TEACHING ENGLISH TO PEOPLE WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENTS
Nadezhda Varbanova Tsoneva, Ivelina Nedelcheva Makrieva
Abstract: In the present paper the authors focus on their experience of teaching English as
a foreign language to deaf and hard-of-hearing people. Teaching English to hearingimpaired people is an incredible challenge. Deaf and hard-of-hearing people have
phonological difficulties, which affect not only their speaking and listening skills but they
influence their way of retaining and expressing information, their organizational skills,
their memory. The authors will point out the teaching methods and learning strategies
which they find relevant in this specific classroom situation and that can help these people
become aware of the culture of English speaking countries and also focus on the
development of their reading and writing skills in the foreign language.
At first, the task of teaching a foreign language to a deaf student seems impossible.
When we teach our students English as a foreign language we typically rely on oral
teaching methods. Not only the material is delivered orally but students are tested by how
they comprehend listening materials or how they respond orally during the lessons.
These teaching methods are impossible to be used in the case of teaching hearing
impaired students or at least they need adjusting. An EFL teacher who faces the challenge
of teaching hearing impaired students should bear in mind the specificity of the task and
the peculiarities of the type of students he/she is going to interact with. We had first-hand
experience of teaching such people within the Project “Mission for a Change – the Social
Enterprise as a Chance for Normal Life and Social Integration” as part of the “Human
Resources Development” Program which was conducted by The Center of Social
Rehabilitation and Integration of Adults within Excellia Business Agency.
Deaf and hard-of-hearing people also develop abilities to learn and they know how
to use all available cues to receive and understand information. The degree of impairment
and the background training of these people affect the way they learn; thus different
methods and strategies can be applied in the process of teaching and learning. Also the
effect and usefulness of a given method or strategy can vary on different students.
The attendees we taught were absolute beginners and at the end of the course they
achieved Beginner level (A1). Being adults they had enough experience and background
knowledge, so we did not face the challenge of teaching notions. The starting point of our
work was related to their educational level. Because of the peculiarities of the course, it
was impossible to use only one textbook. We used materials from different language
systems and relied on handouts, which we found relevant at the Beginner level. The
duration of the course was 100 academic hours; each group had 8 lessons per week.
Despite the difficulties the trainees encountered, the majority of them found the lessons
interesting and useful. The objective of the language course within the project was to
familiarize the trainees with the basic grammar rules and essential vocabulary in English
which would enable them to expand their skills for online communication and to help those
of them who are motivated to develop their reading and writing skills for business
correspondence.
During the course we adjusted the methods and strategies according to the students’
specific characteristics and individual needs. When we start teaching a foreign language
we always bare in mind the different components of learning a foreign language –
receptive skills, productive skills and the cultural awareness the new language opens. For
deaf and hard-of-hearing people the acquiring of receptive and productive skills must focus
on reading and writing not on listening and speaking. Therefore, the linguistic competence
they acquired was in the sphere of written language since we did not teach them the
English sign language. We put emphasis on developing mainly their reading and writing
skills. Teaching pronunciation was accomplished by using a graphical representation of the
sounds. It is important that the student is aware of the way a word is pronounced because
in the process of thinking, reading or writing in English he/she will ‘pronounce’ this word
in his/her mind.
When we learn a foreign language we make conscious efforts to learn new words,
idiomatic expressions and unknown grammar structures efficiently. Considering the
difficulties our students had we used a number of language learning strategies to help and
improve their learning process.
First, we put emphasis on the facilitative strategies because they help hard-ofhearing people communicate with the other people. We could not communicate or teach
them using the sign language, so the use of visual aids was most helpful since vision is
their primary source of receiving information. Although many foreign language classes are
conducted in the foreign language, we used Bulgarian written instructions and direct
translation where necessary. We worked with 3-4 trainees in a group, as individual work
proved to be a very successful form of training since our trainees were with different levels
of education hence they had different pace of comprehension and acquisition. We tried to
remain flexible throughout the course and adjust the material to their individual needs. We
constantly insisted on obtaining regular feedback from our trainees in order to check their
level of understanding and to adjust our pace.
Other facilitative strategies we took advantage of were:
 Maintaining eye contact and physical contact during the lectures. We had a kind
of established gesture (touching his/her hand) which we used to draw our
trainee’s attention;
 Slowing down if necessary;
 Looking directly at the trainee;
 Thinking about our facial expression and the body language which also conveys
information.
The greatest challenge we faced as lecturers was to make our trainees connect the
grammar rules which we taught them and the ability to apply those rules in reading and
writing. Since we were limited in the communication types which we could use and
develop, we applied several grammar learning strategies. We related their knowledge
needs to their learning goals. Our trainees planned to use the language exclusively for
reading journals, keeping business correspondence and online communication; therefore,
we focused on the grammar they would need to accomplish their goals. We reduced the
amount of grammar. We taught only simple grammar tenses, simple sentence structures, no
object pronouns, no listening and speaking exercises. We used only simple coordinating
conjunctions (and, but, so). We did not teach them linking words like however,
nevertheless, although and we avoided the use of idiomatic expressions because they could
lead to ambiguity in understanding since sign language is highly metaphoric even in
denoting concrete notions. We tried to avoid modifying forms, such as relative clauses and
prepositional phrases and we used a defining relative clause only in the sentences where
the relative pronoun (who, which, that) was next to the word it modified. For each new
grammar structure we used models because they facilitated understanding and further
practice. Learners constantly referred to the models while they were producing their own
pieces of writing.
We practised silent reading comprehension. The reading exercises were very helpful
because the trainees had the opportunity to use the language in context and to practice the
new words and structures. Besides, they liked these exercises because, in most of the cases,
they gave them the chance to cope with the tasks on their own and this was very important
for their self-confidence.
We were also very attentive to the range of topics which we included in the course.
We found communicative exercises, especially dialogues and phone calls irrelevant. Our
trainees were not interested in topics concerning music, going to concerts, asking for
directions, etc.
Since the amount of information to be processed by language learners is high in the
language classroom, and considering the limitations of teaching English to people with
hearing impairments we applied different memory strategies for enhancing the learning
process and especially for dealing with new words:
 Studying the word with a pictorial representation of its meaning;
 Connecting the new word to a previous personal experience;
 Grouping words according to a topic;
 Grouping words together within a storyline;
 Studying the spelling of the word. People with hearing impairments have highly
developed visual memory;
 Connecting the word with its synonyms and antonyms;
 Using semantic maps of new words.
Trainees’ performance was tested and evaluated through written tests in which the most
common types of exercises were included. For example, a multiple choice reading
comprehension, judging whether a sentence is true or false with the help of a visual
support, open-ended questions, matching exercises; gap filling, giving synonyms or
antonyms, word-formation patterns; using the correct form of the verb (affirmative,
negative, interrogative) within one and the same tense; answering general and specific
questions about themselves, describing their families and homes, etc. It should be noted
that some of the learners made a really considerable progress.
The assessment helped us diagnose the overall performance of our trainees, identify
their strengths and make conclusions for future improvement of the course. We believed
that offering different types of assessment to our trainees was most valuable. In theory
good assessment means:
 Measuring meaningful learning outcomes in a fair, reliable and accurate
way
 Informing the teacher about student performance and how students are
interpreting course experiences
 Meaningful feedback to the learner
 Learning experience
Assessment during the course was based on writing an individual paper in class, class
participation, homework assignments – usually multiple choice, true or false questions,
short answers, gap filling – exercises which require correct answers. They were easy to be
explained because there were true answers. We paid special attention to their mistakes
since they provided feedback for us and we could judge the effectiveness of the teaching
materials and we adjusted them to the needs of our students. Furthermore, the mistakes
analysis was essential because it helped us choose the most suitable approach and the most
effective learning techniques and strategies to enhance trainees’ language knowledge for
the short period of the English language course.
For self-assessment we usually used written quizzes and interactive exercises which
provided a quick opportunity for our trainees’ to check their understanding and to measure
their learning progress on their own. Developing their self-assessment skills enabled them
to become capable of assessing their peers and increased their self-confidence.
Attendees were often given the freedom to work on their own doing online
language exercises. They were encouraged to search for other ways of learning and
self-assessing their work. It should be stated that some of them made a really
considerable progress. The strategies we used for teaching a foreign language to this
specific type of learners turned them into autonomous learners having “insights into
their learning styles and strategies”, taking “an active approach to the learning task at
hand”, and being “willing to take risks” [2].
REFERENCES:
1. OXFORD, Rebecca.1990. Language Learning Strategies. New York: Newbury House
Publishers.
2. Lown,
E.
Approaches
to
Learner
Autonomy
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Language
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http://www.slideshare.net/irwyn12/approaches-to-learner-autonomy-in-language-learningpresentation-786825
3. ПРОЕКТ „Мисия за промяна - Социалното предприятие като шанс за пълноценен живот
и социално включване” BG051PO001-5.1.01-0034, финансиран по оперативна програма
„Развитие на човешките ресурси” 2007-2013, Сдружение „Бизнес Агенция” и партньори:
ЦПО към Екселиа ЕООД и Сдружение „Агенция за социално развитие - ВИЖЪН”
Nadezhda Varbanova Tsoneva e-mail: tsonevanadya@yahoo.com
Ivelina Nedelcheva Makrieva e-mail: nedelchevaivelina@yahoo.com