Deaf ESL Students - Gallaudet University

than any other student to learn everything
she could as fast as she could.
Blanca is Hispanic. She comes from a
large family that consists of an equal
number of hearing and deaf siblings.
The youngest of all, Blanca was sent to
the United States by her siblings so she
could access the kind of education her
deaf brothers and sisters never had.
She is a fluent signer of her native sign
language and also reads and writes in
Spanish. Blanca came with a mind full
of all the right questions. She is doing
a journal in Spanish, and I was able to
teach her the days of the week by writing
them in Spanish and showing her
the English and sign equivalents. She
has been on a constant quest for knowledge
since her arrival. I am hoping
that she will become a trilingual adult.
Alba Jessica Fuentes, at age 16, had
never been to school. She had grown
up on a farm in a rural Spanish town
with her extended family. She had
no exposure to deaf people and her
communication consisted of gestures,
pointing, and mime. The only letters
she could produce on paper were those
in her first name. Jessica was sent to
live in the states with her parents whom
she had not seen for many years. As
someone who had managed to live and
communicate for 16 years all on her
own, Jessica did not feel the need to
learn ASL. It was an arduous task to
TOP LEFT: Nataly Urrutia. CENTER: Rumi Akhter.
TOP RIGHT: Rosco Brobbey. BOTTOM RIGHT: The
author at work—“Teaching a variety of
students is exciting.”
convince her of the benefits of switching
from her own gestures to our signs.
It has been an even more interesting
endeavor to explain the benefits of
reading and writing.
As you can see, the profiles of even
these few students show the diversity in
my classroom. My students are sons
and daughters of diplomats. They are
children of recent immigrants.
Sometimes they are adopted from
their foreign countries and living with
American parents. Often, they are in
the United States for educational
opportunities that deaf children do
not have in their own lands.
For the most part, they have arrived
without a formal language, and need
to invest additional time and effort to
learn both American Sign Language
and English. Those with the rudiments
of a first language—spoken, written,
or signed—may make the transition
more easily. These students understand
how language works and its purpose.
They may use their first language to
facilitate their learning a second and
third language.
The students’ language and culture
are not the only variables to consider
when they arrive in the classroom;
their educational experience is just as
significant. ESL students who have
attended school in their countries
bring basic literacy skills and an understanding
of school as a place for learning.
Other students, with no literacy
skills, no experience in school, and
only basic communication skills, strug-
gle to adjust to the new school setting.
Before they can concentrate on learning
and do what they are expected to
do, they need to become familiar with
the routine of attending school.
Teaching such a variety of students
is exciting. Coming from countries
where schooling is a luxury, these students
have an appreciation for education
that our own American students
lack. They are respectful and eager
to learn. Each student is unique. Each
brings a different culture, heritage,
and prior exposure to language and
education to the ESL classroom.
When people ask me about my
students, I tell them what I honestly
believe. My students may not have the
same advantages as the other students,
but they have the same goals. They are
the biggest challenge—and the best
students—in the school. ●
6 Spring 2000