Teaching English to The Hearing Impaired

[Youscream_Icecream]

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Hello folks,

As I am writing this post, I am still starstruck by a sub-session of an English conversation class that I taught a couple of hours before.

This substitution class notice came in this morning and nothing could have prepared me for what was to come. When I contacted the original coach (that's what a term people in my office use for an ESL teacher), I was told that I would be teaching a pleasant, eager-to-learn young lady with a feature that was a surprise (both dreadful and pleasant) to me; she is hard-of-hearing at birth. It was dreadful because, considering the nature and pathological condition, I had to do something different and extra. It was pleasant because she turned out to be a quite charming young lady, confident and full of life, despite her current condition.

And to tell you the truth, it was my maiden attempt to teach such a person.

The meeting left me with both regrets and inspiration. I regret that I did not have enough time to prepare (the original coach told me about her case an hour prior to the start of the meeting), coming in 5 minutes late and was not able to maintain the continuity of the lesson plan due to the improvisations that I had to make during the meeting. I was inspired because I would be condemned to hell if I were not to see such a bright young lady get the best training we (her coaches) could provide.

Therefore, I am asking all of you to help me. I would appreciate any assistance or tips from teachers who had successfully work a similar class or those who knows resources I might be able to use to reinforce our method of training.

Many thanks for your replies.

Y.I
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[Bagheera]

Hmm, that will be quite challanging experience for you to teach a person who doesn't hear. By the way is she deaf mute or just have poor hearing? Must be the second.
I wish I could help you, but I don't have such experience in life. I will read attetively what advice they will give you. Anyway, wish you luck, it's great what you do. Such people shouldn't be just pitied, but helped to master all skillls we, healthy people, neglect so often.
I would appreciate if you shared the info of how you manage to teach the girl. Wish both of you success and fruitful cooperation.
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[Youscream_Icecream]

Hi Bagheera,

Thank you for your prompt reply.

It is challenging indeed. To study communications for the hearing impaired from psycholinguistics and phonetics during my days in college is one thing, but trying to apply those theories in teaching is an entirely different story. But one thing I can say for sure, most phonetics errors deaf people make is a result of their condition. People living with deafness or hearing impairment at birth cannot hear sounds as we, normal people, could. So basically they learn how to speak by mimicking the lips gestures from the people around them without actually imitating the sound.

This young lady I taught tonight is, technically speaking, not my student. I merely replace the original coach for the session. She is partially deaf or hard-of-hearing. Communicating in our mother tongue (Bahasa Indonesia) is already an effort for her, let alone in English. And yet, she was very attentive and follow my instructions thoroughly during the duration of the course, a trait that many of my not-so-impaired-on-their-hearing students don't have. And that is why I am in awe of her dedication and spirit. People like her deserves nothing less than the best teachers and the most suitable methods. That is why I am determined to help bring the best out of her coach, if I can't personally handle her, since this is also his first experience handling such a class.

Thank you for your good words, dear friend. A great teacher appreciates the efforts of his / her comrades. Good luck on your new semester in Ukraine. I would imagine that you'd be dealing with truckloads of work as well.
_________________
Need a speaking partner?
I'd be more than happy to oblige. PM me for more details and I promise you it wont cost a cent!

[Bagheera]