BilingualBicultural Approach ASL

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					Georgia State University Series:
     Bilingual/Bicultural Approach

           Part 2, Presentation 4
                               July 2001
Bilingual/Bicultural Approach
        Dr. Easterbrooks
What is the Bi/Bi Approach?

Basic fundamental belief that Deaf
 and hard-of-hearing children can code
 English in their brains IF they first
 learn to communicate in their ―natural‖
 language (ASL) and then in English
 as a second language.…rlanguageinstructionalpractices.htm
Beliefs about Bi/Bi approach:

   Bi/Bi is relatively new in the US
    therefore, no studies yet demonstrate that
    bilingual-bicultural approach results in any
    improvement in English language ability.
   Critics believe that exposure to English as
    a second language for just a portion of the
    day will never allow deaf children to be
    proficient in English.
  What Role do Parents play?
Constant exposure by parents at an early age
Parents must be fluent ASL users in order to
 effectively expose the child to the bi/bi
Create an environment with plenty of
 manipulatives, pictures, words, toys, and signs
Read to the child regularly so he is exposed to
 the printed word
Constant new vocabulary
The importance of Reading

              Because the deaf
              or hard-of-hearing
              child will be exposed
              to English mainly
              through print, it is
              imperative that the
              parents read, read
              and read some
Authentic and Meaningful Experiences as a Base
            for Language Learning

Field Trips
Vicarious Experiences
Toys and Other Manipulables
    The Powerful Tool of Role-playing

Encourages Conversation

Can be spontaneous or prepared

Used for students of all ages

Helps with Social and Emotional Development
Storytelling: Another Important Tool

 Used by children as a language technique
 ASL storytelling is the mainstay of a
  preschool language program
 Provides a rich opportunity for deaf and h/h
  children to participate in an enjoyable
  activity that fosters language skills
 Provides stepping stone for reading

Definition: A process of couching a new skill within
an old skill; first you present the known, then the
unknown, then the known again.


 o ASL—English—ASL
 o English—ASL—English
 o ASL—Fingerspelling—ASL
 o ASL—English Print—ASL
 o Gesture—ASL—Gesture
         Visual Components:
• Objects: toys and manipulatives
• Pictures
• Environment: exposure to the world around
• Maps, Diagrams, and other spatial
   The levels a child most go
• Understanding concepts of SAME

• Exploring and understanding

• Able to make COMPARISIONS
    More ways ASL and
    English are different.
As the student begins to
ASL/English bilingual
approach, the teacher
shows the student the
mismatches between
ASL and English.

ASL has classifiers while English must use ―labels.‖
English uses passive voice while ASL must show
this by directionality of sign or word order.
          For Example…
To teach the sentence, ―Have you eaten yet?‖, the
Teacher would explain how to say it in ASL…

―Now this is how we sign and write the same
sentence in ENGLISH.‖
         Example of plurals:
ASL: To sign the plural meaning of the word cat,
you would repeat the sign several times.

English: Add an ―s‖ to change to plural.
 Some structures that are the same in
     both ASL and English:

1. Topic – Comment
2. Both have singulars and plurals
3. Negation
4. Basic question forms
5. Complex sentences
6. Mutual gaze/ communicative pointing
When teaching a concept from
    ASL to English…
1. Have the student generate ideas and
2. Explain it in ASL
3. Translate to ESL-English
4. Explain that it means the same thing
   but is expressed differently
 What Role does the Teacher
 Teacher discusses all instructional issues in ASL
 Teacher develops understanding or comprehension in
  ASL as the foundation for comprehension in English
 Teacher exposes student to English primarily through
 Teacher directly compares the languages from easiest
  comparisons to hardest.
 Teacher shows forms which don’t exist in either
  language e.g. (much dogs)
 Teachers use space to convey grammatical structure.
 What Role does the Student
Students ―take in‖English primarily through
Students express English primarily through
Students demonstrate in some way
 (manipulatives, role-playing, pictures, ASL)
 that they understand the meaning of the
 English printed word before coding to print
     Discussion of ASL
• Advantages
  – highly accessible   • Disadvantages
  – children tend to      – child misses
    do better               valuable learning
    academically,           time while parents
    behaviorally and        learn to
  – easier to read
    than MCE’s            – English will be a
                            second language
  – knowledge of
    ASL makes               rather than a first
    learning English

•ASL—American Sign Lauguage; the language of
Deaf peoples in the United States. ASL is a
language of its own and not a visual code of English.
•Bilingual/Biclultural Approach—This approach
encourages the development of context, knowledge,
and academic skils through ASL.
•Cooking—Another meaningful experience (like a field
trip without actually leaving the school) that can teach
many concepts such as number, sequence, texture,
color, and other descriptive terminology.
•Demonstrations—―how to‖ activities that impart new
skills to children; child manipulated activities.
Glossary (continued…)
•ESL—English as a second language; teaching
English to those who use another language as their
primary or first langague.
•Experiments—useful ways to demonstrate properties
of the natuaral world to a child.
•Field Trips—Ways to share information with
students; also provide topics for conversation many
days after the event.
•Manipulatives—Materials used to represent other
real-life objects or concepts.
Glossary (continued…)

•Sandwiching- A process of couching a new skill within
an old skill; first you present the known, then the
unknown, then the known again.
•Singulars/Plurals—one/ more than one
•Vicarious Experiences—Representing real-life events
through pretend (i.e. going to the doctor’s office, police
station, restaurant, post office, etc.)
•Visual representations—using codes or labels, symbols,
gestures, icons, color codes and signs for language
categories in order to visual organize language .

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