Language in the Classroom

When reading another chapter in Language and Deafness, I can feel myself learning more and more about language. I am slowly understanding that the more I can understand about language the more I can help my future students to acquire new language skills by providing an enriching environment.

From all the information filled into one chapter, I will admit that teaching language will not be an easy task (for me at least). To jump from understanding English to jumping into the world of ASL, life will be hard. Words such as bank and many more that have more than one meaning will be needing great explanation for my students.

For when I do teach language, I will choose to focus on the theoretical frameworks of language, such as environmental, cognitive, and social. Although, it seems that no theory is the same, one can assume that they can be stacked and used together. When I do become a teacher my job will consist mainly of planning activities and plans for the students to effectively learn in my classroom. I would have to have daily routines to include the introduction and continuation of language.

Here are some activities I would include in my school day...

• To start, I want to fill each morning of my class with conversation, simply having interactions between my students and their teacher. I want my students to form connections with other students. In the beginning I will model questions to ask their neighbor or friend, making for a great opener to any day. As the day goes on I will continue to prompt the students and to foster language. 
• When it comes to instruction and physical work I would like to begin my language lesson with a sentence, one of ill grammar. As the book mentions, students need exposure to language and those who have a language disability need even more adequate exposure. I want to expose my students daily with the structure of language. They will be challenged to figure out what is wrong with the sentence and give me ways in which it can be correctly written (grade depending). I feel that introducing it in small doses at any grade level will build the foundation for a strong language base. 
• In continuation of their foundation, my school days will be filled with a nurturing environment. I know that my students will be forever processing language. In my classroom I predict that I will have both passive and active learners so it will be my job to continue to guide them from when they enter the classroom until they leave. A big part of my classroom will be having discussions, having my students speak up, take turns, and follow in any appropriate social conversation. Overall, I hope to have a classroom filled with conversation, the link to all language. Language will be naturally learned and physically received. 

I believe people who are hearing take language for granted and have no idea how difficult the development of it is. This chapter leaves me wondering what it will really be like to teach language to those who are in fact Deaf or Hard of hearing. What are some of the common language difficulties that face students who are Deaf or Hard of hearing? How will I get a written and spoken language across to my students if I am only signing?

As of right now I would not say I could teach language tomorrow to a group of students who were Deaf but, I know by the end of this book I will be knowledgeable about all the aspects of language. For all the minor details and vocabulary will be stacked in my brain.