Evaluating the linguistic experience of a deaf child in a mainstream class: a case study

Abstract

AbstractCurrently, most deaf children in the UK are being educated in the mainstream. So far, there has been little research evaluating the linguistic experience of deaf children in mainstream classes. Support may be offered via signed or spoken language or both. In practice, it is not unusual for both the mainstream teacher and the support teacher and/or assistant to use only the spoken language. However, it is well-known that the spoken language levels of deaf children may not be age-appropriate. The aim of the current research is to examine the spoken language input that deaf children receive in the mainstream and to evaluate it in terms of its effects on fostering spoken language acquisition. The present paper is based on primarily descriptive data taken from a larger study. This case study is based on data collected in primary school classrooms which consist of 10 hours of audiotaped classroom interaction of one child over two days in five teaching situations. The language interaction was confined to...