Article

Finnish Museum of the Deaf: Presenting the Life of Carl Oscar Malm (1826–1863)

January 2016
Sign Language Studies 17(1):111-116

DOI:10.1353/sls.2016.0030

Authors:

The Finnish Museum of the Deaf was founded in 1907, and one of its first tasks was to collect material on Carl Oscar Malm, the founder of Finland's first school for deaf children. In 1915 part of this material was presented in the museum's first exhibition space, "the Malm museum room." The material was collected by deaf people, who, by doing so, defined both themselves and what was important to the Deaf community. Malm is the father of Finnish Sign Language, and his story is the account of the birth of the Finnish Deaf community. He is also a role model, and several leaders of the Finnish Deaf community have been strongly influenced by his work and ideas. For the general public, Malm's story provides both a historical account of a minority group in Finnish society and a chance to estimate their values.

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Deaf Autonomy and Sign in the Chicago Public Day Schools during the Turn of the Twentieth Century: －...

December 2017 · Japanese Journal of Sign Language Studies

Motoko Kimura

This paper examines how sign was accepted in the Chicago day schools for the deaf, during the turn of twentieth century and how deaf people had a voice and became involved in decision making regarding quality day school education for deaf children. The issues about sign and deaf autonomy should not be understood only as problems within deaf education. Big cities like Chicago experienced social ... [Show full abstract] changes which caused various social problems. Cities were forced to solve these problems by implementing public school education. This means we need to address the development of public school systems. The sign method was not excluded in the Chicago day schools from its foundation to the mid-1880s, because the Chicago Board of the Education didn’t pay attentions to the methods adopted in deaf schools or the quality of education. The board seemed more interested in resolving the problem of increasing numbers of uneducated deaf children. However, after the late 1880s, the city’s board of education and the state authorities started to be concerned about the quality of the Chicago day schools. The motives were guided by the Chicago deaf community who protested against the mismanagement of the Chicago day schools, the influence of A.G. Bell’s day school movement, and the Progressivists and Chicago citizens who advocated the improvement of society on all levels, including education. Progressivists and citizens believed in equal treatment and educational opportunity for all people including minority groups and disabled children. Therefore, they could not agree with the boarding plan which would separate deaf children from their hearing homes and local communities. Integration and the oral method were preferred by Progressivists and citizens rather than the sign method which normal people never used. Deaf autonomy in the Chicago day schools was not restricted until the mid1890s. The Chicago board initially expected deaf people’s involvement in the Chicago deaf schools reform movement in the late 1890s. Interestingly, another deaf group criticized the Chicago schools’ educational quality and Emery’s superintendency. Furthermore, parents became active and formed the parent association of deaf children. They initiated the school reform movement preferring small day schools and the oral method. The expansion of parents’ role in deaf day schools reflected the notion in public school education where positive educational results depended not only on the pupils’ abilities but also on strong cooperation between parents and schools. The fact that the association members included both hearing people and deaf people indicates the complexity of deaf community. Namely, deaf people formed a variety of deafness-related groups and also expressed different opinions on deaf education.

Article

A Libras como disciplina no ensino superior

January 2011

O processo de inclusão escolar requer uma mudança significativa no processo educacional, no pensamento segregador incutido em nossos costumes e crenças, e para que se tornem uma realidade é preciso abandonar tais costumes e crenças, por práticas renovadoras. Ao ter acesso ao bilingüismo (Libras / Língua Portuguesa), o surdo tem a seu alcance um leque amplo de recursos lingüísticos, que favorecem ... [Show full abstract] o acesso a qualquer tipo de conceito e conhecimento existente. A inserção da Língua Brasileira de Sinais (Libras), como disciplina nos cursos de formação de professores, de acordo com o Decreto Federal 5.626/05, é uma conquista para a comunidade surda. As Instituições que assumem uma perspectiva curricular de inclusão como no caso da Libras como disciplina evidenciam o conhecimento e reconhecimento, em principal pelos educadores, que irão atuar com crianças e adolescentes surdos no ensino regular, que dependem da qualidade no processo de ensino-aprendizagem implicitamente eficaz por meio da Libras. Palavras-Chave: inclusão escolar; bilingüismo; Libras; formação de professores. ABSTRACT The process of inclusive education requires a significant change in the educational process, thinking segregating instilled in our customs and beliefs, and to become a reality is to abandon such customs and beliefs, renewing practices. To have access to bilingualism (Sign Language / Portuguese Language), the deaf have at its disposal a wide range of linguistic resources, to promote access to any type of concept and existing knowledge. The integration of the Brazilian Sign Language (LBS), as a discipline in training courses for teachers, according to the Federal Decree 5.626/05, is an achievement for the deaf community. The institutions that assume a curriculum perspective of inclusion in the case of LBS and show discipline knowledge and recognition in the primary educators, who will work with deaf children and adolescents in mainstream education, which depend on the quality in the teaching-learning implicitly effective through the LBS.

Chapter

Developing sign language measurements for research with deaf populations

January 2017

Limited choices exist for assessing the signed language development of deaf and hard of hearing children. Over the past 30 years, the American Sign Language Assessment Instrument (ASLAI) has been one of the top choices for norm-referenced assessment of deaf and hard of hearing children who use American Sign Language. Signed language assessments can also be used to evaluate the effects of a ... [Show full abstract] phenomenon known as language deprivation, which tends to affect deaf children. They can also measure the effects of impoverished and idiosyncratic nonstandard signs and grammar used by educators of the deaf and professionals who serve the Deaf community. This chapter discusses what was learned while developing the ASLAI and provides guidelines for educators and researchers of the deaf who seek to develop their own signed language assessments.

Article

Spoken Language Development of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children: Historical and Theoretical Perspec...

September 2005

This chapter argues for a reconsideration of the history, progress, and future directions of research on spoken language development of deaf children. Such a discussion will help to provide a more a complete understanding of deaf education, the Deaf community, and the development of deaf children in today's context. It discusses language development by deaf children, historical views of language ... [Show full abstract] development and deaf children, spoken language in deaf education, language development research with deaf children, and current oral methods for educating deaf children. © 2006 by Patricia Elizabeth Spencer and Marc Marschark. All rights reserved.

Article

BILINGUALISM AND IDENTITY IN DEAF COMMUNITIES. Melanie Metzger (Ed.). Washington, DC: Gallaudet Univ...

September 2002 · Studies in Second Language Acquisition

Christine Monikowski

In this volume of the Sociolinguistics in Deaf Communities series, Metzger has edited 11 diverse topics addressing two themes: the perception of Deaf people and Deaf communities, and bilingualism. Deaf people's perception of themselves and their community is explored by authors who discuss an excellent array of topics, ranging from “miracle cures” for Deaf children in Mexico to the nature of name ... [Show full abstract] signs in the New Zealand Deaf community; from the linguistic rights of Deaf people in the European Union to a search for the roots of the Nicaraguan Deaf community; from a semiotic analysis of Argentine Sign Language to an analysis of how a Deaf child (American Sign Language) and his hearing family (English) make sense of each other's world views.

Article

Sign language as the bridge across Deaf boundaries: a South African experience

December 2007 · Communicatio

Sheila Steinberg

This article provides a discussion of some of the communication boundaries Deaf people encounter in a hearing world and the consequences of their seriously delayed language development on the social, emotional, educational and vocational aspects of their lives. Three related issues are addressed: early language development in Deaf children, approaches to Deaf education, and the results of a field ... [Show full abstract] study conducted at a school for the Deaf in South Africa. The background for the discussion is the new South African government's education and language policies which attempt to redress some of the injustices of the apartheid past. The role of sign language in education is emphasised as it is through the ability to communicate that the Deaf community will be empowered to assert their rights and gain acceptance as a minority group with a distinctive language and culture.

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DEAF CULTURAL IDENTITY AND THE EDUCATIONAL APPROACH TO LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

May 2014

Anca Lustrea

Deaf cultural identity is a construct that refers to the identity of a deaf individual or a deaf minority group and the influence resulted by the affiliation to the deaf culture. Deaf cultural identity is defined by two main elements: the status as a deaf person and the use of the Romanian sign language (RSL) in every day communication. The usage of RSL in social interactions depends in great ... [Show full abstract] extent by the educational approach to language acquisition. This study examined the teacher`s beliefs about the cultural identity of Romanian deaf students and also the teachers and parents attitudes towards the best educational approach to language acquisition. These two experimental variables were correlated to evaluate the degree of influence of the Romanian educational special school system into the deaf culture. In order to assess the study variables the BADE questionnaire was administrated to 20 teachers and 20 parents of deaf children. Results revealed that the teachers adopt the medical model of disability, and they perceive a positive impact of bilingualism on student`s development. Both groups perceived Romanian deaf cultural identity defined by RSL, activities organized by National deaf organization and role models.

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Aquisição fonológica do português brasileiro por crianças ouvintes bilíngues bimodais e surdas usuár...

July 2013 · Letras de Hoje

O presente estudo investiga a aquisição fonológica do Português Brasileiro (PB) por 24 crianças ouvintes bilíngues bimodais, com acesso irrestrito à Língua Brasileira de Sinais (Libras), e por 6 crianças surdas que utilizam implante coclear (IC), com acesso restrito ou irrestrito à Libras. Para a avaliação do sistema fonológico das crianças em PB, foi utilizada a Parte A, Prova de Nomeação, do ... [Show full abstract] ABFW – Teste de Linguagem Infantil (ANDRADE et al. 2004). Os resultados revelaram que as crianças ouvintes bilíngues bimodais e a criança surda usuária de IC com acesso irrestrito à Libras apresentaram processo de aquisição fonológica esperada (normal) para a sua faixa etária. Considera-se que a aquisição precoce e o acesso irrestrito à Libras podem ter sido determinantes para o desempenho dessas crianças no teste oral utilizado. This study investigates the phonological acquisition of Brazilian Portuguese (BP) by a group of 24 bimodal bilingual hearing children, who have unrestricted access to Brazilian Sign Language (Libras), and a group of 6 deaf children, who use cochlear implants (CI), with restricted or unrestricted access to Libras. The children’s phonological system of BP was assessed through the Naming Task (Part A) of the ABFW – Children Language Test (ANDRADE et al. 2004). The results revealed that the hearing children and the deaf child who use CI, all with full access to Libras, showed expected (normal) phonological acquisition considering their age groups. We consider that the early acquisition and unrestricted access to Libras may have determined these children’s performance in the oral tests.

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Gesture's role in creating and learning language

September 2010 · Enfance

Susan Goldin-Meadow

Imagine a child who has never seen or heard language. Would such a child be able to invent a language? Despite what one might guess, the answer is "yes". This chapter describes children who are congenitally deaf and cannot learn the spoken language that surrounds them. In addition, the children have not been exposed to sign language, either by their hearing parents or their oral schools. ... [Show full abstract] Nevertheless, the children use their hands to communicate--they gesture--and those gestures take on many of the forms and functions of language (Goldin-Meadow 2003a). The properties of language that we find in these gestures are just those properties that do not need to be handed down from generation to generation, but can be reinvented by a child de novo. They are the resilient properties of language, properties that all children, deaf or hearing, come to language-learning ready to develop. In contrast to these deaf children who are inventing language with their hands, hearing children are learning language from a linguistic model. But they too produce gestures, as do all hearing speakers (Feyereisen and de Lannoy 1991; Goldin-Meadow 2003b; Kendon 1980; McNeill 1992). Indeed, young hearing children often use gesture to communicate before they use words. Interestingly, changes in a child's gestures not only predate but also predict changes in the child's early language, suggesting that gesture may be playing a role in the language-learning process. This chapter begins with a description of the gestures the deaf child produces without speech. These gestures assume the full burden of communication and take on a language-like form--they are language. This phenomenon stands in contrast to the gestures hearing speakers produce with speech. These gestures share the burden of communication with speech and do not take on a language-like form--they are part of language.

Chapter

Using and Developing Language and Cognitive Assessments with Deaf Signers

January 2015

This chapter highlights that researchers interested in assessments need separate, specifically designed tests of language and cognition for deaf sign language users rather than relying on tests designed for users of spoken languages. Tests that are developed specifically for deaf signers and that produce deaf norms are an invaluable tool in both sign language research and clinical practice. When ... [Show full abstract] deaf signers are given spoken language-based tests designed to be suitable for hearing populations, there is a potential for linguistic and cultural biases to occur, which can lead to an unreliable assessment. The chapter reviews the language and cognitive assessments that have been developed for deaf children and adults to date, demonstrating examples of good practice. It presents a range of important points to consider when conducting assessments with deaf signers. The chapter concludes with considerations for developing future assessments.

Article

The Question of Sign-Language and the Utility of Signs in the Instruction of the Deaf: Two Papers by...

January 2005 · Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education

M. Marschark

Alexander Graham Bell is often portrayed as either hero or villain of deaf individuals and the Deaf community. His writings, however, indicate that he was neither, and was not as clearly definite in his beliefs about language as is often supposed. The following two articles, reprinted from The Educator (1898), Vol. V, pp. 3?4 and pp. 38?44, capture Bell's thinking about sign language and its use ... [Show full abstract] in the classroom. Contrary to frequent claims, Bell does not demand "oral" training for all deaf children ? even if he thinks it is the superior alternative ? but does advocate for it for "the semi-deaf" and "the semi-mute." "In regard to the others," he writes, "I am not so sure." Although he clearly voices his support for oral methods and fingerspelling (the Rochester method) over sign language, Bell acknowledges the use and utility of signing in a carefully-crafted discussion that includes both linguistics and educational philosophy. In separating the language used at home from that in school and on the playground, Bell reveals a far more complex view of language learning by deaf children than he is often granted.

Chapter

Rethinking Deaf Learners’ Education: A Human Rights Issue

July 2012

How can deaf children’s health be promoted through education in schools? To what extent does deaf children’s education benefit their state of health? Why is a broad-based approach bringing togetherHealth for All, Education for All andMillennium Development Goals preferable to a single intervention strategy? Health and basic education are fundamental human rights. Though they are essential in ... [Show full abstract] sustainable human and social development, a majority—perhaps as many as 90%—of the 70 million deaf people in the world have never attended school and are therefore functionally illiterate. Only a few countries provide bilingual education in sign language(s) and oral language(s) for deaf children, and only in some schools. Why is this so? These excluded persons can only be reached through innovative approaches in which society as a whole and deaf community members in particular can fully and effectively participate and a wide range of different sectors can work together. Unless there is a radical change of perspective, the health and education will not be available to ALL, and therefore social inequalities will increase rather than decrease. This chapter is concerned with this and other topics related to health, education, bilingualism, sign languages, and the cultural identity of deaf communities.

Last Updated: 22 Oct 2024