As an interpreter, we play a big role in trying to the deaf children to better understand and store information in their long term memory. Liz and I were talking about how we could better use space and visual aids to help the deaf children. I would think that most of the deaf children are visual learners, since ASL is such a visual language. American Sign Language uses space as an aid to make it a visual language. The use of space in sign language is similar to a voice inflection of a spoken language. When Liz and I were talking about memory, and we reflected back on how we both learned in school, we could remember using mnemonic devices and songs a lot in elementary school. This could be an issue due to the fact that these are usually done in a sing-song type of voice with words that often rhyme. It is difficult for the deaf student to understand the rhymes because they are unable to hear the alliteration. I would think by maybe having a visual aid for the student, it would help not only the deaf student, but other students who might be a visual learner as well. If we make it accessible to one student, we make it accessible to all the students. Maybe the teacher and I could work together to make either a power point or poster to help as a visual aid. I remember the thing we used in high school to remember the order of mitosis was very hands on, I believe if interpreters could come up with more hands on mnemonic devices, deaf children might be able to store it better in the long term memory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PMXatafIXc
I had not thought about visual aids. They would be such a great resource and would not only benefit the deaf students, but also the hearing students. I know that when I was in middle school I had a teacher who was really big into visual aids and graphic organizers and that definitely helped me to learn science easier.
ReplyDeleteWorking together with the teachers is something that will help the deaf student and the interpreter the most. I like the mention of visual aids. They can be so extremely helpful for deaf students as well as other visual learners. And I also did not think about the trouble with mnemonics either. Usually when I think of mnemonics I think of using other words with the same first letters of the material I am trying to learn. I did not think about the sing songs used in the classroom or the ones that involve rhyming schemes. Mnemonics would most likely not work well for profoundly deaf students.
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