Educating Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students from Other Countries Presented by Becki Krieg for the NJDEAF 2015 Spring Workshop March 21, 2015

Center for American Progress, 2012 ELL population in public schools increased 51% General public school population increased 7% There were close to 6 million ELLs enrolled in public schools in That’s 1 in 10 students. It is predicted that by 2025, ELLs will make up 25% of the student population.

Language Acquisition Language acquisition is developmental Language acquisition requires comprehensible input Learning language is a universal process There is a natural order of language acquisition that is the same across cultures

Second Language Acquisition 1. Pre-Production Also called “the silent period” The student is a listener, receiving language with minimal responses Responses are generally non-verbal, using mostly body language May last 6 weeks or longer

Culture Visible Culture: Deep Culture: Observable and easily changed. Clothes Physical features Food Celebrations Beliefs and values not easily observed or changed. Pragmatics Esthetics Family ties Health Folktales/myths Nonverbal communication Personal Achievement Rights and Duties Use of space Taboos Concepts of Time Privacy

A true English as a Second Language student assumes: Knowledge of a first language It will take 5-7 years to achieve fluency in English

A Student with Interrupted Formal Education or a Student with Limited and/or Interrupted Formal Education: Typically can speak/sign in the home language with limited reading/writing skills It can take 7-10 years to achieve language fluency

An older student learning English as a First Language: Will struggle, but can learn communicative language. However, they will most likely not develop academic language Will most likely never achieve fluency

Deaf requiring ASL and/or sign support Hard of hearing using speech True ESL student SIFE/ SLIFE Advantages: Often have academic language in their first language Have knowledge and experience with school routines and expectations ESL teaching strategies are effective to teach both English and ASL Disadvantages: Testing required within only 1-2 years Cultural issues need to be addressed Advantages: Often have communication skills even though they may not be at an academic level Have knowledge and experience with school routine and expectations Disadvantages: Testing required within only 1-2 years Cultural issues need to be addressed Have limited motivation to attend school regularly Have more needs at home to care for family or have other work-related duties outside of school First language learners Advantages: Often very motivated to learn as this is their first opportunity to clearly communicate with others Disadvantages: Testing required within only 1-2 years Cultural issues need to be addressed Family is less encouraging to school attendance since this has not been the past routine in the home Continue to have more needs at home to care for family as this is usually the child’s responsibility since he/she never attended school in the past Language development is starting at a much more basic level, such as letters and counting

Lexington School for the Deaf Queens, New York Foreign Language Transition Class (FLTC) The FLTC department was established in 1984 to address the needs of foreign-born Deaf students. In 1984 Lexington School, like most schools for the deaf at that time, followed an oral policy of communication. It has transitioned through a Total Communication policy. Will the school move into the current Bilingual-Bicultural approach?

FLTC changes over the years: Change has followed demand and need! 5-8 students per class FLTC has had as few as a single class and as many as 4 full classes The department has operated as separate, individual classes, independent of each other FLTC’s organization as changed over the years The department has operated as a team where students rotate among teachers who teach a specialty FLTC’s student groupings have changed over the years Students have been grouped either by ability or age

Advantages of the FLTC program at Lexington School: We are a school for the deaf We are a center for the deaf We have educational services for students ages 3-21 years We often have multiple students from the same country who can help guide each other and ‘translate’ when needed

Disadvantages of the FLTC program at Lexington School: With small class sizes, it is still difficult to group students by both age and ability. It is difficult to balance state requirements with real life needs as future citizens of the US State expectations: CCSS standardized testing communication (CALP) Needs as citizens: independent skills work skills communication (BICS) There are often not enough students within an appropriate age grouping to establish a class The incidence of deafness alone is low enough to make it difficult to find resources/texts or trainers for professional development. The incidence of Deaf immigrants makes this almost impossible.

Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency

NON-ACADEMIC...Cognitively undemanding (BICS) ACADEMIC...Cognitively demanding (CALP) CONCRETE ABSTRACT Talking about the weather as it is raining Talk on the phone about the weather when the callers are in different cities Watching the weather on the evening news (cold fronts, barometric pressure) Reading a meteorological textbook

Resources: Cohen, Leah Hager. Train Go Sorry. Inside a Deaf World. (1994) McKinney, Virginia. Picture Plus Dictionary. (2006) Heyer, Sandra. Easy True Stories series ESL resources: Pearsonelt.com Access: Building Literacy Through Learning (newcomers, English, Math, Science, History, etc) Teaching tools: Hands-on manipulatives: Differentiated instruction: or Multiple meanings of words: General Special Education: Council for Exceptional Children: Learning Disabilities Online:

Attitude by Charles Swindoll The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me, is more than the past, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.

Watch the YouTube video “Lexington Happy Video” By Lexington School for the Deaf