Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tomato]

What benefit does an ESL student get from learning Braille and sign language?

Foreign language learning requires repeating, repeating, repeating. This creates a dilemma, because repeating, repeating, repeating can induce boredom, boredom, boredom.

The best way to resolve this dilemma is to create variations. If a student learns a new word the traditional way, through Braille, and through sign language, that student will spend triple the time on the new word without suffering triple the boredom.

Are there any other benefits from learning Braille and sign language?



According to James J. Asher, foreign language learning is enhanced by appropriate physical action. He advocates running while learning the word "run" and jumping while learning the word "jump." Asher's method of teaching is known as Total Physical Response or TPR.

This teaching method accounts very well for the teaching orf verbs, but does not explain how words of other parts of speech could be taught. How should a student act upon "house" or "tree"?

Learning Braille may not involve as much gross motor activity, but with the right sort of apparati, it could involve enough motor activity to aid in learning and recall.

If an English teacher teaches Braille and sign language, isn't that teacher neglecting the English curriculum?

Not at all. Braille and sign language could be adapted to any curriculum. For instance, Book 4 of the Let's Goseries presents a lesson on prepositions. Each one of those prepositions could be presented the traditional way, through Braille, and through sign language.

No field of knowledge can be isolated. Music and drama relate to each other through opera and musical comedy. Art and physiology relate to each other through figure drawing. Indeed, traditional ESL instruction itself touches on many other areas of interest, such as music and arts and crafts.

Isn't sign language universal?

I only wish. Sometimes I get American sign language and Korean sign language mixed up.

In some parts of the world, the speakers of countries which speak the same language cannot agree on a sign language. Great Britain and the United States have different sign languages. Child and Argentina have different sign languages. Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China have different sign languages. The United States even has two competing sign languages.

Do the students enjoy learning Braille and sign language?

I don't see how they could help but find almost anything preferable to the unimaginative instruction which prevails in the Korean teachers' classrooms.

But I don't know. Next week, I am going to pass out a written questionnaire and report back to anyone who is interested.

Is there anything special about these two modes of communication?

I prefer these two modes of communication because they are instrumental in communicating with handicapped people. If you have a particular interest in Morse code, flag signals, Pig Latin, or any other mode of communication, feel free.

If teaching Braille and sign language displeases someone, shouldn't it be discontinued?

No. The reason the world is in the mess it's in is because too many people have been afraid to speak up.

Shouldn't unconventional teaching be initiated by the director?

No. The education field has been blessed with hundreds of brilliant ideas which were initiated by the teacher in the classroom. Let us hope that it always will be.

Isn't this technique unacceptable in Western society?

If it is, that doesn't mean it should be unacceptable in Korea. Two wrongs don't make a right.

[denverdeath]

Tomato,

I think that using Braille's system in the classroom may be benificial as long as the students are also focusing on speaking the target language. As you said, a bit of variety couldn't hurt. Teaching the kids something more than how to get gold gloves on Kart Rider also wouldn't hurt. Are you using ASL? The reason I'm asking is because I think Korea has some form of sign language as well, but I think it differs from ASL. Do you have a deaf kid in your class by any chance? I ask that because I have a deaf girl in one of my classes and I really don't know how I can help her. The students and K-teachers think it's strange when I try to get her and the judo champs involved. My reasoning with the judo champs is, "Just because you play a sport, doesn't mean you're stupid."

[tomato]

Hello, Denver Death!

[denverdeath]

I think I have to ask a few more questions about the girl. I don't even know if she can speak...I mean using the traditional method. I don't know if she's able to read lips either. If she can read lips in Korean, is she also able to do so in English? She's a pretty bright girl and is quick on picking up on new vocab. This is probably because that's the way she has always done things in her own language. Do I really need sign language if I use visual aids and write the words on the board to reinforce acquisition? Signing will improve communication between her, me, and the other students but it may not help in the speaking department, right? My classes are big. My head hurts.

[Scott in HK]

It seems to me that by using sign or braille you are simply adding another level of decoding into the student's language learning. There would be no reason to learn braille except for reading...it is not a spoken language. So students would be force to decode one language and then use that knowledge to decode the next one before they understand the text (which at a young level they may then have to trasnslate in their head as they might not be thinking in the target language.

You would be hard pressed to make any valid connection between TPR and braille. I don't think you will find any literature that connects the two as they simply are not connected. One is used to learn language by connecting visual and physical movements to the spoken word while the other is method of decoding text.

If you are simply repeating, repeating, repeating...then you are doing something wrong in your classroom. Language chunks should be introduced in a number of different ways with each one mirroring a real life situation where the student would use the target language. There is not much chance of these students using braille in their daily lives so it seems a bit of a waste of time to introduce it. This would be the same for sign language. (this of course would not be true for all students...but if they want to learn sign language to use in their daily life..then they should take a course in it.

It would seem strange to me as a teacher if someone said that I am going to teach your child English by teaching them German first. It seeems to be an unnecessary step.

[tomato]

When a child demonstrates his new-found knowledge to his parents, won't he speak Korean?

Unlikely. It would be very difficult to practice a sign language for an SVO language while speaking an SOV language. When I first came to Korea, I tried to kill two birds with one stone by practicing American Sign Language and Korean at the same time. I finally gave up and bought a Korean sign language book.

Take one sentence which I teach to my kindergarten class: "This is a cat." We speak the word "this" while performing the sign for "this," speak the word "is" while performing the sign for the word "is," speak the word "a" while performing the sign for the word "a" (which, incidentally has no equivalent in Korean), and speak the word "cat" while performing the sign for the word "cat."

To rearrange those words in accordance with Korean grammar, the child would have to perform the signs for "this cat is." I betcha there isn't a child in the whole kindergarten who could come up with anything like that.

Another example: When a child is out of his or her seat, I sometimes perform the signs for "That is your chair" without speaking the words. Usually one of the other students speaks the words in rhythm with my signs. I have never once heard a child translate that sentence into Korean.

Won't sign language add to the course load, as would a third language?

Absolutely not. If a third language is added, different words would be spoken. In sign language instruction, on the other hand, the words "This is a cat" are spoken while the signs for "this is a cat" are performed. In sign language instruction, there is no time lost from the required curriculum.

[gang ah jee]

Only in Korea.

[Scott in HK]

[Corporal]

Unless you are an amazing teacher, (and perhaps you are), it would seem that you're taking up a lot of extra (valuable) class time to teach sign language and braille when you're only being hired to teach English. Y'know, the conventional kind. Written and spoken.

[Panda_Dude]

Tomato,

I heavily enjoy your take on education with the use of TPR.

I do not plan on using TPR as a dominant part of my teaching. However, the more tools I know about, the better off I will be.

I have a few inquiries about your use of this:

1) How long did it take you to learn sign language and braille?

2) I know sign language/braille might be the more "functional" methods for TPR, but what other methods would you recommend if I was to implement TPR?

3) Any online (and free) journals that discuss this method?

4) This is perhaps my most important question. It is obvious that children and youth respond better to multiple stimuli and changes in their surrounding environment. However, I will be teaching adults. (From my experience, adults are the most stubborn when it comes to changes in education style.) I assume these students will have been used to the lecture-centered style of teaching.

To me, it seems the use of TPR will be awkward to use with these learners. What would you recommend for working with such learners? (If you have experience teaching adults).

Thanks!

[tomato]

Hello, Scott!

Maybe I did contradict myself in this particular instance. After a few repetitions of "That is your chair" with the signs, the students know the English well enough to recite the sentence while I make only the signs.

And perhaps I should describe the Braille instruction in more detail. I introduce each new word in three steps:

First, I present the word using letters which I painted on the back of roofing tile scraps which were being thrown away at a construction site.

Then I spell the word in the international sign alphabet.

Then I dive into Braille instruction. My apparatus consists of:

1. a small flannelboard composed of 2 columns of 3 squares each
2. 6 flannel circles which fit into those squares

After presenting the new word the conventional way, and after spelling that new word in the international sign alphabet, I present each letter of the new word on the flannelboard. The 6 positions are numbered. Beginning in the top position of the left column, the left column is numbered 1 2 3. Then the right column is numbered 4 5 6.

I lay the circles on the flannelboard, shouting the numbers for the positions in which a circle appears and whispering the numbers for the positions in which a circle does not appear.

For instance, the letter N has circles in the 1 3 4 5 positions. So I say, "one two three four five six."

Then I take the circles off and ask for a volunteer to put the circles back on. Then I choose one of the students who are waving their hands, frantically, crying "Me! Me! Me!"

I repeat this pattern for each letter in the new word.

I know, this would be cumbersome in a lesson on sentence grammar, but it is a valuable aid in teaching new vocabulary.

I also recognize that this activity does not involve large muscles as well as TPR and sign language.

Hello, Corporal!

I understand you to say that you are concerned about taking up class time and adding to the content. But I thought that I addressed that question in the second item in my third post.

If there is anything which I did not make clear, please write back.

Hello, Panda Duke!

How long did it take you to learn sign language and Braille?

Learning the international sign alphabet takes very little time. Try saying all your English students' names in sign language. By the time you're through, you will have most of the letters down pat.

Everything else has been on the Learn-As-You-Teach Plan. I know most of the most common Braille letters, but sometimes I have to sneak a peak at the chart.

In a grammar lesson, I usually use sign language to recite a pattern which is straight out of the book. ("This is a dog. This is a cat. These are dogs. These are cats.") Usually, it takes me only a few minutes to look up any necessary words.

I know sign language/Braille might be the more "functional" methods for TPR, but what other methods would you recommend if I was to implement TPR?

In the kindergarten class, I have a gross motor activity after 15 minutes. I show pictures and say, "This is a cat. Let's march for the cat. This is a dog. Let's jump for the dog."

Any online (and free) journals that discuss this method?

Do you mean TPR? There is plenty of information about TPR. Through a quick Google search, I had no trouble in finding the picture of their patron saint.

Or do you mean sign language? As far as I know, I am the world's only practitioner of sign language in the foreign language classroom. That is why you see me fighting on the front line.

As a term paper topic for ESL methods class in the United States, I ran an experiment comparing sign language to the keyword technique. This technique involves making an interlingual pun and forming a mental picture. For example, the Korean word for "investigation" is ����. To remember this, imagine John Philip Sousa marching down the street, followed by a procession of Sherlock Holmeses with magnifying glasses.

I calculated the results, and found no significant difference between the two strategies.
The reason that I prefer my strategy is that it does not involve thinking in the student's own language.

I still have that term paper, in case you want to read it.

To me, it seems the use of TPR will be awkward to use with [adults]. What would you recommend for working with such learners? (If you have experience teaching adults).

Yes, I have had experience teaching adults, and my experience indicated that I am no good at it. So I'm afraid I can't help you there.

[tomato]

I just finished taking a survey.
I had two goals in mind.
One goal was to see if the older students were really complaining, as the director would have me believe.
The other goal was to see if the students all love the director's classes as much as she would have me believe.

Here is how the students rule on the activities which take place in my classes:



and here is how the students rule on the activities which take place in the director's classes:



This is what I conclude from the survey:

1. As the director says, the older students are indeed less receptive to Braille and sign language instruction, but the opinion is not unanimous, contrary to what the director says.

2. I'm not pleasing all of the older students, but neither is the director. I therefore see no reason to fear a mass exodus from the school which would be all my fault.

3. The most popular activities are bingo games and card games, but these games could be overdone.

4. I should probably decide on activities could occasionally be decided by a popular vote more often. I cannot do this consistently, however, because minority rights should be taken into account also.

[gang ah jee]

[kermo]

I've incorporated ASL finger-spelling into my classroom (I teach grade 3 kids, most of whom are just getting their first exposure to written English and have never been to an academy), because I like to use as many different "intelligences" as possible. Some kids are kinesthetic learners and will absorb better if they're using their bodies.

I don't use any extra class time; I just present it alongside the visual stimuli.

It is important to note, however, that American Sign Language alphabet signs are significantly different from British Sign Language signs. Two ESL teachers with the same bright idea might end up sorely confusing their kids if they're from different continents.

[OiGirl]