Week 5 Reading Summaries

Wood, D., & Wood, H. (1997). Communicating with children who are deaf: Pitfalls and possibilities. Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools, 28(4), 348. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/232584387?accountid=10910

Attempting to communicate with a deaf child can be thought of as near impossible, with many wondering how you can talk to someone who is unable to hear what you are saying or respond to the message you are sending. Many people, who normally have this thought, quickly change their opinion when methods of communication are explored and learnt, in order to better include these children in everyday life. In the educational setting challenges are apparent when children are unable to communicate effectively or understand what is being taught. Social connections and behaviours are stressed as peers of deaf children do not have the abilities to interpret and return the message with understanding, putting strain on relationships and quite often leaving the child quite lonely. Educators of children with hearing impairments have the responsibility to learn and understand different methods of language in order to teach and answer questions for all of their students. Often confusion is seen but this can be improved with a language easily understood however this can only be done face to face, limiting the conversations these children are involved within. A lot of the time the conversations had by deaf students are with teachers on an educational subject indicating that a lot of child talk and imaginative role play are missed due to students not having the ability to ‘sign’. Deaf students in the school environment are guided through the subjects by teachers with the skill to ‘sign’ and often language is ‘controlled’ by perspective and levels of adult communication. This is often negative as children do not get to experience a regular childhood with play and storytelling amongst fellow students, rather only communicating and interacting on an adult level. The article also poses positives that will alter the methods of teaching and assist with management of child communication using different kinds of language other than vocal.

Espada, J. P. (2012). The native language in teaching kindergarten mathematics. Journal of International Education Research, 8(4), 359. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1433384089?accountid=10910

Studies from the Philippines have been researching the benefits to using the native language in the early years compared to English as a second language to teach numeracy. Instructions are fundamental to understanding and developing mathematical concepts and need to be flexible to cater for all ability levels. Using the native language that children hear for the first time is thought to be the fastest developing and therefore has the most benefits when learning a new subject using the ‘mother tongue’. The kindergarten in the study had 34 children participate in a variety of tests using English as the control group and the native Waray language as the experimental group. Assumptions were made, those children who received instructions in their native language were to fair better and have a deeper meaning than those who heard it only in English. Results proved to be in favour of the original assumptions with a significant comparison apparent between the two groups and a higher success rate for the experimental group. Academic quality was high and results have since caused all educators to continue thinking that in order to support and cater for all students’ individual needs, the natural language that children find comforting needs to be used when describing new information for an effective result. Mathematics instruction is difficult to teach to students for multiple reasons, but can be made simpler by steering clear from a foreign language and aiming for a growth in performance. It is said that the best time to introduce new subjects with intense instruction in the student’s native language is during the younger years when children are first starting school. This is a good time as children are still developing their communication skills, and automatically think and respond in the language that comes naturally. Each child is unique and in an island situation, there may be many more languages and dialogues that prevent children from developing social connection due to misunderstanding. Educators need to develop flexibility and judge each scenario accordingly, keeping child benefits and progress in mathematical concepts at the core of their instruction.