Title: Application of teaching strategies in a Foundation Phase classroom in a school for the Deaf'
1Application of teaching strategies in a
Foundation Phase classroom in a school for the
Deaf.
- by
- Ujala Maikoo and
- Dr Claudine Storbeck
2Bilingualism
- What is bilingualism?
- Functional bilingualism regular use of two
languages (Grosjean, 1982) - Question of Proficiency
- Definition adopted a continuum that includes
people who may vary considerably in their
linguistic knowledge, fluency, and age at which
they acquired each language (Parasnis, 19984)
3Linguistic Interdependence Theory
- Cummins theory (1978)
- Contends that primary language must be developed
fully before one can develop second language - Differentiated between Basic Interpersonal
Communication Skills (BICS) and Cognitive
Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) - Need to have achieved level of CALP in primary
language in order to academically learn in second
language.
4Communication options available
- Manualism
- Makes use of sign language as medium of
instruction - Seen as promoting Deaf Culture and allows access
into Deaf Community
- Oralism
- Promotes oral language development lip reading
and spoken language
5Total Communication
-
- - Philosophy developed utilising sign language,
gestures, spoken English, fingerspelling,
lip-reading, and reading and writing to meet
specific needs of child - Misunderstood by teachers to be simultaneous
communication
6Sign Bilingualism
- Philosophy based on sign language as primary
language and English as second language. - Grosjean (2001) states that a deaf child has a
right to grow up bilingual. - Petitto (1994) contends that children acquire
signed and spoken languages in the same way and
at the same rate. - Therefore SASL as primary language can be
developed to CALP and thereby develop English as
a - second language
7Storbecks model for bilingual education for the
deaf in South Africa
- Takes into consideration the whole child
- Sign language as primary language and medium of
instruction at school to build cognitive skills - English seen as second language for academic
skills development - Promotes the idea of two equal languages and two
equal cultures working together
8Effective teaching
- Rothstein (1990) states that
- Effective teachers are those who design lessons,
utilize appropriate teaching strategies, and
implement management techniques to optimize
learning for all students (in Mwamwenda, 1995)
9 What makes an effective teacher
- The ability to catch and keep hold of the childs
attention. - The ability to keep her learners focused.
- Ability to recognise when she is losing attention
from the class. - Flexibility.
- Fluidity.
- (Mwamwenda, 1995)
10Conclusion
- many modes of communication but all with inherent
difficulties with regards to education - Need to look at the individual needs of each
child and work toward planning lessons to meet
the needs of each child
11Methodology Report
- Research design was qualitative in nature
- Qualitative research is involved with describing
situations (Kumar, 1996) - A cross-sectional case study over a period of 3
months through a process of observation by means
of a video camera in a Grade R classroom in a
school for the deaf in Johannesburg was utilised.
12Case study
- Teacher profile
- White, hearing female in mid- 30s
- Has a Bachelor of Primary Education
- Currently HOD of FP
- Been in education for 13 years
- Of the 13 years, 12 were in deaf education
- The class
- Multi-racial, and multi-lingual
- Profoundly deaf3
- 2 have cochlear implants
- Severe/Profound 4
- Severely deaf 2
- Age range 6-9 years
13Data Collected
- The name of the school and the teacher
confidential. However, written permission from
the teacher to use the clips for the purposes of
this presentation was granted. - During the three months data was collected from 7
lessons which approximated 3 ½ hours. - 9 clips were selected to illustrate the teaching
strategies observed and which highlighted the
core aim of the study.
14Clip 1 sign and word
- the teacher revises the words they have written
down. She has them written on her board leaf,
caterpillar, apple, red, Monday. She points to
each word and signs it. - Again teacher uses written words and matching
signs
15Clip 2 picture, sign and voice
- the teacher has the book open to a butterfly.
They are discussing the colours on the butterfly.
She points to a part of the butterfly that has
yellow and says yellow and signs at the same
time. - This strategy enables the children to see what it
is they are signing, and be able to create a
picture in their mind for future use.
16Clip 3 sign, word, and picture
- Teacher draws a circle and writes down the word
circle inside it. She then signs that this is
a circle to the class. - Again utilising sign, picture and written word
17Clip 4 written word, picture and fingerspelling
- the teacher points to the shape (oval) drawn on
the board with the word written next to it. She
then proceeds to fingerspell oval to the class - Utilising visual language and showing link
between pictorial representation, written word
and fingerspelling
18Clip 5 - fingerspelling a word after seeing the
object with mouthed prompts
- the teacher fingerspells the words yellow with
the children. She goes through slowly, one
letter at a time y - e - l - l - o - and when
they got to w most of them were stuck, so she
proceeded to mouth the letter w to give them a
clue.
19Clip 6 speaking and signing to a child with a
cochlear implant
- the teacher talks to the child with a cochlear
implant, while signing for reinforcement
20Clip 7 voice, sign, and written word
- The teacher provides concrete experiences where
they see the word written down on the board, the
teacher says the word, and she signs it. The
children are not only being exposed to the
written word and sign pairing, but also how the
word looks when it is being pronounced.
21Clip 8 concrete object, sign, and voice
- The fact that deaf learners learn visually
(Hansen, 1990) would imply that they need to see
the objects that they are learning the sign for
22Clip 9 voice, sign, written word, and picture
- Teacher talking to another cochlear implant child
who has just come to the school with no prior
sign language. - She tries to create a link between sign and
English
23Many different strategies were implemented in the
classroom. These included
- sign only
- sign and a matching picture
- sign and the corresponding spoken word
- sign and the corresponding written word
- written word coupled with fingerspelling of that
- word
24continued
- fingerspelling a word after seeing the object
with mouthed prompts - corresponding sign, written word and spoken word
interactions - corresponding sign, written word, spoken word and
pictorial representation interactions.
25Language-Needs Continuum
- Children who are Children who are
- profoundly deaf hard of hearing
- and who would and who would
- not benefit from benefit from
- voice voice
- Main language used Main language used
- Sign Language Spoken English
- SIGN BILINGUALISM
- Minority language used Minority
language used - Spoken language Sign Language
26Explanation of Language-Needs Continuum
- Teacher needs to be able to move along the
continuum to develop teaching strategies that
will best suit each individual child - Teacher needs to be fluid and be able to
fluctuate from one end to the other, as well as
utilising the spaces in between
27Application of teaching strategies
- Not cast in stone.
- Draw on resources available to you in class.
- Know your learners educational needs.
- Need to be able to adapt to suit specific needs
of each unique learner in your class.
28Where to from here?
- Deaf pedagogy
- What is it?
- Does it exist?
- Part of a group of masters students exploring
deaf pedagogy.
29continued