Unlocking the Curriculum
Johnson et al.
Given that the learning of a spoken language is a visual experience, even by
ostensibly auditory methods, and given the difficulties we have described for
such speech-dependent methods, we propose to make the process overtly and
purposely visual. Thus, the learning of English will be through written texts, not
through speech. That this can be an appropriate and successful method for the
introduction of a spoken language has been argued by Paul and Gramly (1986)
and documented by Suzuki and Notoya (1984), who compared the acquisition
of written and oral language in six deaf children from infancy to about the age
of six. They report success at teaching reading before speaking and conclude
that for deaf children (1984, p. 10):
(1) Acquisition of written language is not dependent on oral language;
(2) Written language teaching can be initiated at about one year of age;
and (3) Written language is easier to learn than oral language.
o Speech should not be employed as the primary vehicle for the learning of
a spoken language for deaf children. Understanding and producing speech
are skills to be developed not as a means of acquisition, but as a result of
acquisition, after competence in the language has been established through
literacy.
This does not preclude the use of early auditory stimulation and vocal practice.
Both are important parts of our proposal for early childhood education. Nor does
it suggest that children should not receive auditory amplification at an
appropriate time. It claims only that hearing should not be the primary channel
through which a deaf child receives linguistic input and that a primary focus on
hearing and speech should not be allowed to hinder normal age-level acquisition
of language or knowledge.
o The development of speech-related skills must be accomplished through a
program that has available a variety of approaches, each designed for a
specific combination of etiology and severity of hearing loss. Children who
are post-lingually deafened, those who have substantial residual hearing, and
those who are severely and pre-lingually deaf will each require different
approaches to the development of speaking, hearing, and lipreading skills. Each
child, however, will have access to ASL as a primary language as well as access
to the curriculum through ASL. No child will be asked to learn to understand
speech and to acquire knowledge through speech at the same time.
o Deaf children are not seen as "defective models" of normally hearing
children. The role of the model system proposed here is not to "fix" deaf
children or to make them more closely resemble their hearing peers, either in
language or behavior. The role of the system is to prepare them to participate
fully and effectively in modern American life. This includes the development
SASLJ, Vol. 2, No. 2 – Fall/Winter 2018
109