Around MSD - Maryland School for the Deaf

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James E. Tucker, Superintendent, james.tucker@msd.edu Bilingualism and Monolingualism Hearing parents of newly born deaf or hard of hearing infants are often overwhelmed with information relating to deafness and deaf education as well as dealing with the initial shock and grieving that their child has a hearing loss. Frequently their deaf child is the first deaf person they have met in their lives so they need to quickly master a steep learning curve when they read and digest information on how deaf and hard of hearing children grow and learn. Sometimes parents meet professionals such as audiologists or speech and language pathologists and receive information that does not address language acquisition and development in both American Sign Language (ASL) and English. Too often, parents are given a list of “communication options” such as Cued Speech, Signed English, Pure Oral Method, Total Communication and the like. Regularly this list does not include the acquisition of ASL. If the list includes ASL it often lacks information that English is taught along with ASL. Such a list promotes the “monolingual education approach”. That is, the acquisition and development in only one language is encouraged. Many schools and programs including the Maryland School for the Deaf promote the bilingual education approach. The acquisition and development of both American Sign Language and English is emphasized inside and outside of classrooms. American Sign Language is used every day by over 500,000 deaf and hard of hearing Americans and is among the most frequently used languages in this country. Psycholinguists and neurolinguists have in the past 50 years documented American Sign Language as a bona fide language possessing all the requisite 10 THE MARYLAND BULLETIN FALL 2010 linguistic properties as well as the natural language of the Deaf community. In short, deaf people use ASL because they are primarily “seeing” people and ASL is a language of the hands, face, and body. Parents are often confused or led astray when they are presented a list of “communication options”. A better way to frame this would be to explain the monolingual and the bilingual education approaches along with the different communication systems available. Too often parents are forced to choose one language over another when in fact they can choose a combination of languages. For example, parents can choose the development of both ASL and English. Since English may be achieved through any of these communication options, professionals need to start emphasizing “and” rather than “or”. Parents also need to eventually determine educational placement for their child. Too often language development is not the driving force behind placement decisions. Many times a cochlear implant or a hearing aid drives placement. Other times the misapplication of the “least restrictive environment” provision in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) drives placements in the local neighborhood schools. When this happens educational interpreters are then utilized and this sometimes compromises natural language development. At the Maryland School for the Deaf, parents are encouraged to seek educational placements that emphasize language acquisition in both ASL and English. Each child has a right to learn the language of the country, English; and to learn the natural language of American Deaf and Hard of Hearing people, American Sign Language. Today thousands of hearing babies are encouraged to sign. The media everywhere extol the benefits of learning ASL for hearing babies. They are able to express themselves in sign language a few months before they are able to speak, giving them a jump start on language and communication development. While the Deaf community is thrilled and sometimes giddy that their language is being taught everywhere, they also grieve that many deaf babies are still forbidden to sign… Perhaps it is time to reframe the bilingual vs. monolingual education approach debate. There is no research evidence that bilingual education inhibits English language acquisition or the development of speech. Many professionals, especially audiologists and speech pathologists, are still ignorant about ASL and its biological roots in deaf people. Bilingualism needs to be seen as an “addition”, and not as a “subtraction” to the overall learning experience for a deaf child. It is time to rewrite the brochures that are given to parents of newly identified deaf and hard of hearing children. Brochures should first detail the “bilingual (ASL and English) approach” and the “monolingual (English only) approach” and then move on to “communication options”. Parents should always be encouraged to thoroughly explore all options since every child should be given the opportunity to explore, grow, learn, and most of all thrive in different environments. Buddha once said, “There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.” It is MSD’s sincere hope that professionals who advocate only the “monolingual (English only) approach” will consider going to the next level in their profession learning the linguistics of American Sign Language and the enormous benefits the “bilingual (ASL and English) approach” has for deaf and hard of hearing children everywhere. MB
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