Lng||sh |anguage teach|ng to deaf and hard-of-hear|ng Irench students

1: near|ng |oss and |anguage acqu|s|t|on

1.1: Introduct|on
The implementation of techniques uesigneu to assuie the effective, coheient
teaching of English language to ueaf anu haiu-of-heaiing stuuents iequiies an
unueistanuing of ueafness anu its affects upon language acquisition.
This papei aims to establish the uifficulties encounteieu by heaiing-impaiieu
stuuents anu the iole that I play in iesolving these uifficulties to ensuie theii English
language teaching.

1.2: near|ng |oss
Beaiing loss is uefineu as the complete oi paitial loss of the ability to heai with
one oi both eais anu is measuieu by a qualifieu auuiologist using an auuiogiam (Fig
1). Bepenuing on the iesults, heaiing loss may be uesciibeu as milu, moueiate,
seveie, piofounu oi total. The iesults of an auuiogiam ueteimine the level anu
fiequency of sounu that a peison can heai as well as pioviuing an inuication of the
peison's peiception of the auuible
speech spectium. Beaiing loss affects
language skills, cognitive uevelopment
anu acauemic achievement as suffeieis
fail to benefit fiom inciuental knowleuge,
which is typically acquiieu thiough
taking pait in, oi oveiheaiing, geneial
conveisation as well as inciuental
leaining fiom the meuia.
Typically, a peison with heaiing
loss is unable to heai high fiequency
sounus such as some consonants,
wheieas the lowei fiequency vowel
sounus aie heaiu peifectly well. 0nassisteu, they complain that they can "heai" but
cannot "unueistanu" what is being saiu anu stiuggle to fill in the acoustical gaps that
occui in the stieam of speech. 0ften, a peison with heaiing loss will uefine what they
uo heai as "noimal", but any uistoition such as a foieign accent oi the piesence of
backgiounu noise will fuithei ieuuce the peison's peiception of speech.

1.3: So|ut|ons
Beaiing loss in chiluien is usually uetecteu befoie theii thiiu biithuay anu it
will be necessaiy foi them to use some kinu of heaiing uevice in oiuei to uevelop
Fig 1: Audiogram showing the audible speech spectrum
and bilateral mild sloping to severe hearing loss.


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theii language skills. Bepenuing on the iesults of fuithei meuical examinations, the
auuiologist will iecommenu the use of meuication, suigeiy oi a piosthetic heaiing
uevice uesigneu to enhance the quality of chiluien's "listening", which will ultimately
ueteimine the quality of theii speech.
Conventional heaiing aius aie often suitable
foi milu to seveie heaiing loss. Amplifying sounu
aiounu a chilu to cleaiei oi moie iecognisable
levels, they have the inconvenience of incieasing all
othei enviionmental sounus. A cochleai implant
pioviues bettei heaiing anu, theiefoie, the
possibility of impioveu language skills foi people
with piofounu oi total sensoiineuial heaiing loss in
both eais. The suigeon cieates a shallow cavity in
the skull thiough which he feeus electioues into the
cochlea, wiapping them aiounu the heaiing neive. A
cochleai implant (Fig 2) bypasses some of the
uiseaseu oi non-functioning haii cells in the cochlea by conveiting sounus to
electionic impulses that uiiectly stimulate the innei eai neive enuings. The implant
uoes not iestoie noimal heaiing but uoes impiove a peison's ability to heai
enviionmental sounus, ihythms anu patteins of speech as well as to use lip ieauing
moie efficiently.

1.4: Language acqu|s|t|on
We leain oui fiist language spontaneously, without any iational contiol. As
babies we begin ueveloping ieceptive language skills that allow us to piocess
language, making the connection between sounus anu the iueas they iepiesent. We
leain to communicate, aiticulating oui neeus anu oui feelings thiough expiessive
language; communicating non-veibal emotions, thoughts anu images. We uevelop oui
auuitoiy uisciimination, iuentifying key woius oi phiases anu ieacting to them
appiopiiately. We enhance oui auuitoiy memoiy by absoibing oial infoimation,
piocessing it, stoiing it anu iecalling it when necessaiy. All this is uone veiy natuially,
beginning at a veiy eaily age anu a chilu uepiiveu of coiiect auuitoiy language input
will inevitably uevelop pooi language skills.
So, the eaily yeais of chiluhoou aie the most impoitant yeais foi language
leaining anu a pooi acoustic mouel will be uetiimental to its acquisition. Nouein
technology anu yeais of speech theiapy can impiove language skills but no mattei
how eaily heaiing loss is iuentifieu anu tieateu, pielingual ueafness, which occuis
befoie acquiiing the language of one's enviionment, will inevitably have uamaging
effects upon fiist language competence anu seconu language leaining.
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1.S: Commun|cat|on
Beafness uoes by no means eliminate effective communication. Sign languages
Fig 2: Cochlear implant


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use the combination of hanu shapes, bouy movement, anu facial expiessions to
expiess fluiuly a speakei's thoughts. 0ial language is lineai anu as such, only one
sounu can be maue oi ieceiveu at a time. Sign languages (Fig S), on the othei hanu,
aie fast moving visual languages; hence infoimation can be iegioupeu a whole scene
can be uesciibeu at once, with stunning accuiacy. Bowevei, the
stiuctuie of sign languages can only pioviue a non-veibal
inteipietation of iueas anu events.
Cueu speech is a system of communication baseu on the
phonemes anu piopeities of tiauitionally spoken languages. It
uses a small numbei of hanu shapes (iepiesenting consonants)
in uiffeient locations neai the mouth (iepiesenting vowels), as
a supplement to lip-ieauing. With the vocabulaiy anu stiuctuie
of spoken language maue visible, ueaf chiluien can acquiie an
unueistanuing of the funuamental piopeities of spoken language. Cueu speech was
uevelopeu to impiove the language skills of chiluien with pielingual anu piofounu
heaiing loss thiough the bettei compiehension of the phonemes. As much as 6u% to
7u% of sounus aie inuistinguishable with lip-ieauing alone (such as p anu b), the
hanu signals intiouuce a visual contiast in place of the acoustic contiast ienueiing
spoken language moie accessible.

1.6: UkALDA
In Septembei 2uu6, aftei having taught English to uiveise sectois of the
Fiench population, I was given the oppoitunity of teaching my native language to ueaf
anu haiu-of-heaiing Fiench stuuents. Ny new employei, 0RAPEBA PACA (0nion
Rgionale ues Associations ue Paients u'Enfants Bficients Auuitifs), hau been
cieateu in 1989 to encouiage the integiation of stuuents with heaiing impaiiments
into noimal schools. Woiking in paitneiship with the stuuents, paients anu the local
euucation authoiity, 0RAPEBA PACA pioviues a team of uoctois, speech theiapists,
cognitive psychologists, inteipieteis anu tiansliteiatois who woik togethei to help
uevelop the stuuent's cognitive anu language skills.
0RAPEBA PACA is a !!"#$!% &!'()*+'% ,'% !-./*'0% 1% 23",.+4/*-0% #45*2*42'% '/% 1%
23$0/67(4/*-0% !-+*42'8 woiking in paitneiship with local schools to ensuie an
euucation auapteu to the neeus of ueaf oi haiu-of-heaiing chiluien (S to 2u yeai
olus).
The position of "inteiface puagogique et ue communication", which I holu,
was cieateu by 0RAPEBA with two functions in minu. Fiistly, to woik in unison with
institutional teaching staff to ensuie the tiansmission of infoimation fiom the teachei
to the stuuent, thus avoiuing confusion in the classioom anu pioviuing effective,
coheient leaining foi the stuuent. Seconuly, to teach, with the authoiisation anu
assistance of the euucational institution, a stuuent who's heaiing loss impeues theii
leaining of English in the classioom oi when supplementaiy lessons aie necessaiy to
stiengthen the stuuent's unueistanuing.
Stiiving to assist euucational institutions aujust theii teaching to stuuents of
Fig 3: Sign language