The Communication Methods in English Classroom for Indonesian Deaf Students

Abstract

Deaf students can only use their visual to acquire their first language namely sign language. Mostly hearing people do not understand sign language therefore deaf students use lip-reading to communicate with them. However, lip-reading especially in foreign language not always works because some phonemes are not visible in the lips. This study investigates the communication method of deaf students in learning English as foreign language. It observes the classroom interaction in an Indonesian special school for deaf students. The result shows that deaf students use four communication methods such as sign language, lip-reading, finger-spelling, and Tadoma. The result also shows that deaf students understand words or utterances which are familiar for them. However, deaf students find difficulties in pronouncing words or utterances. They tend to pronounce in Bahasa Indonesia. Therefore, it is recommended that teacher and hearing parents of deaf child must update with the latest technology or material for deaf students learning.