Language planning for the 21st century: revisiting bilingual language policy for deaf children

For over 25 years in some countries and more recently in others, bilingual education involving sign language and the written/spoken vernacular has been considered an essential educational intervention for deaf children. With the recent growth in universal newborn hearing screening and technological advances such as digital hearing aids and cochlear implants, however, more deaf children than ever before have the potential for acquiring spoken language. As a result, the question arises as to the role of sign language and bilingual education for deaf children, particularly those who are very young. On the basis of recent research and fully recognizing the historical sensitivity of this issue, we suggest that language planning and language policy should be revisited in an effort to ensure that they are appropriate for the increasingly diverse population of deaf children.     

聋生奥运知识及体育锻炼行为的调查

为配合2008年北京奥运会的召开,全国已在青少年中开展了奥林匹克教育。通过调查发现当前聋生的奥运知识比较欠缺,体育锻炼行为存在较多的问题;提出了加强聋生奥林匹克教育以及体育锻炼的改进建议。     

A comparative perspective on the experiences of deaf and hard of hearing individuals as students at mainstream and special schools

Integration of individuals categorized as having special educational needs in mainstream schools has become a dominant policy in many countries. Changes in recent years in the field traditionally called "special education" have significantly influenced the education of deaf and hard of hearing individuals. The movements against segregation and toward integration and, more recently, inclusion, have created the conditions for educational changes, not only in mainstreaming but in special education. The article brings to light the views and experiences of deaf and hard of hearing people as students at special schools and mainstream schools, in order to compare the two systems from the viewpoints of those involved and to explore the possible implications of these views and experiences for the development of the educational system in Cyprus regarding inclusive education. Particular attention is given to improvement of the education of deaf and hard of hearing children.     

Some concerns about using whole language approaches with deaf children.

The whole language philosophy is having an impact not only in general education but in the education of deaf children as well. Many of the practices derived from this philosophy are beneficial for all children. Yet, because most deaf children have tremendous difficulty in acquiring English literacy, a more direct approach to teaching them may be warranted in many cases. The field of deaf education would be better served if, rather than moving from one trend in general education to another, we first took into account the special needs of deaf learners and then worked systematically and deliberately to build a knowledge base of the most effective practices for promoting literacy.     

Modeling reading vocabulary learning in deaf children in bilingual education programs

The acquisition of reading vocabulary is one of the major challenges for deaf children in bilingual education programs. Deaf children have to acquire a written lexicon that can effectively be used in reading. In this paper, we present a developmental model that describes reading vocabulary acquisition of deaf children in bilingual education programs. The model is inspired by Jiang's model of vocabulary development in a second language (N. Jiang, 2000, 2004a) and the hierarchical model of lexical representation and processing in bilinguals (J. F. Kroll & E. Stewart, 1988). We argue that lexical development in the written language often fossilizes and that many words deaf readers acquire will not reach the final stage of lexical development. We argue that this feature is consistent with many findings reported in the literature. Finally, we discuss the pedagogical implications of the model.     

Navigating the difficult waters of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001: what it means for education of the deaf

The author outlines the major elements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and describes the law's impact on deaf education. The law's stated purpose is to close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice, so that no child is left behind. The specific goal of the law is to ensure that all students are 100% proficient in reading, mathematics, and science by 2014. No Child Left Behind has effected sweeping reforms in general education. But with 814 requirements, it has also created great stress in educators throughout the United States. No Child Left Behind poses particular challenges to education of the deaf since policymakers gave no consideration to the needs of deaf children in formulating this law. Clearly, deaf students must be included in school and state accountability systems,but the law leaves many questions unanswered.     

聋校教学中存在的问题分析

我国聋校教学中存在的主要问题是 :聋生的学习方式落后 ,缺乏师生互动与信息反馈的不及时 ,教学内容脱离生活实践 ,教学活动中忽视对非智力因素的培养 ,教学评价方式落后等。深入分析这些问题为开展聋校课程改革提供了依据。     

美国国家聋人工学院建设教学模式研究 --聋哑大学生数学教学

在聋人高等教育中,数学教学是难度较大的课程,本文从四个方面对美国聋人高等教育中的数学教学模式进行了探讨,通过中、美数学教育教学对比,进一步提高我国聋人高等教育中的数学教学水平.     

中国聋人高等教育:现状、需求和建议

本研究通过对聋人和从事及关注聋人高等教育人士的调查采访,分析和揭示了中国聋人高等教育成就、需求和挑战,为改进中国聋人教育提出了建议。调查显示,中国聋人高中教育忽视基础知识的学习,应试现象比较严重;聋人大学专业的设立十分有限;聋人大学教育设置形式单一,为在普通大学就读的个别聋人提供相应的帮助有限。重视提高聋人教育质量,增加专业使其多样化,创造让聋生随班就读的课程或专业的条件,改善聋生大学入学前的教育现状和改变社会对聋人的看法等是目前中国政府极需重视的方面。     

Vygotsky, sign language, and the education of deaf pupils

This article considers the impact of Vygotsky on the education of deaf children in Russia and is a translation/adaptation of an article currently being published in Defektologiia. While Vygotsky perceived sign language as limited in some aspects nevertheless, he always considered that it had a role in education of deaf pupils. He believed that sign language should not be 'treated like an the enemy' and said that 'bilingualism of def people is an objective reality'. However, sign language was banned from Russian schools following a conference decision in 1938. The changing political climate in Russia has lead to the reevaluation of many aspects of life, including approaches to education, and to a reassessment of Vygotsky's ideas and an appreciation of their continuing relevance. Among other things, this has resulted in a reevaluation of the role of sign language for deaf pupils and an emerging interest in sign bilingualism.     

The Salamanca Statement and sign language education for deaf learners 25 years on

ABSTRACT

The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education proposed a policy shift from special education to inclusive education models that require schools to serve all children. However, alongside this shift was a recognition that sign language access for deaf learners is essential for meeting the right to education and that this access cannot always be provided in mainstream settings. The Statement was written during an apex in bilingual education for deaf students in certain countries, and the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), joined by Swedish and Danish government and deaf advocacy organisation delegates, successfully lobbied for inclusion of Section 21. This section makes three claims regarding the importance of policy-level recognition of differences among learners, the right of deaf learners to education in a national sign language, and the suggested greater suitability of deaf schools or congregated programmes for many deaf learners. The Salamanca Statement, like Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and related General Comments, makes universalising claims within a rights-based framework; however, the competing claims of deaf advocacy organisations have posed a challenge and corrective to such statements since deaf learners are often excluded in inclusive classrooms.     

我国聋人高等工科教育个人投资的内部收益率研究

在市场经济条件下高等教育越来越多地被人们视作一种理性投资行为,对教育活动成本和预期收益的判断成为政府部门和受教育者个人投资决策的重要参考因素。通过调查问卷,运用教育经济学的内部收益率法对聋人高等工科教育个人投资的成本收益进行分析。研究发现。我国聋人高等工科教育个体投资的内部收益率约为11％。结果表明：1．聋人接受高等工科教育具有正的内部收益率;2．聋人接受高等工科教育的内部收益率低于普通高等教育。     

聋教育方法演变与米兰会议

聋教育史实质上是聋校教学语言的发展史。聋教育创始之时至今已经历了几次语言方法的演变,从最初的手语、口语到综合交际法,以及双语双文化法,贯穿始终的还是手语和口语之间的争辩。在这个争辩的历史进程中,米兰会议起到了举足轻重的作用,它所提出的纯口语法的决议一度影响了聋教育的发展方向,影响了人们对聋教育方法的选择。然而国内至今没有米兰会议较为全面、客观的阐述,本文从会议缘起、决议、影响等方面回顾这一历史事实,使读者更好地了解聋教育史上这一重要的历史事件,为现行聋教育方法的选择提供历史的视角。     

家庭教育对聋人大学生消费观的影响

随着社会经济的发展,人们生活水平的不断提高,大学生消费结构日益多元化,聋人大学生的消费观因此发生了很大的改变。从聋人大学生的消费行为入手,可以了解家庭教育对聋人大学生消费观的影响。     

Education of deaf children and the politics of recognition

The ideological basis for education of deaf children has changed during the last few decades. In Norway, the new curriculum is emphasizing bilingual and bicultural ideas. In many ways, this can be regarded as an example of what Charles Taylor calls the "politics of recognition." Taking an excerpt of an interview with a deaf student as a point of departure, this article discusses problems when heavily emphasizing a cultural approach.     

Enrollment trends in deaf education teacher preparation programs, 1973-2009

The number of deaf education teacher preparation programs and the number of program graduates were tabulated from reference issues of the American Annals of the Deaf beginning in 1973 and progressing every third year through 2009. Programs and graduates reached their highest levels from the mid-1970s through mid-1980s. In 2006 and 2009, only about one fourth as many students were majoring in deaf education in relation to the general U.S. college population as in 1973, 1976, and 1979. Yet because the population of children identified as deaf and hard of hearing has also declined, the ratio of program graduates to deaf children has stayed relatively balanced for the past 20 years. Current challenges faced by teacher preparation programs include increases in interpreter preparation programs and programs for teaching American Sign Language, as well as the changing nature of the role of teacher of the deaf.     

第二课堂对聋生心理健康状况的干预研究

聋生的心理健康问题是长期以来受社会关注的重要问题之一,聋校开展的心理健康教育虽取得一定成效,但也存在一些问题。采用为期一年的第二课堂活动的研究结果表明,聋生的心理健康水平较低,较严重的症状表现依次是强迫、人际敏感、偏执;团体干预活动对聋生的心理健康水平的提升有积极的促进作用,但未达到显著水平。聋童的心理健康教育需要长期不懈的坚持。     

“Tender Sympathy and Scrupulous Fidelity”: gender and professionalism in the history of deaf education in the United States

This article examines the gendered professionalism that developed in the education of deaf persons in the second half of the 19th Century in the United States. It shows how the rise of professionalism involved the social construction of gender. During the 19th Century many women entered the teaching profession and many taught deaf persons. Employing them was considered attractive, not only because of the low wages that the women were paid, but also because of the “tender sympathy and scrupulous fidelity” that these women teachers showed in their professional practice. The introduction of the oral method in the education of deaf individuals favoured women teachers who were valued for their capacities to relate to pupils and whose labour was cheap compared to men. In due course women teachers succeeded in developing specific expertise and thereby influenced the professional community. Eventually their gendered professionalism became crucial in settling the schism between manualism and oralism, a schism that marked the history of the education of deaf individuals at the turn of the 19th Century in the United States.     

聋生使用笔谈的调查研究

为了全面认识笔谈在聋人交际中的作用,并为在聋生中加强笔谈教学提供理论上的依据,本研究对上海市两所聋校70名学生的笔谈使用情况进行了问卷调查。结果表明:笔谈能切实提高聋人与健听人的交际效果,对聋生形成积极的交际态度,帮助他们回归主流社会有着重要的意义:听力损失程度与笔谈使用频率有着极其显著的正相关;语文成绩与笔谈水平存在着极其显著的正相关。建议对聋生进行切实有效的笔谈教学。     

Parental resources, parental stress, and socioemotional development of deaf and hard of hearing children

In recent years, empowerment and resource orientation have become vital guidelines for many of the sciences. For the field of deaf education, it is also highly important to look carefully at these guidelines if we are to acquire a better understanding as regards both the situation of the parents involved and the development of the deaf and hard of hearing children themselves. A resource-oriented approach to deaf education has therefore proved especially helpful. If both the theoretical and practical aspects of educating deaf and hard of hearing children are to benefit, research on parental experience with deafness and research on the socioemotional development of the children must always be combined and studied in the context of resource availability. In a study of 213 mothers and 213 fathers of deaf and hard of hearing children, we used an array of different questionnaires (PSI, SDQ, SOC, F-SozU, etc.) to examine the correlation between parental resources, sociodemographic variables, parental stress experience, and child socioemotional problems by way of a path analysis model. The results show that high parental stress is associated with frequent socioemotional problems in the children, thus emphasizing the importance of a resource-oriented consulting and support strategy in early intervention, because parental access to personal and social resources is associated with significantly lower stress experience. Child development seems to profit enormously from a resource-oriented support concept. In addition, the results confirm two earlier findings: parents with additionally handicapped children are especially stressed and the child's communicative competence makes for a more sound prediction than its linguistic medium (spoken language or sign). The path models for mothers and fathers agree in all essential factors. The results are discussed with a view to their meaning for pedagogical practice, and recommendations for further research are given (longitudinal data, more representative samples, cochlear implant).