Deaf ESL Students - Gallaudet University

PHOTO: DAVID R. SCHLEPER
“Show me again what this says,” I told him.
I pointed to the unfamiliar writing before me.
The next day, reacting to some good
student writing that nevertheless lacked
indications for paragraphs, I focused
our writers’ workshop with a mini-lesson
on paragraphs (Lane, 1993; Clemmons
& Laase, 1995). After I explained paragraphing
to the class, I sat down for a
few minutes with Eugene. Then Eugene,
like the rest of his classmates, went
through his text again, arranging the
sentences into paragraphs.
The following day we conferenced
together. I began with praise and reinforcement.
Eugene had done very well.
He had used the help of other students
and he had recruited his sister.
“Wonderful!” I told him. Then I also
pointed out some ways he could
improve his writing. For example, he
had written sed for sad—an easy mis-
take, especially for a boy used to writing
in characters. They look the same,
I said, pointing back and forth
between a and e. But for sad, I used
the American sign, spelling s-a-d. I also
pointed to his phrase “I crying.” In
American Sign Language, it would be I
CRY, I affirm. That’s fine. English follows
a different system; one must write
out “I was crying.” Gestures, nodding,
lots of signing and writing. Eugene
nodded seriously.
Then I gave him the good news.
You are ready to publish! I told him.
As Sunflower (1993) notes, for many
students publishing is the most exciting
part of the writing process. Eugene
sat down to type eagerly. A title page,
cover, and author biography followed.
Learning to write and writing are
ABOVE: I-Chun “Eugene” Shih as a young reader. Today, I-Chun is a student at the National
Technical Institute for the Deaf, majoring in applied computer technology.
parts of an ongoing process and experience,
not just for our deaf students
but for all of us. After his moment of
accomplishment and success, Eugene
was ready to begin a new story. The
next day, he did. This time, he forged
ahead with a first draft in English.
Sometimes he didn’t know an English
word so he would substitute the
Chinese character for it. Good strategy,
Eugene! I thought.
Like many students, Eugene was
ready, willing, and able to write. All he
needed was someone who believed in
his potential and experiences to develop
his skills. As Freedman and
Freedman (1992) said, “All students
can learn if they are engaged in meaningful
activities that move from whole
to part, building on students’ interests
and backgrounds, serving their needs,
(and) providing opportunities for
social interaction.”
In his notebook, Eugene scribbled
an equation of his own creation: Brave
Student = Eugene.
I saw the equation and laughed.
Indeed.
References
Fisher, S. (1994). The writers’
workshop. Washington, DC: Gallaudet
University, Pre-College Programs.
Freeman, Y. S. & Freeman, D. E.
(1992). Whole language for second
language learners. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.
Lane, B. (1993). After the end:
Teaching and learning creative revision.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Schleper, D. R. (1989). Revision
devices. World Around You. Washington,
DC: Pre-College Programs.
Sunflower, C. (1993). 75 creative
ways to publish students’ writing. NY:
Scholastic.
Whitesell, K. M. (1999, May/June).
Language experience—Leading from
behind. Perspectives in Education and
Deafness, 17(5). ●
David R. Schleper, M.A., is literacy coordinator for the
Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center at
Gallaudet University. He welcomes comments to this article:
David.Schleper@gallaudet.edu.
26 Spring 2000