Language and
the Deaf
Jessica Scott
Boston University, March 28, 2012
DE 576, Session 10
Food for thought

“It is interesting to see that DEAF people can
function in the hearing world very well, while
hearing people cannot function well in the
DEAF world.”

Gil Eastman, Gallaudet Theater Arts
Agenda

Discussion

Review of Vygotsky’s major ideas

Vygotsky and reading

Progressive Reading

Break

CI Corner

Applying book clubs

Housekeeping
Agenda

Discussion

Review of Vygotsky’s major ideas

Vygotsky and reading

Progressive Reading

Break

CI Corner

Applying book clubs

Housekeeping
Discussion

What do you like/dislike about the ideas of
book clubs?

What are the advantages of using peers in
book clubs as “more knowledgeable
others”? What are the disadvantages?

How do you see book clubs working in Deaf
Ed classrooms?

Are there any changes you would make?
Discussion

What do you think about children using art to
respond to text?


Bonny did an excellent job analyzing
student art on the wiki!
Vygotsky identifies collaborative groups as
important for development. Some of you
have noted the small class sizes in many
Deaf Ed classrooms – how might we get
past this to support collaboration among our
students? (with diverse peers)
Discussion Board Interlude

I do, however, remember hating group work.
This is something I have been struggling
with when reading this Vygotsky book. When
I was in grade school I never wanted to work
with the other students because I knew how
I wanted the assignment to go. I also always
wanted to figure things out for myself. I
wonder about students like me. Did I
become that way because my teachers were
not leading our groups in the right way, or
are there some people who can actually
work alone and still learn?
Discussion Board Interlude

If there are enough number of students in a
classroom, teacher would be easy to make
diversity groups to do the activities.
However, most of classrooms of Deaf
schools have small number of students. So
teacher might be difficult to divide into
groups since some students feel that they
often work with the same students.

Often, Deaf classrooms have a small
number of students. With that being said
what about designating a specific time a few
times a week and have 2 or 3 classes meet
together and have book club? That could
allow students to branch out and discuss
ideas with different students.
Agenda

Discussion

Review of Vygotsky’s major ideas

Vygotsky and reading

Progressive Reading

Break

CI Corner

Applying book clubs

Housekeeping
ZPD

Zone of proximal development

Where a student can be successful in a
challenging task with the support of a
more knowledgeable other (teacher or
peer)
Social Transaction

The importance of interacting with others
around new ideas in order to learn

Learning both from one another, from texts,
and from our own thoughts
Mediation Model
Purpose
Reflection
Strategies
Agenda

Discussion

Review of Vygotsky’s major ideas

Vygotsky and reading

Progressive Reading

Break

CI Corner

Applying book clubs

Housekeeping
Semiotic Mediation

Understanding how we use signs and
symbols to communicate with one another

Developing this skill can improve higher
order thinking

Taught through:

Reading (recognizing written symbols for
communication)

Writing (using written symbols or drawings
to communicate)

Discussion (using language to
communicate)
Other research

Signed conversations between students and
teachers provides scaffolding necessary to
navigate signs and symbols used in print
and ASL (Gioia, 2001)

Deaf students benefit from instruction from
teachers that is within their ZPD (LuetkeStahlman, Hayes & Nielsen, 1996)

Supporting signed language among Deaf
children seems to support their
understanding of written language (Williams,
1994)
Internalization

We start learning through social processes
(interpsychological) – we express our ideas
and thoughts to others

Learners need feedback from others to help
them to reassess, refine, and strengthen
their constructed meanings.

Learning eventually becomes an inner
discussion (intrapsychological) – we think to
ourselves

Moving from the social to the inner
processes is internalization
Internalization and
Collaboration

Participation in discussions means two
things for students. They are for them to:

--express their developing ideas related to
texts for others to respond to

--see the teacher and peers respond to
texts, revealing alternative constructed
meanings and struggles they may have in
communicating their ideas.
Pair Discussion

In groups of 2-3:




Reread the scenario on page 59
What do you think has gone wrong here?
Why is the teacher unsuccessful?
What ideas do you have to help the book
club lesson run more smoothly?
Activity Theory

Assumptions:

Development is dynamic – it’s about the
changes we make



We work best toward goals

Thinking dependant on actions, context
and goal


Biology AND culture influence activity
Activities must have meaning/purpose
Mental activities cannot be separated from
interpersonal interactions
Development varies for activities – we all
have unique goals!
Applying activity theory

Academic discourse

Depersonalization – books in the
classrooms are often objective in nature –
third person

Boundedness – You are bound to what
can be found in the text

Conscious Reflection – Metacognition and
metalinguistic awareness

Systematicity – text based relationships
(cause and effect, chronological,
compare/contrast…)
Literacy as Activity

Literacy is a purposeful activity where
people express themselves and their
perspectives

When we teach students to read, we should
move beyond recognizing vocabulary and
individual words, and remember that the
activity of literacy has its basis in
communication
Activity of Literacy
Modeling Interpretation
Text-mediation Interpretation

Teacher models reading in the
child’s ZPD

Students engage in dialogue
with texts and peers

Teacher shows the student how
to use strategies

Can think about the text, or
related ideas/events

Cons: Too much modeling might
not give the child enough
independent practice

Cons: Less opportunity for
students to see strategies as
modeled by others
Supporting student
collaboration

To really learn, students need to interact with
others around a concept or idea

Students can learn as much (if not more!)
through peer collaboration as through
teacher dialogue

Collaborative groups help students interact
together – students have varying abilities

These should including writing, reading,
and using language
Supporting student
collaboration

Children often feel good about collaboration,
which can be motivating

Literature study (book clubs), progressive
reading, learning teams, jigsaw and
discussion groups all support collaboration
Other research

Shared reading, involving interaction
between students and adults, has been
found to improve literacy abilities among
DHH students (oral and signing) (Roberts et
al., 2005, Senechal, LeFrebre, Hudson &
Lawson, 1996)

Young signing Deaf children benefit from
interacting with one another during writing
(Williams, 1999)
What do you think?

How can semiotic mediation, internalization,
and activity theory apply to Deaf children?

What modifications would you make to these
ideas (if any)?

What do you like?

What do you dislike?
Agenda

Discussion

Review of Vygotsky’s major ideas

Vygotsky and reading

Progressive Reading

Break

CI Corner

Applying book clubs

Housekeeping
In groups of 3

You will receive (the same) excerpts from a pro-oral
education article

Read the article

Your group will begin to write a response – choose any
point made in the article that you would like to respond
to.

In 8 minutes you will switch tables, read what that team
had written, and continue their piece

In 5 minutes, we will do this again!

We will then take a minute to pass around and read the
final products
Reflection

What did you think about this way of
including reading, writing, and group
interactions?

What are the benefits for students?

What do you like about it?

What do you think would be challenging?
Agenda

Discussion

Review of Vygotsky’s major ideas

Vygotsky and reading

Progressive Reading

Break

CI Corner

Applying book clubs

Housekeeping
Break!
Agenda

Discussion

Review of Vygotsky’s major ideas

Vygotsky and reading

Progressive Reading

Break

CI Corner

Applying book clubs

Housekeeping
CI Corner

Dissertation Abstract: Speech and sign
perception in deaf children with cochlear
implants


Giezen, 2011
University of Amsterdam Dissertation
What did they do?

Looked at 15 5-6 year old children with CI’s who were
educated using either signed language or spoken
language


Compared them with 41 typically hearing peers (20
children, 21 young adults)
Asked students to:


Categorize sounds
Learn new words
What did they find?

Emphasize that CIs do not restore normal
hearing

Students with CIs did a good job of
categorizing sounds

Children with better sign vocabulary tended
to have better speech perception

Although people often think otherwise,
students who learned sign language were
also successful speech users
 Sign did not inhibit speech
 In fact, signed vocabulary seemed to
support spoken vocabulary
What do you think?
Agenda

Discussion

Review of Vygotsky’s major ideas

Vygotsky and reading

Progressive Reading

Break

CI Corner

Applying book clubs

Housekeeping
Book clubs

The text explores the use of book clubs as a
way of promoting literacy as well as
interaction

Today you will be in book clubs to read and
discuss a children’s book
Procedures

You will get your books


You will also receive the book critique
graphic organizer from your text


Read them silently
Fill this out when you finish reading
Then you will meet with your book club,
others who read the same book as you
Discussion rules

Share what you thought about the book

Make sure everyone gets a turn

When you disagree, do so respectfully

(I do not agree with that, because…)

Stay on topic

Pay attention to one another and learn from
your differing perspectives
Ideas for discussion

Information from your book critique

Whether you made any connection to the
story

Whether it reminded you of other stories you
have read

What you liked about the story

What you disliked about the story
Reflecting

What did you think about the book club
experience?

How could you see it playing out in a
classroom?

What did you like? Dislike?
Summing up

Book clubs and similar activities can go a
long way toward making literacy
development interactive

Students should be free to respond to
reading in a variety of ways

The end result of social mediation in literacy
activities is to help students develop
concrete understandings and internalize
what they have learned
Agenda

Discussion

Review of Vygotsky’s major ideas

Vygotsky and reading

Progressive Reading

Break

CI Corner

Applying book clubs

Housekeeping
Housekeeping

Anyone have annotated bibliographies?

Remember, your final paper proposal is due
in 2 weeks (April 11)


It can be handed in any time between now
and then
Also, don’t forget the ASL storytelling event
tonight at Wellesley (6:30)
One more guest speaker

On April 25

Erika Guarino, who is Deaf and a graduate
of this program

Formerly taught at The Learning Center,
currently a self-contained high school
teacher in the EDCO program


To round out our itinerant and residential
school teachers
Do come prepared with any questions you
may have about working in such a setting
Next week

We will be talking about content area literacy
and Vygotsky

As well as finishing up Rethinking the
Education of Deaf Students

It is our last week with no student discussion
leader
See you next week!!