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natalyadIf you're a BSL user...
If you are a British Sign Language (BSL) using deaf person it can be commonly assumed that you will automatically have unfixable difficulties with literacy and written English into adulthood.
If you're an Oralie...
If you are a deaf person who uses residual hearing (maybe with hearing aids and or cochlea implants) and speech then there's no recognition that you may also have less access to language than hearing people and may still retain difficulties with written English into adulthood.
Most deaf people don't get the same language access as our hearing peers
90% of deaf children are born into hearing families. This means that except for the Deaf families where the parents are fluent signers the large majority of deaf children grow up with a deficiency in exposure to language in the home. Even with the best efforts of hearing parents, the language they expose their deaf child to is less than that a hearing child is exposed to regardless of what language choices the family makes.
Incidental learning
Deaf people cannot fully access auditory incidental learning. Hearing people can pick up information from conversations which take place around them. Deaf people cannot usually pick up information from conversations we are not actively focusing on. Deaf people often have to work hard to follow a conversation by lipreading, watching body language, putting together the cues with whatever we can hear. If deaf people using sign language then we're often learning it from people who are also learners of that language which exposes us to less of the complexities of language and grammar.
Conrad and literacy research
So lots of good reasons why deaf people may have language issues. In the mid-1970s a researcher called Joseph Conrad discovered that deaf pupils often left school with very poor reading levels. This wasn't just BSL users, this was oral/aural educated deaf pupils too. Deaf children can lose out in classroom situations, we miss what is said, we don't get optimal communication support, we don't have qualified communication support like BSL interpreters, cued speech transliterators or speech to text reporters. Even in specialist unit or school environments with small classrooms some deaf children may not learn well with any given communication philosophy. Many deaf children are given low aspirations. Shaun Sadlier writes in his blog post about his school only offering two GCSE subjects - maths and art and not expecting pupils to gain strong English skills.
It is only recently there has been reliable funding for disability-support after school education for disabled and deaf people. Deafness support is expensive, even now Disabled Students Allowances (DSA) support is often inadequate for our support needs.
The deaf people online are not necessarily representative of deaf people as a whole, those with less strong English skills often get bullied and struggle to make themselves understood in a textual medium where people are often impatient and nasty about use of language. Some of us are statistical outliers, we're the exception rather than the rule. We need more research funded about a broader base of deaf people and a wide range of educational experience.
So do D/deaf people have language issues or not?
Some of us have or have had language issues, some of us don't and it isn't always linked to what our communication preferences are.
How do any of us deaf people know if we have language issues if no one ever tells us? How many of us are told if our English isn't up to standards that might be expected from us?
I work as a disabled students' adviser with students in higher education, some of whom are D/deaf or Hard of Hearing. As part of my initial interview with D/deaf/HOH students I will often ask if the student feels they have any English language issues at all. This is because the language standard at university is very high and even a slight difficulty can translate to significantly lower grades for a deaf student.
I also ask academics to tell my students (carefully and kindly) or me as their adviser if they have any concerns with the student's language and understanding. Much like how dyslexia is often picked up in university students because a tutor will spot the signs and tell the student how they can get help. Deaf students can also get support with language via varying types of Teacher of the Deaf support; specialist English language mentoring or even just "proofreading" of academic work to check for mistakes in advance and more.
I find some Deaf/HH students know they definitely don't have language difficulties, some know they definitely do and some don't actually know.
Regardless of the student's communication preferences, I want each deaf student to know that there is support available if they struggle and that they will be told if their work isn't up to standard rather than have assumptions made about their actual capabilities.
My experience of language issues
I have an A in English language at GCSE. That means my English is good doesn't it?
I was mainstream educated all through school. By the time I was 7 I was considered to be "on track" for my age and appropriate levels. I think primary school was OK because of one classroom, one teacher and good deaf awareness. Secondary school is definitely where I started to struggle and lose out because of deafness. I became ill in year 10 due to balance problems which I think were caused/exacerbated by severe concentration fatigue. Despite this I got 2 As, 6 Bs and a C in my GCSES including two foreign languages and triple sciences. Grades which look mediocre till my attendance and health is taken into account.
I struggled in A-level physics because they seemed to use words like examine, explain, demonstrate, argue etc in weird contents which didn't make sense. I had to relearn these words' meanings to get through the exams. I spent a lot of time simply being confused.
I changed my degree subject from chemistry to information management at The University of Sheffield which gave me the chance to study all sorts of random subjects as 'optional modules'. I struggled with philosophy modules because I couldn't tell the difference between two sentences or concepts we had to compare and discuss. In my information management essays I felt that the questions we were asked to write about had limited resemblance to what tutors seemed to expect in the assignments. I couldn't work out how everyone else seemed to get this magic and I kept missing it despite trying really hard.
In my final year at university I befriended a deafened professor who offered to help me improve my essay structure as a thank you for my supporting him with accepting his deafness. He instantly noticed that my language was wonky and pointed this out to me.
I have an A at GCSE English. Doesn't that mean my English is excellent?
I had no idea that my English was wonky. My partner and some close friends knew my English was wonky, but assumed I already knew and hadn't been able to improve it, so never said anything to me.
My professor friend helped identify several issues which occurred frequently throughout my work and talked me through solutions and better ways of writing. Now I know my English can be wonky I work hard to ensure I have understood questions asked of me in writing (and in speech) by making sure I understand what is expected of me.
Google's define feature is my friend. I use it every day to check I have understood the correct meaning of words, or am using words accurately. I get comments a lot that I use "long words", as part of that is using words as accurately as I know how, it's easier to get English correct if I use a word which conveys my exact meaning.
I still struggle with writing sometimes, especially when I am tired.
I can't read civil-service-ese or the language on government documentation like DWP or HMRC paperwork. I will parse ambiguities where there are none, or will feel something is 100% clear when it is actually ambiguous. I still have a tendency to literal interpretation of words to mean one thing and not the multiple things a word can mean. I don't understand commas and how punctuation really changes meaning. I can't read corporatespeak either, it just won't stick in my brain.
I won't fill in official forms without someone to help me with the language. When I sued HMRC part of my case was about my struggles with their badly worded impenetrable letters. I also had to read my lawyer's paperwork very slowly and get my partner and some lawyer friends and lawyer themselves to clarify some language and context for me.
If I go back to university I will almost certainly make sure I check the meaning of assignment titles with tutors; access specialist English language support and have proper communication support in taught sessions so I am not missing out and I have every opportunity to do as well as I can.
My language impairment is mild by the standards and it is a lot better than it used to be. I keep working at language and writing. Knowing it is something I struggle with doesn't excuse me from writing standards, but it reminds me that I have the right to proper assistance as needed and that it's not because I am stupid or lazy.
If you are a British Sign Language (BSL) using deaf person it can be commonly assumed that you will automatically have unfixable difficulties with literacy and written English into adulthood.
If you're an Oralie...
If you are a deaf person who uses residual hearing (maybe with hearing aids and or cochlea implants) and speech then there's no recognition that you may also have less access to language than hearing people and may still retain difficulties with written English into adulthood.
Most deaf people don't get the same language access as our hearing peers
90% of deaf children are born into hearing families. This means that except for the Deaf families where the parents are fluent signers the large majority of deaf children grow up with a deficiency in exposure to language in the home. Even with the best efforts of hearing parents, the language they expose their deaf child to is less than that a hearing child is exposed to regardless of what language choices the family makes.
Incidental learning
Deaf people cannot fully access auditory incidental learning. Hearing people can pick up information from conversations which take place around them. Deaf people cannot usually pick up information from conversations we are not actively focusing on. Deaf people often have to work hard to follow a conversation by lipreading, watching body language, putting together the cues with whatever we can hear. If deaf people using sign language then we're often learning it from people who are also learners of that language which exposes us to less of the complexities of language and grammar.
Conrad and literacy research
So lots of good reasons why deaf people may have language issues. In the mid-1970s a researcher called Joseph Conrad discovered that deaf pupils often left school with very poor reading levels. This wasn't just BSL users, this was oral/aural educated deaf pupils too. Deaf children can lose out in classroom situations, we miss what is said, we don't get optimal communication support, we don't have qualified communication support like BSL interpreters, cued speech transliterators or speech to text reporters. Even in specialist unit or school environments with small classrooms some deaf children may not learn well with any given communication philosophy. Many deaf children are given low aspirations. Shaun Sadlier writes in his blog post about his school only offering two GCSE subjects - maths and art and not expecting pupils to gain strong English skills.
It is only recently there has been reliable funding for disability-support after school education for disabled and deaf people. Deafness support is expensive, even now Disabled Students Allowances (DSA) support is often inadequate for our support needs.
The deaf people online are not necessarily representative of deaf people as a whole, those with less strong English skills often get bullied and struggle to make themselves understood in a textual medium where people are often impatient and nasty about use of language. Some of us are statistical outliers, we're the exception rather than the rule. We need more research funded about a broader base of deaf people and a wide range of educational experience.
So do D/deaf people have language issues or not?
Some of us have or have had language issues, some of us don't and it isn't always linked to what our communication preferences are.
How do any of us deaf people know if we have language issues if no one ever tells us? How many of us are told if our English isn't up to standards that might be expected from us?
I work as a disabled students' adviser with students in higher education, some of whom are D/deaf or Hard of Hearing. As part of my initial interview with D/deaf/HOH students I will often ask if the student feels they have any English language issues at all. This is because the language standard at university is very high and even a slight difficulty can translate to significantly lower grades for a deaf student.
I also ask academics to tell my students (carefully and kindly) or me as their adviser if they have any concerns with the student's language and understanding. Much like how dyslexia is often picked up in university students because a tutor will spot the signs and tell the student how they can get help. Deaf students can also get support with language via varying types of Teacher of the Deaf support; specialist English language mentoring or even just "proofreading" of academic work to check for mistakes in advance and more.
I find some Deaf/HH students know they definitely don't have language difficulties, some know they definitely do and some don't actually know.
Regardless of the student's communication preferences, I want each deaf student to know that there is support available if they struggle and that they will be told if their work isn't up to standard rather than have assumptions made about their actual capabilities.
My experience of language issues
I have an A in English language at GCSE. That means my English is good doesn't it?
I was mainstream educated all through school. By the time I was 7 I was considered to be "on track" for my age and appropriate levels. I think primary school was OK because of one classroom, one teacher and good deaf awareness. Secondary school is definitely where I started to struggle and lose out because of deafness. I became ill in year 10 due to balance problems which I think were caused/exacerbated by severe concentration fatigue. Despite this I got 2 As, 6 Bs and a C in my GCSES including two foreign languages and triple sciences. Grades which look mediocre till my attendance and health is taken into account.
I struggled in A-level physics because they seemed to use words like examine, explain, demonstrate, argue etc in weird contents which didn't make sense. I had to relearn these words' meanings to get through the exams. I spent a lot of time simply being confused.
I changed my degree subject from chemistry to information management at The University of Sheffield which gave me the chance to study all sorts of random subjects as 'optional modules'. I struggled with philosophy modules because I couldn't tell the difference between two sentences or concepts we had to compare and discuss. In my information management essays I felt that the questions we were asked to write about had limited resemblance to what tutors seemed to expect in the assignments. I couldn't work out how everyone else seemed to get this magic and I kept missing it despite trying really hard.
In my final year at university I befriended a deafened professor who offered to help me improve my essay structure as a thank you for my supporting him with accepting his deafness. He instantly noticed that my language was wonky and pointed this out to me.
I have an A at GCSE English. Doesn't that mean my English is excellent?
I had no idea that my English was wonky. My partner and some close friends knew my English was wonky, but assumed I already knew and hadn't been able to improve it, so never said anything to me.
My professor friend helped identify several issues which occurred frequently throughout my work and talked me through solutions and better ways of writing. Now I know my English can be wonky I work hard to ensure I have understood questions asked of me in writing (and in speech) by making sure I understand what is expected of me.
Google's define feature is my friend. I use it every day to check I have understood the correct meaning of words, or am using words accurately. I get comments a lot that I use "long words", as part of that is using words as accurately as I know how, it's easier to get English correct if I use a word which conveys my exact meaning.
I still struggle with writing sometimes, especially when I am tired.
I can't read civil-service-ese or the language on government documentation like DWP or HMRC paperwork. I will parse ambiguities where there are none, or will feel something is 100% clear when it is actually ambiguous. I still have a tendency to literal interpretation of words to mean one thing and not the multiple things a word can mean. I don't understand commas and how punctuation really changes meaning. I can't read corporatespeak either, it just won't stick in my brain.
I won't fill in official forms without someone to help me with the language. When I sued HMRC part of my case was about my struggles with their badly worded impenetrable letters. I also had to read my lawyer's paperwork very slowly and get my partner and some lawyer friends and lawyer themselves to clarify some language and context for me.
If I go back to university I will almost certainly make sure I check the meaning of assignment titles with tutors; access specialist English language support and have proper communication support in taught sessions so I am not missing out and I have every opportunity to do as well as I can.
My language impairment is mild by the standards and it is a lot better than it used to be. I keep working at language and writing. Knowing it is something I struggle with doesn't excuse me from writing standards, but it reminds me that I have the right to proper assistance as needed and that it's not because I am stupid or lazy.
