interpreting for an english class

[VamPyroX]

Teaching and interpreting the apostrophe would be worlds simpler were it not for all its misuses:

Hat's for sale is not correct. Hats for sale doesn't need an apostrophe.

Likewise the sign saying The Smith's is not correct. Since it means more than one Smith, it is just a simple plural: The Smiths is correct.

She is a child of the 60's is not correct. The missing letters are 19, so the apostrophe should go where it was. She is a child of the '60s is correct.

The mistake is your's is not correct. No pronoun ever uses an apostrophe for possession. The mistake is yours is correct.

T'was the night before Christmas is not correct. The rule is to put the apostrophe where the letter(s) or number(s) is removed. 'Twas the night before Christmas is correct.

Teaching the correct usage would be lots easier if there weren't so many incorrect uses.

That is part of the reason why I think SEE should be used especially during English class when grammar and spelling is involved.

There are a lot of ASL signs that are confusing since they don't always emphasize extras such as plural, possession, etc.

 

[Interpretrator]

That is part of the reason why I think SEE should be used especially during English class when grammar and spelling is involved.

I have found SEE to be a lifesaver in both teaching and interpreting ESL and English in those cases. Of course I have to make sure the students understand but most of the time they do, and then you're not fingerspelling until your hand drops off your wrist. (The rest of the time it's ASL.)

I know people think SEE is evil -- we had people in my ITP whining and moaning about having to learn it -- but in an ESL class where the teacher is rattling off different tenses or explaining when to say "I have had...", if the student is okay with it, it's the easiest and fastest way to get the point across.

Every tool in the toolbox is a good tool if someone can benefit from it and others aren't being bludgeoned to death with it.

 

[Reba]

I have found SEE to be a lifesaver in both teaching and interpreting ESL and English in those cases. Of course I have to make sure the students understand but most of the time they do, and then you're not fingerspelling until your hand drops off your wrist. (The rest of the time it's ASL.)

I know people think SEE is evil -- we had people in my ITP whining and moaning about having to learn it -- but in an ESL class where the teacher is rattling off different tenses or explaining when to say "I have had...", if the student is okay with it, it's the easiest and fastest way to get the point across.

Every tool in the toolbox is a good tool if someone can benefit from it and others aren't being bludgeoned to death with it.

 

[deafskeptic]

I have found SEE to be a lifesaver in both teaching and interpreting ESL and English in those cases. Of course I have to make sure the students understand but most of the time they do, and then you're not fingerspelling until your hand drops off your wrist. (The rest of the time it's ASL.)

I know people think SEE is evil -- we had people in my ITP whining and moaning about having to learn it -- but in an ESL class where the teacher is rattling off different tenses or explaining when to say "I have had...", if the student is okay with it, it's the easiest and fastest way to get the point across.

Every tool in the toolbox is a good tool if someone can benefit from it and others aren't being bludgeoned to death with it.

While I find SEE awkward outside class, it comes in useful in ESL and English class -especially when one explains the grammar of the English language.

 

[Anij]

I know this might seem random ... but as I'm reading this post ... I can't help going "OMG I missed SOOOO much being mainstreamed (without support of any kind because I didn't "need it" so they said)


The thing is that in daily life people would never in a million years think that's how I feel ... they see I "talk well" ... and that's all they care about. Even when I write - people would never guess how much time I look at the spellcheck's recommended correction with a completely puzzled look on my face !!!

sorry for the random hajack there ...

 

[deafbajagal]

That is part of the reason why I think SEE should be used especially during English class when grammar and spelling is involved.

There are a lot of ASL signs that are confusing since they don't always emphasize extras such as plural, possession, etc.

Oh, I totally agree! I've taught English for five years and I found that SEE certainly has its place in my room. I'm so thankful I took the time to learn how to sign SEE II. It came in handy.

It is possible to use ASL to emphasize English rules. For example, let's use the word "jump."

Jump = sign "jump" briefly
jumping = sign "jump" in a continuous manner (like several times, but almost in a circular manner...wish I could do a video to show what I'm talking about!)
jumped = sign "jump" "finished"

After we get this part down, then we discussed the verbs: is/are; was/were; etc. The students will learn which verb is used for singular and plural nouns. That's when we go back to using the ASL format and the students will use structured sentence patterns and watch me sign in ASL: girls three jump finished. They would write: The three girls jumped. If we've managed to talk about the has/had/have verbs, then the sentence pattern will allow the correct one in the sentence.

It is very grueling work to teach d/hh kids English.

I used the Multisensory Grammar method by Suzanne (last name ???) to teach the grits of English grammar...which is using colors, among other visual and hands-on manipulatives for students to grasp understanding of the syntax. I also used Step-Up-To-Writing for the paragraph format and essay style writing. It incorporates colors, pictures, and graphic organziers to help the writing organization process. And for sentence starters or for students who are significantly behind with sentence construction, I pulled out the Fiterzald (not sure of the spelling) Key method.

The students responded VERY well. Of course, it is not fool-proof and there are other things I try to do was well

Bottom line is - there are more ways to teach English than using specific signs; you can use colors, manipulatives, graphic organizers, pictures, drama, etc. to teach the concepts. This is also important because of the different learning styles that the students have.

I know as an interpreter you may not be able to do all of these things but perhaps if there were additional support (such as some of the things I mentioned above) then the student(s) may be able to catch on or have something concrete to use for referencing and understanding.

 

[VamPyroX]

I have found SEE to be a lifesaver in both teaching and interpreting ESL and English in those cases. Of course I have to make sure the students understand but most of the time they do, and then you're not fingerspelling until your hand drops off your wrist. (The rest of the time it's ASL.)

I know people think SEE is evil -- we had people in my ITP whining and moaning about having to learn it -- but in an ESL class where the teacher is rattling off different tenses or explaining when to say "I have had...", if the student is okay with it, it's the easiest and fastest way to get the point across.

Every tool in the toolbox is a good tool if someone can benefit from it and others aren't being bludgeoned to death with it.

Yep.

While some people may argue that students have a right to use ASL, they have to look at it this way... ASL is a language with its own structure and needs to be put aside when learning the English language.

When you're taking English class, do you see people speaking Spanish or Japanese? No. That's because those are languages on their own and have their own structure. In order to learn proper English, you have to follow English structure.

Since SEE (or ESL) follows the English structure, then it should be used when communicating in an English class. I've seen a lot of NTID students who struggle so much in English because they're so stubborn with ASL and refuse to even try learning. They say that English class should follow ASL.

If we were to make English classes follow ASL, then that would be like making English classes follow Japanese and Spanish. :roll:

 

[Interpretrator]

First of all I have only worked with college students, at which point they're on their own in many ways. If I'm interpreting in a mainstream college ESL class, I'm extremely limited in my options depending on what the teacher's style is. There are wonderful ESL teachers out there who can reach students whether hearing or deaf. (One of these was the first ESL teacher for whom I interpreted and she inspired me to become an ESL teacher myself.) In those classes you might be lucky to be able to use more ASL if the teachers are explaining concepts in a clear way.

With other teachers it's obvious everyone, hearing and deaf students alike, are struggling, and as interpreters we don't have much power to aid the deaf student(s). Nor, frankly, should we even if we did have that power. Deaf students have the right to be just as confused as the other students without interpreters' interfering, as long as the confusion does not stem from the interpretation itself. (Not always easy to know the difference.) Sometimes those classes are just "hang on and follow the SEE" because all the teacher does is spew out grammatical jargon.

From what I understand, K-12 interpreters have different boundaries in terms of their role as a team member. Maybe in those cases they can speak with the teacher about providing better ways to reach the deaf students, I don't know. Certainly in college it's not as much of an issue to use SEE signs when the students are already relatively familiar with the concepts. I agree other methods might be more useful for young deaf students learning English, but SEE may also be of benefit so that they have as many tools as possible to face whatever they might encounter in their education and their career.

This, in my personal experience, is the type of student who has the most success, because she can be as flexible as possible both in her thinking and in her language, which is necessary given the wide skill range among both teachers and interpreters.