LANGUAGE AND THE DEAF

Jessica Scott, Boston UniversitySession 9, March 21, 2012

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

“In terms of a disability, I don’t view myself as having a disability…I function like any other hearing person can. My deafness does not deprive me of anything. I can do anything I want. Except maybe sing.” Summer Crider, Through Deaf Eyes

AGENDA

Discussion What is literate thought? How can we promote literate thought? Break! Housekeeping Guest speaker: Jillian Forschner!

GOALS FOR THE SESSION

To understand what literate thought is and how it might be developed

To consider ways we can develop literate thought in our classrooms

To learn about the experiences of an ASL specialist at a residential school for the Deaf

AGENDA

Discussion What is literate thought? How can we promote literate thought? Break! Guest speaker: Jillian Forschner! Housekeeping

DISCUSSION: BETSY!

DISCUSSION BOARD INTERLUDE

“I find it interesting how much stock we put into be literate. We, as a society, believe that if one is not literate than one is not smart. But that is not always the case.”

“Especially after reading article #7, I can't understand why teachers are not properly using ASL for instruction. With all the research why do schools continue to implement unsuccessful methods on instruction.”

DISCUSSION BOARD INTERLUDE

Bailey’s article "Integrative ASL-English Language Arts: Bridging Paths to Literacy" was very useful. I think the 6 principles for application of bilingual education are outstanding.

Reading this article, I sure wished I grew up in this kind of environment with all six principles. I feel frustrated and disappointed that educators convinced my parents to put me in hearing schools, with no interpreters, attended thousands of “pull out” hours for speech therapy, and learning little stuff through lip reading. This is an inspiring article, and I look forward working with Deaf children.

AGENDA

Discussion What is literate thought? How can we promote literate thought? Break! Guest speaker: Jillian Forschner! Housekeeping

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE LITERATE? Classic definition focuses on script

literacy: Ability to read and write We know that many Deaf students have

traditionally struggled to acquire script literacy skills in English, a language that they no auditory access to

We also know that these students may have extraordinary language skills in ASL and have strong cognitive skills

A DEFINITION OF LITERATE THOUGHT The ability to interpret ideas and be

critical of information (which can be presented in a number of forms).

Literate thought requires LANGUAGE, but not necessarily script literacy.

SO…

Cognitive Ability =/= Reading Ability There are plenty of people who struggle

with reading who are of average (or above average!) cognitive ability

We need to consider more than just ability to read and write in English (or whatever dominant language) when considering literate thought

COMPLICATIONS FROM THE MATTHEW EFFECT

Matthew Effect (Stanovich) – originally applied to reading: The (reading) rich get richer, and the

(reading) poor get poorer Children are often expected to learn

information and world knowledge THROUGH print Which means that the reading poor might

not get instruction that is equal to their cognitive abilities

OTHER TYPES OF LITERACY

Performance literacy Dialogues, lectures, storytelling Captured on film (so they can be revisited,

in the same way that print literacy is) Caption literacy

Recorded performance literacy… with captions!

IN GROUPS

Read over the example on pages 384-385 in article 8 How is performance literacy used here? How does this promote literate thought? What do you like about this example? What do you dislike?

DO YOU HAVE IDEAS…

About how performance literacy can be fully utilized in the classroom?

About how caption literacy can be used to benefit students?

AGENDA

Discussion What is literate thought? How can we promote literate

thought? Break! Guest speaker: Jillian Forschner! Housekeeping

BAILEY’S SIX PRINCIPLES

1. Provision of Language Models in ASL & English 2. ASL as First/Natural Language for Deaf Children 3. World Knowledge as a Prerequisite for Written

English Literacy 4. Promoting Metalinguistic Awareness and

Knowledge in ASL & English 5. Valuing Approximations in Both ASL & English 6. Involvement of Parents in the Literary Lives of

Deaf Children

IN GROUPS

Think about these six principles: How can these principles support the

development of literate thought? Have you seen classrooms that adhere to

any or all of these principles? How might these principles look in practice

when applied to a school for the Deaf?

AGENDA

Discussion What is literate thought? How can we promote literate thought? Break! Guest speaker: Jillian Forschner! Housekeeping

BREAK!

REMINDERS

Today marks the first day you can submit your final paper proposal The last day is April 11

Your Annotated Bibliography is due next week 5 readings on your final paper topic 300 word summary of each

AN EVENT

Wednesday, March 28 6:30 pm, Wellesley College Science

Center Deaf Awareness Event: Lecture and ASL

Storytelling

Just FYI!

JUST A NOTE

I will be out of town from tomorrow until Sunday, so my e-mail response time might be slower than usual Sorry!

NEXT WEEK

We will return to our Vygotsky book and think about how we can promote literacy through interactions with our students

There will be no discussion leader!

AGENDA

Discussion What is literate thought? How can we promote literate thought? Break! Guest speaker: Jillian Forschner! Housekeeping

AGENDA

Discussion What is literate thought? How can we promote literate thought? Break! Guest speaker: Jillian Forschner! Housekeeping

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!