Sign Language in the Language-teaching Classroom

Description: Deaf and hard-of-hearing students are entering mainstream schools and mainstream society. A knowledge of Sign Language may aid teachers and hearing students in communicating with, and creating a more friendly environment for, these students. I am not a specialist in Deaf Education, nor an expert at Sign Language, but I am hoping to introduce the audience to different languages (i.e., ASL and JSL/NS, American Sign Language and Japanese Sign Language/Nihon Shuwa) and a different culture (i.e., Deaf Culture). I will demonstrate some strategies for introducing Sign Language into the classroom and show how they are transferable to a classroom of visually-impaired or older students. I will also explain how I use JSL/NS to introduce ASL and how I have incorporated Sign Language into normal classroom interaction.

Biodata: Martin Pauly has been at Tsukuba University of Technology, Division for the Visually Impaired, for 15 years. He holds offices in the JALT Ibaraki Chapter, the Bilingualism SIG and the TOL SIG. His current areas of interest include the use of sign language in the language-teaching classroom, children's bilingualism, tai chi chuan and running marathons as a guide runner for blind athletes.

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Contact Akita JALT Chapter:

URL: http://www.edinet.ne.jp/~takeshis/jalt.htm

Suzuki Takeshi:

takeshis@mail.edinet.ne.jp

Phone: Home: 0184-22-1562 Office: 0184-22-1562

Upcoming Events for Akita JALT Chapter:

Saturday, March 27th, 2010

What Language Should We Be Using In Our Classrooms?

Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Location: Akita

Other Past Events (Archive) for Akita JALT Chapter