Working with Language Tutors:
Guidelines for tutors
Why Do Deaf Students Need Language Tutors?
Language is acquired through plentiful exposure to meaningful linguistic interaction in early
childhood. For deaf people, this exposure will be limited, so acquiring English clearly requires a
different process from the way in which hearing people develop English; ie through audition.
For many deaf students, English is their second language; British Sign Language (BSL) is their
first. However, unlike other students who do not have English as their first language, pre-lingual
deaf students are physically unable to learn English the way a German or French native
speaker learns English. Furthermore, unless a child has access to a first signed language they
cannot be immersed in the language around them for they cannot hear it. Most past and
current educational policy and practice with regard to deaf pupils excludes the use of BSL,
which in turn excludes the child from full genuine participation in the linguistic environment
around them.
The result is typically language delay.
What Do Language Tutors Do?
a) Help students prepare for assignments – i.e. checking comprehension of the task and
the understanding of written materials; assisting with planning/organisation of projects,
the structure of essays etc.
b) Advise students about the presentation of written, signed or spoken work.
c) Liaise with module tutors regarding the course work, syllabus and assignments.
Language Tutors will ask you for a module syllabus and reading lists at the beginning
of each semester, so that they can begin background reading and preparation.
d) Facilitate access to texts by modifying the language of course materials, examinations
and assignment briefs where appropriate, or by translating them into BSL
e) Liaise with the module tutors regarding the above.
What Should You Do?
a) Make contact/meet with the Language Tutor when they first contact you
b) Provide tutors with Module Guides, handbooks, reading lists and anything else that you
may feel is useful.
c) Liaise with Language Tutors over assessment strategies, tasks and exams
d) Follow guidelines for modification of exam papers (see
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/student_services/accentre/dld/guidelines/deafstudents/languag
e/exam-guide.htm) for more information.
e) Aim to produce all assignment briefs and exam papers in plain English; remember this
benefits all students, not just deaf students.
f) Be aware that in order to illustrate the actual level of support that the deaf student
receives from their language tutor, students should hand in two pieces of work. One is
the student’s original draft, produced without any language tuition; the second is the
same work with support from a language tutor. The lecturer should see that the content
material, and ideas remain the same for both pieces of work; the second draft should
reflect discussion regarding structure, grammar etc. The latter document should be
assessed.
Marking Deaf Students Work
a) Deaf students’ coursework will have a label on the front cover. You should mark this
piece of work in accordance to the Guidelines for Marking Deaf Students’ Work.
b) Deaf students’ exam papers will have a yellow label on the front cover. The student will
not have worked with an L.T. to produce this work. You should mark this piece of work
in accordance to the Guidelines for Marking Deaf Students’ Work.
c) Some deaf students may struggle to hand in their work by the deadline. The reason
for this is that they may take longer to read the text material, they may need to have
the text material translated into BSL ( which can take considerable time), and they may
find it difficult to see their L.T. – especially at busy assessment times.
d) If this is the case, deaf students have been asked to
a. see you and explain the situation
b. hand in their draft work by the deadline – and then hand in the final copy as
soon as they have seen their L.T.
Please remember the final copy is the one which should be assessed.
If you have any queries , please contact
Lynne Barnes (Adviser for Deaf Students)
Livesey House 216
lbarnes@uclan.ac.uk
Tel/Text 893098