of the foreign language is undoubtedly useful, it is not essential. The level of fluency required from the support worker will depend largely on two factors: 1. The level of study the learner is undertaking. If the learners is undertaking a beginners class then everyone in the class is starting from the same point. However if the learner is undertaking advanced language study then they may be held back by the support worker’s unfamiliarity with the language basics. 2. How different the language is to the support worker's known languages. If the support worker knows, for example, a Romance language like French, then supporting a learner in Spanish or Italian will be far less difficult, as there are many 100 similarities between these languages. Conversely, supporting a learner in intermediate Chinese will be almost impossible for a person with only knowledge of, say, English and BSL. However, complete unfamiliarity with a language can be overcome with preparation time and a good working relationship with the teacher. Before accepting an assignment to support a deaf learner it is useful to clarify what role and tasks you as the support worker will be expected to undertake, and then to assess your own skills and level of confidence to decide if you wish to undertake the work. It is useful not only to speak to the deaf learner, but also to the person who has assessed the learner’s support needs. Before working with a learner in a foreign language class, it might be worth noting the peculiarities of this setting. More details of this can be read in the preceding sections. Other issues to bear in mind are: • A language class is usually not delivered in a didactic teaching style - there is normally more group work, activities and games. It requires a far more flexible and creative approach to supporting deaf learners. 101 • It is very important to find out the deaf learner’s motivation to undertake the class and then to aid that learning, not just to facilitate the teaching. • You may need a great deal of preparation time - much more so than for any other assignment. • You will need more preparation materials than for most other courses; for example, you will need a copy of the learner's as well as the teacher's course book, audio tapes, CDs or videos which accompany the course book, and a good L1/L2 dictionary. • There needs to be provision for ongoing contact with the foreign language teacher and with other support staff. • If you work freelance, you may need to consider charging additional fees for extra working time. First steps Although the following advice applies to most educational situations in which support staff might work, it is worth reiterating. 102 Meet the teacher When working in a foreign language class it is essential for you to know the following: • Level of study • Curriculum content • Teaching methodology • Learner's course books used • Which sections of the learner's course book will be covered (maybe some chapters will be missed out) • If possible, obtain copies of: o the teacher's course book o the audio tapes, CDs or videos which accompany the course book. o a weekly lesson plan, with target vocabulary, grammar points, etc. o the assessments the learners will have to undertake. • Ask to look at the room in which the lessons will be taught. 103 Meet the learner • Review what you know about the learner – they may need something different from you here. • If you have never met the learner before, ask the support service co-ordinator about any information they have. • When you meet the learner, find out about their communication preferences, previous language learning experience, motivation and support strategy suggestions. • Sit down together and plan your support strategy for the first class. Preparing yourself • Examine your own skills – are you ready to go? • Is there a fellow support worker whom you can ask about their strategies, or whom you could observe? • What will your role be? • Examine the curriculum/programme – what are going to be the difficulties? Look at the Practical solutions to specific situations section for spotting potential barriers. 104 Some problems that may arise Try to anticipate some of the logistical problems that may arise. Consider the following scenarios: Time • Effective support of deaf learners in MFL classes requires more than the actual hours spent in the classroom. • Language teachers may be under pressure to prepare for classes and may not have sufficient time to meet with you or the learner to discuss adjustments, or to arrange for transcripts of audio tapes. • You may have limited time for preparation or for developing additional materials such as flash cards. • The deaf learner may also be asked to complete work outside of class time which relies on audio-visual resources, in which case you may need to be available. Personnel • The availability of support workers with the appropriate skills may be restricted. 105 • Many institutions do not employ their own support staff but rely on a small pool of freelance staff. Within this limited supply of support staff, there will be even fewer people with skills in, say, Japanese or Russian. • Even if such a person is available, they may hesitate to provide support in an area for which they have not been trained, and where their role has not been clearly defined. Teaching methods The way in which the class is taught will depend on the underlying approach or method that the teacher is using. For example, the teacher may stress specific activities, use certain resources or may take a more or less active role in the classroom. More information on different teaching methods can be seen in Parts Two and Three. Recently, one of the most influential teaching approaches has been Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). This approach is based on the view that language and communication are interdependent and that the goal of language teaching is communicative competence (Richards and Rogers, 2001, p. 155). This approach has led to an emphasis on spoken rather than 106 written language and a range of activities where the aim is for learners to communicate effectively rather than to focus on form. As a result, many learners who studied foreign languages were not taught grammar. They therefore often only learned standard phrases but were not able to create their own grammatical sentences (Mitchell, 1994). How does this situation affect the support of deaf learners learning foreign languages? Firstly, we might want to consider whether some methods are more appropriate for deaf learners than others. Some questions we may want to ask are: • Would deaf learners benefit from introducing the written form before the spoken form? • Is it more useful to teach grammar explicitly? • In methods which stress correct pronunciation, how does this affect deaf learners? • Can deaf learners effectively learn language in collaborative problem-solving activities or is it preferable to take part in a teacher-led session? The support strategies that can be used will depend on the teaching method to some extent. For example, in collaborative 107 activities when spoken language takes a central place, the use of note-takers to provide immediate access may be less effective. Support workers will find it much more difficult to work in classes where there is no clear syllabus and the teacher leaves the topic of discussion to the learners. An emphasis on group discussions and role-plays places a stronger requirement on the deaf learner to lip-read a variety of speakers and it may be more difficult to organise the use of radio aids or loop systems. Whilst the teaching method used is to some extent beyond the control of the support worker, it is useful to discuss the implications with the teacher and the learner before the start of the programme so that the most effective type of support can be chosen. Learning activities Whichever method or approach is used, there will be activities involving the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing. 108 • ‘Listening’ activities may require technical aids or will need to be replaced with ‘reading’ or ‘observing’ activities for deaf learners. • Some deaf learners may choose not to use their voice in speaking activities. When the speaking exercise is a group one, this has implications for both technical aids and support workers. • Reading and writing activities should not require further adjustments (if carried out individually and without spoken discussion), unless instructions for the activity are given in L1. In this case language modification may be appropriate for learners whose first language is sign language. Some activities which require specific support strategies are: • working in groups and pairs • dictation • tape recordings and sound-based computer activities • video and television programmes • whole class speaking exercises (choral pronunciation) • reading and writing (foreign alphabets). 109 Having considered these factors, you now have to decide which support strategies will be most effective. There is, unfortunately, no one tried and tested approach which will work in all situations. As support workers from different backgrounds have started to work in foreign language classes, a variety of strategies have evolved. Some may be more appropriate for certain situations or with certain learners. Some may fall outside your own area of expertise. All of them may have advantages and disadvantages. We outline some of the most common strategies here so that you can see what is possible. Our advice is to stay flexible and consider what works best for you and the learner. Support strategies for foreign language learning Patterns of language support T he terms ‘monolingual’ and ‘bilingual’ support worker do not seem applicable to a situation which by definition involves two or more languages. However, it may still be useful to identify two main patterns of support. They differ in the way in which L1 and L2 are represented. 110 1. Messages in both the target language and the language of instruction are presented in the same way (e.g. lipspeaking or note-taking). 2. Messages in the target language are presented visually but messages in the language of instruction are interpreted into sign language (e.g. fingerspelling, interpretation). Let's look at the forms of support in more detail: Lip-speaking Lip-speaking allows deaf learners who access the lesson through lip-reading to focus on one speaker rather than a variety of speakers. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Whilst it is less tiring and provides constant input, if the support worker is not a native speaker of the foreign language then their lip-pattern will be different from that of native speakers. If the language teacher is willing to take time after each activity to repeat key phrases and words whilst facing the learner, this will provide an alternative model for the learner. 111 Because lip-speaking only gives access to the form of the message and not the content, it may be difficult for the learner to follow explanations because they may not know when a message is spoken in L2 and when in L1. The learner and the support worker may have to agree a way to signal a change in the language being spoken. Without additional visual clues, learners will not be able to see sounds that are not pronounced or that do not involve lip movement. The phonology of the target language may therefore be a factor determining how effective lip-speaking support will be. Lip-speaking (perhaps accompanied by fingerspelling) can be used for activities that focus on the form of words only, such as dictation or listening tests. In this case a transcript needs to be provided for the support worker. However, having learned techniques for lip-speaking L1, it may be quite hard to lip-speak L2, especially if you are not familiar with this language yourself. 112 Cued speech Cued speech can be a useful way to support deaf learners accessing speech in L2. However, few deaf learners use cued speech and there are few support workers who can cue. However, to learn to cue does not require a great deal of time, although to become proficient and fast requires practice and patience. If both the learner and support worker are unable to cue, then this strategy will require a lot of additional study time in preparation for the class. There are cueing systems for over 50 languages and dialects, so the appropriate foreign language cueing system can also be learned. With consistent, effective use, deaf learners who communicate with cued speech develop the language base that enables them to read at the same level and use similar reading strategies as if they were hearing. The benefits of cueing are: • every phoneme is displayed visually • the learner will have access to each word and speech sound 113 • homophones and rhymes are clear • any sounds which are not visible, but pronounced can be indicated by cueing. • cueing can be combined with interpreting, i.e. use cueing for the L2 but interpret any L1 explanations/statements. Some disadvantages are: • Both support worker and learner will either have to be proficient cued speech users, or invest in the time to learn in advance of the class. • The support worker will have to be confident in listening to the foreign language to able to transliterate accurately. • If the same cueing system is used for L1 and L2 then the change needs to be indicated to the learner. Note-taking With all the available ways to support a deaf learner, note-taking is probably the one system where it is most important that the support worker is proficient in the target language. In order to be able to listen to different accents in the foreign language, retain 114 and note the information accurately (that is in terms of spelling, syntax, intonation, etc.) relative fluency is important. If the learner only requires a copy of what is written on the board whilst they watch another support worker or lip-read, then the note-taker does not necessarily have to have any knowledge of the target language. Whatever the case, the type of support required should be clarified in advance, in order for the note-taker to assess whether or not they are indeed able and qualified to undertake the support assignment. Notes taken during the language class may serve as a record of the lesson for the learner to take home and revise from. They may also be used for live reference. In this case, electronic note-taking may be more appropriate because the learner has immediate access to the notes on their own laptop screen. However, where the target language is written using a different alphabet, manual note-taking will often be the only option. A disadvantage of this form of support is that the written form does not convey differences in sound or intonation. If the deaf learner knows phonetic symbols, then these may be used to show pronunciation. Another strategy is to include an L1 approximation of the sounds of L2 in brackets or in a different colour. For 115 example, by representing the Spanish word quisiera for a native English speaker as ‘key-see-air-a’. This approach is sometimes used in the introductory chapter of course books and it may be useful to make a reference copy of the pages where sound equivalents are described so that a consistent representation is achieved. Intonation may then be shown by the use of rising and falling lines above the words. Listening activities may become additional reading exercises through the use of a transcript. Useful strategies for a note-taker to use are: • Learning and using the phonetic alphabet to mark any difficult pronunciation of new words. • If the phonetic alphabet is not known to the note-taker or learner, and the learner has sufficient knowledge of L2, an L1 approximation can be used. Be aware though that this is only an approximation and may lead to wrong pronunciation, e.g. if the ‘r’ sound in the above example is significantly different in the two languages. 116 • It is important to practise the characters or additional letters and foreign alphabets, so that they can be produced clearly at speed. • Where to sit in class will depend on whether other support is available and where the learner will be looking. If an interpreter/lip-speaker is available or the learner can lip-read or use a radio aid, then for the most part the notes will only be used as a backup in class, but may be used as a revision aid later. • Annotations of teacher’s notes can be effective. • Making flash cards before or after the lesson if possible. It can be a good exercise for learners to look at their notes and create or contribute to flash cards. Electronic notes and captioning As stated above, note-taking can be one of the most effective ways of supporting a deaf learner in foreign language classes. As with manual note-taking, relative fluency in the language is necessary to effectively note the information given in a class. When taking notes electronically, the following tips may be useful: 117 • keyboard options: from the start menu, go to ‘settings’ ‘regional and language’ or ‘regional options’. From this go to ‘input locales’ or ‘languages’ tab and ‘text services and input languages’. • Having selected a new keyboard layout, and keeping the English keyboard layout, select keyboards from the menu bar at the bottom of the screen. This allows quick switching between different layouts. Touch typing in a new layout is not immediately feasible, but for European languages, the layout is usually sufficiently similar with the addition of ‘odd’ characters. • For languages with a very different writing system (e.g. Chinese), it may not be worth investing the time to learn the new keyboard layout. Instead, it is possible to type/caption in English and write the specific words/sentences in L2 on a piece of paper. Alternatively, use a ‘tablet’ to write the symbols and save them into the document (if the class allows sufficient time for this). • The ‘auto correct’ function in a word processing programme, the abbreviations feature of the electronic note-taking software, or a captioning dictionary, can be used to make certain L2 characters appear by typing their equivalent name in L1, e.g. typing ‘mu’ to give μ or 118 typing ‘a-‘ for ā. In this way a good typing speed can be maintained in L1 while including foreign alphabets and diacritics. • Contact other captionists who have gone through a specific class or language, and ask for their captioning dictionaries. Save your own because someone might well need it later. • Plugs are not usually a problem in language labs, but the equipment may take up a learner’s workstation, so in small classrooms it may be worth investing in a separate portable table. • Diagrams, drawings etc. may be hard to include, so ensure you always have paper at hand. • If you can set up different fonts for the two languages, then that could be very helpful. Flash cards Another approach to providing live access through written language involves a range of large cards on which the L2 vocabulary of the syllabus is written, using a separate card for each topic (e.g. clothing, parts of the body, shopping). Each word is laid out much like a dictionary entry: the L2 word, followed by 119 an L1 approximation of the sound (as described above), the word category (noun, verb, adjective) and any irregular inflections or plural forms. The advantage of using such cards as an aide memoir for both the deaf learner and you are enormous. The cards are also re-useable in future years. However, they require lengthy preparation time and limited resources may prevent you from developing a stock that covers the entire curriculum. Flash cards may also not fully replace written notes because they focus on individual words and have limited use in showing sentence structure. Interpreting Interpreters working in foreign languages have a particular dilemma. Other forms of support, for example cued speech, lipspeaking and note-taking are visual representations of the spoken language being used, and so give the deaf learner access to the L2, but a signed interpretation would be in a third language - the learner’s native sign language, and so would not provide any access to the form of L2, only to the meaning of the message. 120 Indeed, if a learner uses a sign language interpreter, they will be unable to understand the teacher when s/he is using L2. Therefore interpreting the L2 content of a class may not be as effective a support strategy as other forms of support. The challenge of interpreting in foreign language classes is similar to the challenges in two settings described by Harrington (2001): interpreting poetry and interpreting in linguistics classes. As with poetry, interpreters in foreign language classes need to provide access to both the form of the message (e.g. intonation or sound patterns) and the content. When L1 notation is used to describe the sounds of L2, this may lead to a triple mismatch in finding cultural, linguistic or grammatical equivalents. However, there are also situations where the structure of sign language is more closely related to the target language (L2) structure than to L1. For example, topic markers in Japanese have a ready equivalent in British Sign Language. Signs may be used in the word order of the target language to illustrate grammatical structures, for example when these are explained by the teacher. However, in general it may be better to separate form and content completely by representing the form 121 (the target language) in written, spoken or fingerspelled form but signing comments (in the language of instruction). As we said earlier, the main difficulty with interpreting in foreign language classes is that both the form and the meaning of the words/sentences have to be accurately conveyed. Doing both at the same time is not possible (but we should bear in mind that the language learners themselves have to make the connection between the new word and the old concept too). Strategies that have been suggested by different interpreters are: • If you know the foreign sign language of the country whose foreign spoken language you are learning, then use these signs. The benefit of this strategy is that there is a cultural link with the foreign country and that the deaf learner may be motivated because they may meet deaf people from that country. However, it does not provide access to the form of the spoken L2. • Using either the learner’s own sign language or the foreign sign language, some interpreters follow the structure of the spoken L2 and use the lip pattern of L2 but using sign vocabulary. Again, this may be effective in some situations but may be difficult to maintain. Do you 122 sign a sentence like ‘J’ai faim’ literally as ‘I have hunger’ or as ‘me hungry’? • If you are using the same sign language for both L1 and L2, you should decide on a way to keep the two structures clearly separated so that the learner knows when you are interpreting L1 comments and when you are reflecting L2 vocabulary. • Use fingerspelling (or cueing). After a while this may be abbreviated to initialised fingerspelling. This is tiring and difficult to follow for long periods, but it is effective with some learners and offers a good way of keeping the two languages separate. • If you voice what you are signing, this allows the teacher to check that you are passing on the information correctly, and is another safeguard if you are not fluent in L2, but this may be distracting for other learners. Fingerspelling Fingerspelling may be used to supplement lip-speaking where letters are indistinguishable from lip pattern alone. In addition, fingerspelling the first letter of every word whilst lip-speaking is a useful method. The main difficulty with this method is that 123 some questions require the learner to write down the name of a person or a place mentioned in the conversation. These names will not have been covered in class and the learner has therefore not seen the word before. Also, when the L2 uses a different alphabet or a word begins with a letter which is not used in the native alphabet then additional strategies, like agreeing additional letter signs, may need to be adopted. Technical aids The use of technical aids is probably the best described type of support, perhaps because it is in many ways a natural extension of the resources already exploited in the language class. For example, microphones and headphones are already used in a language laboratory and can be adapted so that hearing aids can be used with this equipment. Television programmes or videos in foreign languages may already be subtitled for the benefit of all learners. Extensive use has been made of computer technology to supplement activities both within and outside the language classroom (e.g. Laurillard and Marullo, 1993). The development of software and hardware to suit the needs of deaf language learners has been a very active area, where developments have ranged from programmes that visually display intonation patterns 124 (Elsendoorn and Coninx, 1991) to interactive resources which allow users to access signed translations of written texts (e.g. Stefansdottir, 1999). In some ways, then, the language classroom is better suited to the introduction of technical aids than other classes. However, this reliance on technology may also have the opposite effect. For example, language laboratories are set up so that learners cannot see each other. Many activities, including assessments, will be based on listening to audio records on tape or on computer. In this case a live speaker reading from a transcript may need to be substituted. Other professionals There are a number of other professionals who have an impact on the deaf learner’s acquisition of languages. Where the educational institution has the services of a teacher of the deaf, he/she will be invaluable in assessing the support needs of the deaf learner, suggesting support strategies and working one-to-one with the learner. Speech and language therapists, audiologists and other will also be able to assist in this. 125 General tips • If the language being taught uses a different alphabet or is symbol based, check with the teacher if it can be Romanised, so that you can read it out without having to learn L2. • For homework, which will be presented in the following class, ask if the teacher has the answers or, in the case of free writing, some sample answers which learners may present. • If the language uses additional letters (for example German, Swedish or Spanish), agree with the learner how you are going to show these. • For listening comprehensions you may have to lip-speak or read out loud for the learner. Prepare this well, so the learner can re-listen to sections and your delivery is clear and fluent. • Ask the teacher in advance to repeat any unclear contributions from hearing learners. Their accents may differ widely and it will allow you to pass on correct information. 126 PART FOUR: PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO SPECIFIC SITUATIONS T he following is a list of common teaching situations which can cause particular difficulties for deaf learners. In each case, we suggest strategies for minimising or compensating for the difficulties encountered. Listening Listening exercises can offer particular challenges for deaf learners. In certain cases, where it is not possible for deaf learners to undertake listening comprehension exercises, a possible alternative may be to ask the learner to undertake the exercise as a reading comprehension, but with less time and with no dictionary allowed. 127 Listening comprehension - from tape Pre-recorded speech or dialogue can be particularly difficult for deaf learners, as the tape can be too quiet or muffled and the learner is deprived of visual clues such as lip patterns, gestures and facial expression. In a dialogue, depending on the frequency and pitch of the voices on the recording, the learner may be able to understand one voice less well than the other and therefore have difficulty in following the conversational flow. If this is the case, it may be useful for the learner to have a transcript of the text and a support worker may be able to assist by following the text with their finger. For pre-recorded listening tasks, deaf learners may need a separate room. This will allow them to sit close to the audio player, and to re-play any sections they could not hear clearly. It will also allow a support worker lip-speak the content so that they can supplement their residual hearing with lip-reading. Learners who use radioaids or direct input shoes into their hearing aid will need to have a separate copy of the audio tape or CD to be able to use with their audiological equipment. 128 Listening to accents and dialects As stated in the section on lip-reading, accents and dialects can be a cause of confusion for deaf learners, because they can affect lip patterns to such an extent. Traditionally, learners have been introduced to standard or 'high' forms of a language, e.g. Hochdeutsch or received pronunciation, and these accents are used in dictionaries. However, many web sites are now available which show pronunciation of different accents phonetically. Similarly, different pronunciation can be tried out by inputting text and having this read out in different accents. See the AT&T lab for a demonstration: http://www.research.att.com/projects/tts/demo.html Listening comprehension - from teacher or foreign language assistant When undertaking a listening comprehension where the text is spoken by the teacher or foreign language assistant, the learner is able to use lip-reading as a backup to their residual hearing. The teacher/foreign language assistant should enunciate clearly and make sure their lips are not obscured by the book/paper they are 129 reading, or their hands. Unlike their hearing peers, the learner will be unable to take notes whilst listening and this should be remembered if learners are required to answer questions on the content of the comprehension exercise. Listening to other learners Learners may find it harder to comprehend all the different accents used by learners in the classroom. They may also use different lip patterns and speak at differing volume and frequencies. If a learner is using a radioaid, then it is useful for the teacher to repeat the contribution, or provide a summary of the contribution, for the deaf learner. With the agreement of the deaf learner, a deaf awareness session may assist the group in understanding the issues the deaf learner is facing. Watching videos Many language series programmes now contain subtitles. These can benefit all learners, not just those who are deaf. If a teacher decides to show off-air recordings from the television, it is important to use a VCR that can record subtitles. These are specialist video recorders which can be purchased from 130 equipment suppliers. With the advent of DVD players, however, some of the specialist recorders are no longer marketed. Most DVDs are subtitled in several languages, but not all; better to make sure before you buy. Be aware, however, that ‘foreign’ subtitles are intended for a hearing audience and follow the whole script as far as possible, whereas subtitles for deaf people are sometimes abridged to give more time for reading. Subtitles for deaf people usually include notification of off-screen noises (like a gun-shot, or a door closing). Foreign language subtitles will lack these advantages, so you may need to allow more time for pause and replay, or to add explanations of your own. One solution here might be to allow deaf learners to use the recording for independent study at their own pace. Modern computer programmes are available which can add subtitles to existing materials. Alternatively, a separate transcript can be typed. However, this is a very labour-intensive task – it may take up to 2 hours to provide an accurate transcript of a 10 minute video or DVD. The transcriber will also need to have sufficient knowledge of L2 to transcribe accurately. 131 When showing slides, videos or DVDs, rooms are usually darkened to avoid glare. If the lights are dimmed too much then deaf learners will not be able to lip-read you, or see their support worker. If you want them to take in the information you are showing, as well as what you are saying, you need to give them extra (silent) time. Providing an angle poise lamp for support workers means that you can turn off the main lights. Language Lab & PALE systems Language lab equipment may cause difficulties in the following ways: • Profoundly deaf learners with no residual hearing and speech will have to be given an alternative task. • Deaf learners may have difficulty in hearing the prerecorded information used in language labs. See section on 'Listening Comprehension - from tape' for more information. • Deaf learners may have problems distinguishing between the voice on the recording and the voice of the teacher giving instruction over the audio system and this may cause confusion. 132 • Headsets can interfere with hearing aids. Placing objects over a hearing aid causes acoustic feedback in the form of whistling, which can render the aids useless. However, depending on the connection socket on the headphones, it is sometimes possible to use direct input leads to connect a hearing aid directly to the audio output. • If the equipment is to be used to record responses, the learner may not be able to hear their own voice. Also, learners may not be able to regulate the volume of their voice if using audiological equipment in conjunction with a headset. If an LCD display is available learners can learn the appropriate volume and pitch, and learners may prefer to practise this alone, or with a support worker, before using the equipment in class. • If the equipment is to be used for paired speaking, then the microphone may obscure lip patterns. • If the learner uses a direct input lead they will not hear any other background noise and will usually be looking at the wall or a box. They will therefore need to be alerted to instructions from the teacher. 133 Speaking Communication games Games are a popular way of reinforcing learning which make learning fun. Some games are more suitable for deaf learners than others. It is good for morale to choose a game in which all learners can participate and which does not unnecessarily exclude some learners. Any games where lots of people are talking at the same time or, which are 'quick-fire' or which require learners to listen and write at the same time (e.g. bingo), will be difficult for deaf learners to follow. Brainstorming During brainstorming or quick-fire response exercises deaf learners are particularly disadvantaged. It is nearly impossible to follow who is speaking and the learner may have missed the first part of a sentence before they have ascertained who is speaking. Due to the time lag needed to interpret or note responses, their support workers will be unable to give them full and timely access. In these situations, good classroom management is essential and an ordered brainstorm/response is easier for the deaf 134 learner to follow. When a learner cannot contribute on their turn, allow them to say 'pass'. Role-play Depending on the level of their deafness, an exercises where the learner is required to undertake spontaneous listening and talking can cause problems for the learner. Even for advanced language learners, there may be problems caused by misunderstanding lippatterns, or words may be misunderstood. Teachers will develop a feel for the preferences and confidence of the learner when required to speak in class. In cases where learners will have to perform their role-plays in front of other learners it is preferable to allow the pairs or groups to plan their role-play first, maybe by writing it down and then rehearsing it. This way they can make sure they can all see each others lips, organise prompt gestures if necessary and check on any phrases they are unsure of. Answering questions Learners who rely on support workers to gain information often need extra time to receive information due to the time lag caused by translation/noting of the message. Because of this time lag 135 learners often miss out on participation in class as the opportunity to make appropriately timed responses is lost. In this case it is useful to write down questions on the board and number these so you can indicate by pointing or by showing the number discretely on your hand which one you want to have answered. Asking questions When deaf learners ask questions, allow them time to receive (lipread, hear or have interpreted/noted) your response. This may take longer if mediated through a support worker. Allow the learner time to consider your answer in order for them to ascertain they have fully understood you and also give them time to follow up with another questions should they need more information. Paired dialogue It is useful for learners to work with a number of peers throughout a course. However, some classmates will be easier for the deaf learner to understand than others. This may be due to the volume or pitch of their voice, the clarity of their lip patterns, their pronunciation, etc. While it might be appropriate to place a deaf learner with another learner, they may have a preference to work 136 with certain learners over others. If you observe this, then allow the learners to pair themselves off, so that the deaf learner has the best chance of choosing a partner who is easy to understand. Reading aloud Check with the learner privately and before the course/lesson starts whether or not they wish to read out loud in front of other learners. Some deaf learners are not confident in their judgement of the volume and clarity of their voice, whilst others speak fluently. Depending on the individual learner, reading out loud can be a perfectly acceptable, or conversely, a very stressful experience. Debating or discussing When learners are required to group together and prepare arguments for a debate or discussion it is helpful for all learners, but particularly deaf learners, to have a representative of the group note down the proposed arguments on flip chart paper, rather than on their individual notepads. 137 When the debate takes place it is useful if learners can face each other or sit in a circle, so that there are clear sightlines between all participants. It is helpful if the learners can see the arguments which have been previously written on the flip chat and if one of the group can point out the argument currently being discussed. Furthermore, it is helpful if people can indicate their intention to speak, or if the teacher can discretely point to the learner currently speaking. See also under Group Work for further information. Pronunciation and intonation practice Depending on the level of deafness, intonation practice may be difficult or impossible for the learner. They may also need additional time and input to perfect their pronunciation, using flash cards, the phonetic alphabet or cued speech. Giving an oral presentation If a profoundly deaf learner does not use their voice they can still give a presentation by, for example, using blank acetates and an overhead projector to write down what they would otherwise say, or by producing a written presentation in L2. In assessed 138 presentations the learner can demonstrate their research by submitting the materials they used to prepare for the presentation. Where a learner has good speech they may want to check the level and clarity of their voice at the beginning of the presentation. In that case, a quick 'thumbs up', or a gesture for raising or lowering the voice, is very helpful. Interviewing or being interviewed Like asking and answering questions, learners may need a little extra time to understand and then look away to note answers. It is helpful if questions are noted down either on the board or between the partners so that the deaf learner can use reading as a backup if they cannot hear or lip-read the question. If learners are interviewing peers, then the hearing learner may need to use audiological equipment and this may need to be transferred from the teacher to the partner. Songs, rhymes, raps Songs can be used for listening practice but the background music can often render the lyrics incomprehensible for deaf learners and 139 in this case they will need a transcript to read whilst the tape is playing. Whilst most deaf people enjoy music, they may prefer types of music which suit their frequency loss or which cause most vibrations. What are considered popular songs, chart toppers or ditties may not be known to deaf learners. However, 'occasion' songs, like 'Happy Birthday' or Christmas songs will usually be known by learners and these often have equivalent translations in L2. However, it is best not to assume that a profoundly deaf learner will automatically recognise a well known melody when a song is performed in another language. Deaf learners may not recognise rhymes, particularly when a language is not phonetic, and may miss the joke. Limericks etc. can be tricky. Working with puppets When working with puppets, the hearing learners will be able to watch the actions of the puppets and be able to concentrate on the actions and story which they are conveying visually. Deaf learners will not be able to do this. Many will not be able to watch the puppets and your lips/their support worker. To alleviate any frustration this may cause in the deaf learner, allow them to read 140 the story you are trying to show, or repeat the performance giving all learners the chance to watch (and learn) twice. Writing Dictation Dictation is impossible for a deaf learner to undertake alongside their hearing peers, unless they can use audiological equipment without having to rely on supplementing this with lip reading. Any learner who needs to look at a support worker or to lip read will not be able to look down to write and follow the dictation simultaneously. If dictation is part of an assessed task then this will have to be undertaken in another classroom separate from fellow learners. This will allow time and opportunity for the deaf learner to undertake the task consecutively, rather than concurrently. Creative writing, including poetry Bear in mind learner may not know if something rhymes. If poetry is to be used in the class, a support worker will require additional preparation time to be able to ensure that they can 141 show the intonation and stress of the poem. It is also worth discussing any metaphorical and idiomatic language within the poem with the SW, so they can think how best to facilitate access to this information for the deaf learner. Answering questions in writing Many hearing learners will keep their head down (or their eyes closed) when listening to a tape recorder. They will also usually make notes on what is being said, especially when given the questions to be answered in advance. Unless they are using audiological equipment, it is worth bearing in mind that deaf learners cannot do this. If they look away from their lip-speaker or your lips, then they will lose the next part of what is being said. Deaf learners therefore have to rely on their memory to store all the information they will need in order to answer questions, or they will have to miss some of the information provided. To give deaf learners an equal chance, add in breaks for them to make notes. 142 Reading Working in Pairs Often dialogues are read in pairs. If a deaf learner is asked to be one partner, they will have to look up to watch their partner read and then look back down to read their part. A learner may find it useful to follow the dialogue with their finger in order not to loose their place in the text. Reading out loud in chorus Some deaf learners will find reading out aloud in chorus impossible, as they will not be able to pace their delivery along with their hearing peers, as they may not hear them and will be looking at the source of the text. If a support worker is present, they can follow the pace with their finger. Self-directed reading When undertaking self-directed reading it is useful for all learners, but particularly deaf learners to know what the purpose of the reading is. Deaf learners may have to undertake more 143 preparation if they are required to read the text to subsequently read it out loud (checking pronunciation, etc.), if it is to lead to a listening comprehension or if questions are to be answered from it. General teaching situations Understanding explanations or instructions in L1 When trying to understand instructions from their teacher, deaf learners will often use a support worker, lip-reading or audiological equipment. If the pace and delivery style of the instruction is fast, the learner may sometimes struggle more to understand these instructions than content provided in L2. Try to pace your delivery so that all learners can participate, checking in discreetly with the deaf learner and support worker to make sure your pace does not leave anyone behind. Deaf learners often sit in a position where they can see you or their support worker easily, but this means they may not be aware when other learners are speaking. Acknowledging the contribution of another learner by pointing at the speaker is helpful. If the delivery of the learner who is speaking is not clear 144 then it is helpful for all learners if the teacher repeats what has been said. Handouts and worksheets Hearing learners can look at handouts and listen to teachers at the same time – deaf learners cannot. They can either watch the teacher, or their support worker, or look at the handout - they cannot do any two of these simultaneously. When using handouts and worksheets allow a little extra time for learners to watch/listen first and then to look at the written materials. Pointing to the sections/paragraphs/exercises you are next going use is immensely helpful to all learners. Group work It is extremely difficult for deaf learners to follow group discussions if everyone speaks at the same time or in rapid succession. An ordered discussion with invited contributions (or learners raising their hands when they wish to speak) allows the deaf learner (and the support worker) to quickly identify who is speaking. They will then be able to make an appropriately timed contribution. 145 Demonstrating how equipment works Demonstrating how equipment works can present challenges for deaf learners. They cannot look at the process you are showing (which buttons to press, how to record, etc.) and your lips/their interpreter at the same time. The learner will have to look away from what the teacher is doing and therefore miss out on instruction. Explaining first, then demonstrating will allow all learners to follow. Before any equipment is used for the first time it is useful if deaf learners can try out the equipment beforehand and be told what the equipment is to be used for. This will allow them to test their audiological equipment with the language equipment and to ascertain if additional or alternative equipment is necessary. Tutorials During tutorials the learner will need a clear sight line to your face. Sit face to face if possible. If a support worker is present, for example an interpreter or lip-speaker, they will wish to sit next to you so that the learner can see you and them at the same time. A 146 note-taker, however, will have to sit next to the learner so that the notes can be read easily. Trips abroad Additional planning will be needed if deaf learners are to undertake trips abroad. If they need to have support in L1 during the trip they may need to find a support worker who is available for their entire stay. This can mean significant administrative work to find such a support worker and will incur additional costs. Additionally, deaf learners may need to consider how to communicate with home and with their place of residence when abroad. Working with a computer, data projector or overhead projector Learners are unable to look simultaneously at a computer, data projector or overhead projector screen and follow the teacher’s instructions. This will need to be taken into account when planning the timing of the presentation or exercise. 147 Assessments and tests Some forms of assessment can be difficult or impossible for deaf learners and it is important to plan assessments accordingly. For example, an assessed listening comprehension may have to be undertaken as a reading comprehension. Where possible, deaf learners will want to undertake the same assessments as their peers and only where this is not possible, or where the deaf learner may be substantially disadvantaged, an alternative should be offered. When considering course assessment, the above situations may assist in determining the appropriateness of certain assessment mechanisms for deaf learners. Although the special arrangements that are accepted may vary from institution to institution or from one examining board to another, it may be useful to summarise the types of arrangements that can be made. Not all arrangements will apply to all learners or be available in every location. • Exemption from the component. 148 listening and/or speaking • Substitution of additional reading and writing tests for the speaking and listening component. • Access to a live speaker rather than an audio recording. This will require a transcript, a separate room and additional time. • The live speaker may read the text more slowly and/or in shorter chunks, with pauses in between to allow the deaf learner to write down responses. • The reading out of the transcript may be repeated even if the tape is not played again. • Fingerspelling of the first letter of every word, or the spelling out of names and other proper nouns. • Where intonation clearly expresses an emotion such as surprise, or where a question is asked, this may be shown by the live speaker through appropriate facial expressions. • Assessed and recorded role-plays can be carried out separately with the teacher rather than with another learner. • Language modification or interpretation of instructions which are provided in L1. • Where responses to comprehension questions are expected to be in L1, some examining boards allow 149 learners to sign their responses. These are later transcribed by the support worker and approved by the learner. • Instructions (the rubrics), if in L1, can be signed by the support worker or wording can be modified in advance if it is deemed likely to cause difficulty. The matrix A matrix is available from http://www.judithmole.net/ForeignLanguageMatrix.doc which is a summary of many of the points discussed in this book. It represents an attempt to apply a problem-solving approach to task of adjusting practice to accommodate the needs of deaf learners. Many people have contributed ideas: teachers, support workers and deaf learners themselves, but this is just a starting point. All learners are different, and have their own unique set of characteristics. As you work with deaf learners we hope you will use the examples here to help you to construct a personal planning grid for each learner, as described in Part Two. You will find other problems to solve and new solutions. We hope you will add these to the matrix and make it your own. 150 About the authors H ilary McColl taught French and English in mainstream schools in England, France and Scotland before being seconded as Scottish National Curriculum Development Officer in 1994 to examine how learners with special educational needs were being catered for in modern languages. The resulting compendium of advice to schools included a section on teaching hearing impaired learners. Hilary's own increasing deafness led her to give up language teaching in 1996. Now working as an independent trainer, consultant and writer, she has particular interest in bringing together teachers who specialise in modern languages and those who specialise in supporting learners, believing that collaborative working is the best way to ensure viable modern language programmes for learners with special educational needs. Judith Mole is the director of Direct Learn Services Ltd. She has been working in education since 1992 and started working with Deaf learners whilst at college. She has since managed support units for Deaf learners both at Sheffield Hallam University and at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. She has worked as a project manager to create online BSL/English dictionaries for various academic subjects and has written booklets for academic and support staff. In 1996 she completed a PGCert in TESOL. Having grown up in Europe, she has native fluency in German. She is currently struggling to learn Spanish and Catalan. Mireille Vale currently works as a sign language interpreter at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. She is a qualified BSL/English Interpreter and has completed a Postgraduate Diploma in BSL/English Interpreting and a Master's degree in Sign Linguistics at Durham University. Micky’s interest in foreign languages arises from personal experience as a learner of various spoken and signed languages, and as a Dutch person who has lived and studied abroad for nearly half her life. She briefly taught Dutch to English speakers both privately and through Durham University’s language centre. Micky has worked as a communication support worker, note-taker, electronic notetaker and interpreter in all phases of education since 1995. This work has included supporting deaf learners in foreign language classes (Spanish at high school level and beginner's Japanese at University level). In 2000, Micky was the Project Leader for the development of a course in 'Support Work with Deaf Learners' for communication support workers and deaf educational instructors in pre-16 education. She has also been involved in the production of the Microbooks CD-Rom 'Signs for GCSE English'. 152 References Bauman, N. (2000) Speechreading (Lip-reading), Online. Available HTTP: <http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/speechreading.htm (accessed 17 July 2005). Bouvet, D. (1990) The Path to Language: Bilingual Education for Deaf Children. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters C. Davis, M. Smith and C. Moore (date unknown) Foreign Language Instruction - Tips for Accommodating Hard-ofHearing and Deaf Students, Online. Available HTTP: <http://www.wou.edu/education/sped/wrocc/forlang_files/f rame.htm Gardner H. (1993) Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice. New York: Basic Books. Harrington, F.J. (2001) ‘Deaf students and the interpreted classroom: the effect of translation on education?’ In: Harrington, F.J. and Turner, G.H. (Eds.) Interpreting Interpreting: Studies and Reflections on Sign Language Interpreting. Coleford: Douglas McLean. Huntington G.S. (1987), Assessing Child Characteristics That Influence Family Functioning. In Bailey, D.B. and Simeonsson, R.J. (Eds.) Family Assessment in Early 153 Intervention, Columbus: Merrill. Jensen E. (1998) Teaching with the brain in mind, Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. Kyle, J. and Woll, B. (1985) Sign Language: The study of deaf people and their language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Laurillard, D. and Marullo, G. (1993) ‘Computer-based approaches to second language learning’. In: Scrimshaw, P. (Ed.) Language, Classrooms and Computers. London: Routledge McColl, H., McPake, J. and Picozzi, L. (2002) Modern Languages in Special Schools and Mainstream Units in Scotland. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.scilt.stir.ac.uk/PDFfiles/Hilary.pdf Mitchell, R. (1994) ‘The communicative approach to language teaching: an introduction’. In: Swarbrick, A. (Ed.) Teaching Modern Languages. London: Routledge Obler L.K. (1985). Language beyond childhood. In J. Berko Gleason (Ed.) The development of language. Columbus: Merrill. Pinker S. (1994), The language instinct: How the mind creates language. New York: Harper Collins. 154 Richards, J.C. and Rodgers, T.S. (2001) Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (Second Edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Sacks O. (1989) Seeing voices . Berkeley: University of California Press. Stefánsdottir, V. (1999) New approaches in teaching deaf students. Online. Available HTTP: http://eudeaf.uniklu.ac.at/referate/stefansdottir.htm Strong, M. (Ed.) (1988) Language Learning and Deafness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Thomas C.S. (2000) Beginners in the dark. 6th METU EFL Convention Thomas C.S. (2001) Give me mistakes. Online. Available HTTP: http://www.hltmag.co.uk/sep01/index.htm Tucker, I. and Powell, C. (1991) The Hearing Impaired Child and School. London: Souvenir Press. Volkers, H. (date unknown), Das Schwerhörigen-ABC, Online. Available HTTP: http://www.shabc.de Wolffe J. (1999), Skills for Success: A Career Education Handbook for Children and Adolescents with Visual Impairments. American Federation of the Blind 155 Glossary accent accent adjective admin time adverb American Sign Language ASL assistive listening device Audio Active (AA) audiogram audiology bilingual Bilingualism The way of pronouncing words. It is distinctive from dialect, which also has differences in grammar and word use. A mark or indication which shows which letter or syllable of a word should be stressed. A word that describes a noun. For example, green, big, happy. Known to US interpreters as 'downtime'. Working time spent not interpreting. A word which modifies a verb or adjective. For example, slowly, hugely. The national sign language of the United States of America. American Sign Language An audiological device used to assist people with a hearing loss. Linked system of workstations consisting of tape, CD player/recorders or computers with headphones to facilitate individual or paired listening and speaking tasks. The graphical representation mapping the hearing profile of a person. It shows both the volume and frequency a person can hear. The study of hearing and hearing loss. Being able to use two, or more, languages fluently. An educational philosophy which advocates the use of sign language as the primary language in school which can be used to learn a spoken language as a second language. British Sign Language BSL classifier Closed captioning cochlear implant conditional conference microphone CSW cued speech dB Deaf deaf decibel DGS dialect dipthong The national sign language of England, Wales and parts of the Northern Irish communities. British Sign Language Classifiers are linguistic features in some signed and spoken languages to indicate movement, placement etc. Subtitles on a video which are hidden unless viewed with a special devise called a caption reader. An audiological electronic device which is surgically inserted into the skull behind the ear. An if-sentence. For example, "If you are reading this book, you must own a computer." An attachment for a radioaid (phonic ear) to be able to use the device in a small group situation. Communication Support Worker (UK) A way of making lip-reading visible, using hand shapes to illustrate speech sounds. Abbreviation for decibel. Volume of sound is measured in decibels. The political term for belonging to the Deaf community. The medical term for hearing loss. The measure of the volume of sound. Abbreviation is dB. Deutsche Gebärdensprache (German Sign Language) Variations of language use, usually linked to regions. Different from accent as dialect not only includes differences in pronunciation, but also grammar and using alternative words. A vowel combination where the sound of one sound flows into another vowel sound. 157 domain enunciation EI ESOL fingerspelling FLA frequency fricative FL gender gesture hearing aid Hochdeutsch homographs homophones Hz ICT idiom infinitive A situation where an interpreter may work. For example, the educational domain, or court interpreting. Different domains require different behaviours. The clear pronunciation of words. Educational Interpreter English for Speakers of Other Languages Using hand shapes to show a manual alphabet. Foreign language assistant A measure of cycles per second. It is measured in Hz and is used to determine the frequency of sound. A speech sound produced by forcing air through a constriction in the vocal tract. Foreign language A system to classify nouns as masculine, feminine or neuter. A form of non-verbal communication. An audiological devise worn in or behind the ear to aid hearing. Colloquially known as standard written German, as opposed to a dialect version of German. Words which are written the same, but have different meanings. Words which sound the same, but are written differently and have different meanings. Abbreviation for Hertz, the measure of frequency. Information Communications Technology A common expression which can have an unexpected meaning. The root form of a verb. 158 initialisation Using the fist letter(s) of a word when a sign is not known or does not yet exist. interpreting Verbal (or signed) translation from one language into another. intonation The change in pitch and tone in a sentence. invisible Consonants which cannot be seen on the lips. consonants For example /s/. L1 The ‘source language’ which is also usually the ‘home language’ and usually the mother tongue. L2 The foreign language or target language being learned. lag-time The time which is required to listen to a message before it can be interpreted. This causes a gap between the source language and the target language. lexicon All the words of one language. lip patterns The way speech looks on the lips when spoken. lip-reading Reading the lips as a means of communication. lip-speaking A form of communication support for deaf people where speech is reproduced clearly and silently. LSC Llengua de Signes Catalana (Catalan Sign Language) LSE Lengua de Signos Española (Spanish Sign Language) LSF Langue des Signes Français (French Sign Language) manual alphabet Hand shapes which represent the alphabet of a language. MFL Modern Foreign Language minimal pairs Words which only differ in one phoneme. NGT Nederlandse Gebarentaal (Dutch Sign Language) note-taking A form of communication support for deaf 159 noun onomatopoeia Oralism OSV Peripheral Active Learning Environment (PALE) PGCert Phonic ear phonics phonetics plosives pronunciation proper noun question tags radioaid people, where a note-taker attempts to write down the contents of a conversation, class or lecture for a deaf person to read, either in real time or at a later date. A word which represents a person, place, substance or material. Usually used for concrete things. A word which resembles the sound it represents. An educational philosophy which advocates the use of speech and listening/lip-reading as the preferable communication method for d/Deaf people. Object-subject-verb sentence construction Audio active stations located around the perimeter of the classroom to facilitate individual or paired listening and speaking tasks. Post Graduate Certificate (UK) Another term for a radioaid. The study of the way spellings represent the sounds of words. The study of speech sounds. A consonant sound which is produced by stopping air and suddenly releasing it. For example, /p/ or /b/. The way language is spoken. The name of a specific thing, place or person. Usually capitalised. Question tags are added to statements, to turn them into questions. Audiological equipment which allows a deaf person to listen only to the sounds coming through a microphone, and hence eliminating unwanted background noise. 160 residual hearing received pronunciation SL SLI speech-reading stress StV SVO SW syntax team working tense timeline TL ToD topic-comment Total Communication transliteration trill The amount of useful hearing a person with hearing loss has. A dialect of English often called 'BBC English' and the form of English most used to show English pronunciation in British dictionaries. Sign language Sign Language Interpreter See lip-reading. The emphasis given to a particular letter, phoneme or syllable of a word. Sign to voice Subject-verb-object sentence construction Support worker. An umbrella term for interpreters, note-takers, etc. The grammatical arrangement of words in a sentence. Known in the UK as co-working. Two/or more interpreters working together on the same assignment. The way a language expresses time. The way some signed languages express time. Target language Teacher of the deaf The way some languages organise syntax. BSL and Chinese both use topic-comment syntax. An educational philosophy which advocates the use of sign and speech simultaneously. This approach usually uses Manually Coded English. The process of changing one form of an English message, either spoken English or signed English, into the other form and vice versa. A consonant sound which is produced by vibration. For example, /r/. 161 verb visible consonants VtS A word which describes an action. For example, to walk, to see. Consonants which can be seen on the lips. For example, /m/, /t/. Voice to sign 162 View publication stats