A VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
ON ENGLISH LITERACY FOR
DEAF INDIAN ADULTS
Huhua Fan (Rita), 11/12/2015
International Institute for Sign Languages and Deaf Studies
University of Central Lancashire
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Contents
◦ Part 1 Background
◦ Part 2 Platform (SLEND) Design
◦ Part 3 Research Design
◦ Part 4 Preliminary Findings
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1.1 Deaf Community, a linguistic and
cultural minority
◦ 360 million people (5% of the total world
population) over the world have disabling
hearing loss. (WHO, 2015)
◦ Recognition of Sign Languages.
◦ A linguistic and cultural minority
Deafhood: anthropological view. (Ladd,
2003); Maintenance Model (Morales-Lopez,
2008); Language & Identity (Paul and Quigley,
1998)
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1.2 Deaf Education in India
Deaf
population
5 million
Deaf Literacy Rate
43%
57%
Total
population,
1.2 Billion
Literate
Illiterate
◦ Population:
◦ Less Access: Mainstream Schools and 550 Special Schools (Randhawa, 2005)
◦ Lack of Resources: Qualified teachers and materials
◦ Oralism has been proved a failure in India (Randhawa, 2005; Sahasrabudhe, 2010)
Sources of figures: CensusInfo 2011; Randhawa 2005
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1.3 Status of English Language in India
◦ Academic Use: instruction language in Higher
education and High schools.
◦ Official Language: Indefinite period.
◦ Lingua Franca in India: “multi-religious, multi-cultural
and multi-linguistic” nature of India
“Throughout India, there is an extraordinary belief,
amongst almost all castes and classes, in both rural
and urban areas, in the transformative power of
English. English is seen not just as a useful skill, but as a
symbol of a better life, a pathway out of poverty and
oppression.” (Graddol, 2010, P.124)
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1.4 Evolution of Deaf Education
Oralism
Lack of
meaningful
communication
Total
Communication
Incomplete, structurally
compromised sign
languages and unusual
speech rate of spoken
language.
Bilingualism
•
•
•
•
BilingualBiculturalism
Incentive: Conrad Report (1979)
21st International Congress on the Education of the
Deaf (2010): a statement of “A new Era: Deaf
Participation and Collaboration”
Sign language as L1 and the dominant language of
the hearing community as L2 (Mayer, 2009; Gregory
et al., 1998)
Inter-Dependence Hypothesis (Cummins, 1991)
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1.5 Theoretical Framework for Literacy
•
Language teaching and learning focus for adults is
not language order, instead, content and
function. (Marschark et al., 2002)
•
Internationally, a person is considered functionally
literate if she or he can engage in
Literacy
Functional
Literacy
Multiliteracies
Across
languages
Multimedia
Beyond
Language
“all those activities in which literacy is required for
effective functioning of his (or her) group and
community and also for enabling him (or her) to
continue to use reading, writing and calculation for
his (or her) own and the community’s development.”
(UNESCO, 2005, P. 22)
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1.6 Literacy Approaches
◦ Ethnography (knowing a community or culture by participating)
◦ The study of people’s behavior in naturally occurring, ongoing settings, with a focus on the
cultural interpretation of behavior (Hymes, 1982).
◦ Ethnography and Literacy: Observe the literacy practices
◦ Assess Deaf adult learners’ learning needs
◦ Freirean Approach
◦ For adult literacy development and bases the learning content on the learners’ cultural and
personal experience (Spencer, 1990)
◦ Distinctive features:
◦ Deeply contextual
◦ Participatory
◦ Problem-solving
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1.7 CEFR for Languages
◦ Guidelines for MFL teaching, learning
and assessment
◦ Six levels
◦ Five areas
◦ Adaption: Previous project_Deaf Port
Project; Our Adaption
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1.8 Technology & Deaf Education
◦ Social use of technology: Deaf people spend more time in using internet than their
hearing peers (Barak & Sandovsky, 2008)
◦ Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) : increase access to English and improve
literacy(Garberoglio et al., 2015)
◦ Technology in Deaf Education: captioning, interactive whiteboards, tablet PCs, webbased instruction, and handheld technologies. (Stinson, 2010)
◦ E-Learning Platforms
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1.9 Innovation Programs in India
◦ 2 Distinctive innovations: employment of ICT and sign bilingualism (Sahasrabudhe,
2010)
◦ Pioneers: Ishara Foundation and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)
◦ Previous e-learning projects: English Learning Platform (ELP), the Bachelor Preparation
Programme for Deaf Students (BPPDS), the Bachelor of Arts (BA) Applied Sign
Language Studies (BAASLS)
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1.10 P2P Deaf Literacy Project
◦ P2P Deaf Literacy Project funded by ESRC and DFID
◦ A joint one-year pilot project (UCLan’s iSLanDS, SoLJIC &
LU’s Literacy Research Center)
◦ Aims: to explore innovative strategies and to enhance
learning outcomes for the Deaf Communities
◦ Countries involved: India, Ghana and Uganda
◦ SLEND Platform (Moodle) : Sign Language to English by the
Deaf
◦ For more info, please visit http://www.deafliteracy.net/
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2.1Key Components of the SLEND
o General Introduction
o Our Sharing Space
o Real Life English Topics
o Grammar
o Main Glossary
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2.2 Real Life English Topics
Ethnography----Clock Activity----Literacy Practices
◦ Admission
Application Form
◦ Application Forms
◦ ATM Receipt
◦ Bank Forms
◦ Bible Reading
◦ Computer Lab
◦ Concession
Certificate
◦ General Documents
◦ Invoice
◦ Email
◦ Family
◦ Internet Search
◦ Train Ticket
◦ Letters
◦ Menu
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…
Messaging
News/ News Headlines
Notice Boards and Signs
Notices on Wall
Online shopping
Rail Reservation Ticket
Reading Fiction
Religion
School or College
Sports
Subtitles
Teaching
In the library
At the railway station
Tickets
Computer labs
Things we don’t do on
campus
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2.3 Videos about Clock Activity
Clock Activity_Video 1
Clock Activity_Video 2
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2.4 Real Life Collection
◦ Cloak service at the railway station
Parking for physically disabled people
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2.5 Key Elements of One Session
Elements
Moodle Activity
Description
Real Life English Materials
Database Activity
Students and Peer Tutors upload materials from Real
Life to learn.
New Vocabulary
Secondary
Glossary
Students and Peer Tutors can upload their new
words, share with other students.
In-Class Video
Page Activity
Peer tutors from different learning centers film the
discussion or explanation during class.
Useful Language
Lesson Activity
A series of explanation, activities and quizzes to
practice useful language distilled from the real life.
Extended Exercise
Quiz
Exercise for the whole session.
I/We can …
Checklist
Students check off what they have learnt.
An Example Session: In the Library
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2.6 In-Class Videos
• Explanation
Discussion
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3.1 Research Questions
◦ What have emerged as the critical characteristics of a successful online learning
platform for deaf learners’ English literacy and its context?
◦ How does learner experience correspond to the identified characteristics?
◦ To what extent does the intervention with deaf learners through the SLEND platform
affect their English literacy proficiency?
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3.2 Who?
◦ Deaf Adult Learners, Deaf Research
Assistants and Deaf Peer Tutors
◦ Screening: Young deaf adult (age: 1828)…
◦ From five regions
◦ Based at four NGOs for the Deaf and
one Deaf school
◦ Number: around 60
◦ Intervention: across six months, five
days a week, 2 hours + 2 hours each
day
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3.3 How?
◦ Documentation
◦ Focus Group
◦ Learner Experience Lickert-Scale Questionnaire
◦ Observation
◦ Summative tests (Pre-, Post- and Delayed)
◦ e-Observation
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3.4 Overall View of Research Design
◦ Mixed Action
Research
◦ Single-Case Design
1.
2.
RQ 1
Developers’ view:
Documentation- Project
Proposals, Meeting MinutesRAs’ and PTs’ view: Focus Group
Characteristics of SLEND
RQ 2 (Learner Experience)
Deaf learners: Likert Scale Questionnaire
RAs’ and PTs’ Observation: Observation
Forms
Best Practice
RQ 3 (Learning
Outcomes)
Summative: Pre-test,
Post-test
Formative: Selfassessment--CEFR
Can-Do
StatementsLimited e-Observation
–Natural
Language Use
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4.1 Key Features of SLEND and its Context
CMCC
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4.2 Activity Report
Views
Last Access
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4.3 Pre-test (Reading Part)
• Number of Students:
59
• Average Score:
13.49/30
• Promising Normal
Distribution
• One-Way ANOVA
(Pre, Post and
Delayed)
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4.4 English Literacy Skills Self-Assessment
• Number of Students:
55
• Overestimation
• Previous research
suggests Deaf
learners more likely
to overestimate.
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4.5 Peer Tutors’ Experience (Weekly
Report)
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Competence
Confidence
Confusion
Difficulty
Easy
Enthusiasm
Happy
Learning
Mistakes
MustDoMore
NewVocabulary
Understanding
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4.6 Students’ Response (Peer Tutors’
Observation
◦ Boredom
◦ Commitment
◦ Confusion
◦ DesireForGrammar
◦ Difficult
◦ DiscussionWithPeerTutor
◦ Doubt
◦ Enjoyment
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
LackOfUnderstanding
LearnFromMistakes
Motivation
Practical
Shocked
Silence
TakingInitiative
Understood
Useful
◦ Excitement
◦ Humour
◦ Interest
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4.7 CMC Feedback
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4.8 Future Data Collection
◦ Mid-December, 2015
◦ First-round Learner Experience Questionnaire
◦ By the end of February, 2016
◦ Learning on the platform will be completed.
◦ Second-round Learner Experience Questionnaire
◦ Post-test and Skills Questionnaire
◦ Observation and e-Observation done monthly from October to February
◦ By June, 2016
◦ Delayed test and skills questionnaire
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Contact Me
Rita Huhua Fan
Ve005
International Institute for Sign Languages and Deaf Studies (iSLanDS)
University of Central Lancashire
Preston PR1 2HE
hfan3@uclan.ac.uk
Thank You
Questions?
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