Tutoring Deaf Students

[Terry Coye <Terry.Coye@gallaudet.edu>]

Rebecca Day and Judy Hatcher have asked about methods for tutoring deaf
students in a writing center and/or ESL program.  I direct a program
called English Works! at Gallaudet University that provides tutoring
services to undergraduates in English courses and writing advice to
undergrad and grad students working on a writing project for courses in
any department on campus.  Since all Gallaudet undergraduates and a
significant proportion of graduate students are deaf or hard-of-hearing,
maybe I can help.  I'd be happy to correspond with anyone off line
(mailto:terry.coye@gallaudet.edu) or on about deaf students in
university programs. I'll mention a few generalities that may be useful:

1.  Diversity.  The first generality about deaf and hard of hearing
students is that generalities do not apply.  This population varies
tremendously in level of hearing ability, age of onset of hearing loss,
ethnicity, language background, educational background and attainment,
English ability, literacy levels, knowledge of deaf culture, speaking
ability, skill in American Sign Language (ASL), etc.  A small
minority--less than 10%--of all deaf kids are born to deaf parents, and
fewer of these learned ASL in the home.  A larger number of deaf kids
will develop skills in ASL after beginning school, but there are many
deaf and hard of hearing people who do not acquire ASL until they are
adults, if at all.  Some deaf kids are discouraged from learning or
using ASL by parents and teachers who fear that using signs will prevent
them from acquiring spoken English.  Others are in educational programs
that utilize one of the many invented communication systems, such as
"cued speech" or "Signing Exact English (SEE),"  that try to make
English more visible.  The bottom line is that when a deaf college
student wants help with his reading or writing, you need to talk with
him/her a bit about their background, needs, and desires before you can
figure out how to help.

2.  Deafness and ESL.  Deaf college students who wish to increase their
reading and writing skills are increasingly encouraged to take ESL
classes.  This idea tends to be a good one because  the English language
skills of some deaf students are very similar to those of traditional
ESL students and for the same reason: both grew up without hearing
English spoken in their homes.  Of course, there are also three
significant differences between many deaf students and hearing ESL
students, even when their levels of English language proficiency are
similar:  1) deaf students are often not natively proficient in either
the language of their parents or in ASL;  2) though some deaf people
identify strongly with the Deaf community and are immersed in Deaf
culture, the vast majority of deaf students in American post-secondary
institutions are Americans and well aware of most aspects of American
culture,  and 3) deaf students can't hear.  The first difference means
that for some deaf students, bilingualism means having to learn two
second languages at the same time, without benefit of having a standard,
fully acquired first language to build from or use as a bridge to a
second language.  The second difference means that ESL materials that
focus on introducing foreign students to mainstream American culture are
inappropriate.  But the third problem provokes the most difficulty for
many ESL teachers, who are at a loss to figure out what to do with a
deaf or hard of hearing student who doesn't benefit from listening- and
speech-based learning activities.  Still, ESL placement is often a good
choice for some deaf students because, unlike instruction in most
developmental or mainstream English courses,  ESL instructors do not
assume that students have already acquired the grammar, syntax and
vocabulary of spoken English.

3.  Communication.  The number one problem confronting deaf and hard of
hearing students in the college environment is communication.  With a
deaf person who does not talk tries to talk with a hearing person who
does not sign, communication can be slow and difficult.  Writing notes
back and forth helps, but if one or the other is not proficient in
written English, writing may not succeed either.  Qualified sign languge
interpreters can be an enormous help if the deaf person is a skilled
signer, but the low quality of many interpreters can also lead to
communication break downs and misunderstandings.  And some deaf students
prefer specialized interpreters who use cued speech or "oral" methods.
Not just any interpreter will do.  Some hard of hearing students are
offended by the suggestion that they should use an interpreter,
preferring instead a "loop" or other audiological device to amplify and
facilitate understanding the hearing person's speech.  When
communicating via an interpreter, be sensitive to the communication
delay caused by having a third person relaying the messages between you
and the student.  Give the interpreter enough time to relay your message
and give the student enough time to receive it and respond.  When
communicating without an interpreter, be aware of the student's need for
visual contact: if he/she is not looking at you, he/she can't "hear"
you.  In class, many deaf and hard of hearing students will have
particular preferences for where they sit in the room--sometimes up in
front near the interpreter, sometimes off to one side so they can see
the teacher and other students easily without craning their necks.
Bottom line:  ask the student how communication can be improved, and
follow his/her lead.  Deaf students may be new to you but hearing people
are nothing new to them.

4.  Accomodations.  There are legal issues related to the services a
college must provide to a deaf or hard of hearing student, but those
issues are not my area of expertise.  Contact your local office that
provides accomodations to disabled students; if you need more info
specifically about deaf students, contact the Office for Students With
Disabilities (tel: 202-651-5256) at Gallaudet University.

5.  Tutoring guidelines.  Visual--as opposed to auditory--techniques are
preferred for deaf students and many hard of hearing students.  Many of
the popular multimedia software programs of limited use for deaf
students, since so many of their activities depend on listening or
speaking, or involve language that is used in spoken conversation.
Older, "drill and kill" programs are accessible equally to deaf and
hearing learners, but often are based upon outmoded models of the
language learning process.  Some good visual material is available on
the internet, though.  We produce some and collect as many as we can
find from other websites (probably yours!).  Check out our web pages at
http://www.gallaudet.edu/~engwweb  (note that there are TWO "w"s in
~engwweb).

I'd be happy to discuss more specifics off line or field any other
comments or questions you may have.

Terry

Terry Coye, Director, English Works!
Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Ave. NE,
Washington DC 20002

mailto:terry.coye@gallaudet.edu