Deaf Students and their Motivation to Learn English
MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
Department of English Language and Literature
Deaf Students and their Motivation to Learn EnglishBachelor
Thesis
Brno 2011Supervisor:
Dr. Rita Chalmers CollinsAuthor:
Veronika Morvkov
Declaration
I hereby declare that I worked on my bachelor thesis on my own
and that I used only the sources mentioned in the bibliography
section.
Brno,
19.5.2011.............................................................
Veronika Morvkov
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my thanks to Dr. Rita Chalmers Collins
for her kind help and valuable advice that she provided me with
during my work on the bachelor thesis.
Annotation
The bachelor thesis is focused on teaching
English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) to deaf students. In the
theoretical part, it describes deafness in general and looking at
deafness from different points of view. The other two chapters of
the first part of the thesis deal with learning and teaching EFL
and the motivation to learn a foreign language. In the practical
part, all three themes are connected to research on the motivation
of deaf students to learn EFL. The aim of the bachelor thesis is to
look deeper into the motivational problems of learning EFL and
derive some conclusions and ideas how to make learning EFL to deaf
students more effective.
Keywords
Deaf, deafness, communication, motivation, language learning,
learning English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL).
Table of Content
2Declaration
3Acknowledgements
4Annotation
4Keywords
5Table of Content
6Introduction
81. The Issue of Deafness
81.1 Deaf
91.2 Communication and Deafness
111.3 Language Learning
121.4 Support Staff
142. Deafness and Language
142.1 Deafness and Language in General
162.1.1 Communication Methods and Learning Programs
162.1.2 Bilingual-Bicultural Education
172.1.3 Practical Advise for Language Learning
212.2 Deafness and Foreign Language
222.2.1 Foreign Language Learning according to the Age
242.2.2 Practical Advise for Foreign Language Learning
272.2.3 Tools for Foreign Language Learning
283. Research
283.1 Research Introduction
293.2 Research Goal
293.3 Research Procedure
303.4 Participants Profiles
313.5 Research Questions
313.6 Research Results
363.7 Questionnaire Analyses
40Conclusion
41Bibliography
46List of Appendices
IntroductionThe deaf population in the Czech Republic is a
minority group with specific language and culture. As well as other
minorities the deaf have different needs for education than hearing
people. The deaf students have two possibilities to get their
education. The first possibility is to attend the schools
specialized for teaching the students with hearing impairment. The
second possibility is to attend mainstream schools and be educated
with hearing students. The decision depends on the student or the
students parents. The first language (mother tongue) of deaf is
usually sign language and the Czech language (or more generally the
spoken language of their country) is their second language. In the
Czech Republic students have to also learn English language from
the third grade of primary school that means that the deaf
children, since they attend the third grade, have to acquire or
learn three languages namely Czech Sign language, Czech language
and English language.
The bachelor thesis is divided into two parts: theoretical part
and practical part. We believe that the first, theoretical, part
would be more useful for foreign language teachers who have no
experience with the education of deaf students. In other words, the
first part would be more beneficial for the teachers from
mainstream education. The goal of the theoretical part is to
provide basic information about deaf and their education. The
theoretical part provides a brief look at deafness as such, gives
overall idea about the education of the deaf, points out the main
problems which teachers face during teaching, shows the important
differences between the education of hearing and deaf students.
In comparison to the first part the second, practical, part is
believed to be useful for all teachers (from main stream education
as well as specialized education) working with deaf students.
Participants of the research were the students of the secondary
school Stedn kola pro sluchov postien a OU, Gellnerova 1, which is
specialized for the education of hard of hearing students with
various study programs. The aim of the research was to find out
what relation participants have to English-as-a-Foreign-Language,
what their motives to learn EFL are and if they want to learn EFL.
Also we were interested in the diversity of the classes. We looked
on the diversity from two points of view. For the first we were
interested in the diversity from the hearing loss, for the second
we were interested in the diversity of the length of experience
with EFL.
1. The Issue of Deafness
1.1 Deaf
We can define types of deafness from several points of view such
as the time when the deafness occurred, the part of body which
affects the ability to hear and the degree of deafness.
To focus on the time, there is difference between pre-lingual
and post-lingual deafness. Pre-lingual deafness occurs before the
child acquires the language and, logically, post-lingual deafness
occurs later in life, after the process of acquirement of language
is finished (Nadoushan 16-17). The learning language approaches, of
course, differ in these two groups.
Although the time of life when the deafness occurred is
important, we can not forget about the degree of deafness according
to the sound volume that is measured in the decibels. There are
five categories into which the deafness is divided and they depend
on the detection of the sound. The first category, characterized as
mild, means that the lowest level of sound adult can hear is from
the range of 25-45 dB and child from the range of 20-40 dB. For the
second category called moderate the lowest level of sound is from
the range of 41-55 dB. For the third, moderately severe, only
sounds louder than 56-70 dB can be heard and for the fourth,
severe, the sound has to be even over 71-90 dB. The last category
called profound includes individuals with the difficulties to hear
the sounds under 90 dB (Hearing Impairment).
The last point of view, from which we look at the deafness in
this thesis, is the loss of anatomical and physiological function
of the body. The part of body which negatively affects the ability
to hear determines if the individual suffers from conductive or
perceptive hearing loss. In other words, the distinction between
conductive and perceptive hearing loss is dependent on the part of
the body where the dysfunction occurs (Mole, McColl and Vale
11):
Conductive hearing loss means that the dysfunction occurs in any
part of hearing organs, for example in the middle ear, and is
usually connected to the volume of the sound.
Perceptive hearing loss means that the dysfunction occurs in the
brain where the sound should be interpreted and is usually
connected to the frequency of the sound.
All of these types of deafness mentioned above influence the
type of communication and the approaches to language learning which
are discussed in following chapters.
1.2 Communication and Deafness
Communication is the process of providing and receiving the
information. Following simplified chart show the relationships in
the act of communication.
ADDRESSER_____________MESSAGE_________________ADDRESSEE
CODE
Addresser provides the message to addressee using any
communication mode which is in common code (Dontcheva-Navratilova
13). In Grammatical Structures in English Dontcheva-Navratilova
claims: The knowledge of the common code is essential for the
ability of the participants to encode and decode the message (14).
In other words it means that the code, whether it is spoken,
written or sign language, has to be understood by both addresser
and addressee to be able to communicate with each other.
From a psychological point of view we can distinguish the
communication into verbal and nonverbal communication. According to
the information above, verbal and nonverbal communication follows
the code or communicational mode. For example, the nonverbal
communication includes body language, sign language and writing.
Verbal communication is built on the spoken language and among
others includes speech, tone of voice and pitch of voice.
As well as hearing people, deaf people use many communication
methods during their communication. Among the communicational
strategies there are:
spoken mother tongue
written mother tongue
lip reading
finger spelling
sign language
drawing
The preference of the method depends on the other participant of
communication, when the deafness appeared etc. Usually a deaf
person who lost hearing after he or she acquired language or has
mild to moderate hearing loss will prefer the spoken language and
in general will have developed speaking skills comparable with a
hearing person. On the other hand, a child who is born with
deafness and lives in a hearing family will have little chance to
gain systematically sign or spoken language and his or her
communication will be a combination of many communicational
strategies. According to Nadoushan: pre-lingually deaf children who
are born into hearing families usually experience some difficulties
in language acquisition......the amount of exposure they receive is
not as rich as that which deaf children of deaf parents or hearing
children of hearing parents receive (16-17). These children as
Nadoushan continues:remain language deprived up until their school
exposure which is probably their first experience with a competent
and naturalistic language model (17). This early language
deprivation explains the troublesome statistics that 90 percent of
deaf children born into homes with only hearing caregivers
experience delays in language acquisition compared to hearing
children in hearing families and deaf children in deaf families
(qtd. in Briggle 69). Language acquisition and communication
strategies are in more details discussed in chapter 1.3.
1.3 Language Learning
Deaf and hearing people living in the same country do not
necessarily have the same first language. For hearing impaired the
spoken language of their country might differ from their first
language and can be second place after sign language. As sign
language does not necessarily follow the same grammatical rules as
spoken language of that particular country, it means that the deaf
person has to acquire two languages (spoken language of their
country and sign language) in the same time. To use an example of
hearing person, it means that he or she would have to acquire Czech
language as a mother tongue and English language as to be able to
communicate with the majority of the people around. In other words,
a deaf person who uses auditory language in any form (spoken,
written) and sign language in the same time is bilingual.
Before we look at the differences between sign and spoken
language, we should focus on another communicational strategy and
it is lip-reading. Lip-reading is in fact the combination of lip
pattern, facial expression and body language and is not 100%
accurate as generally thought. According to Bauman, only 30-35% of
spoken English is lip-readable. Also accents and dialects can lower
the chance to lip-read the speech and if we also consider the
misunderstanding caused by the fact that lips looking the same can
produce different sound we come to the conclusion that lip-reading
is more guessing than accurate communicational strategy (Mole,
McColl and Vale 16). The conclusion confirms the idea of using more
methods of communication as mentioned above.
Before speaking about another communicational strategy - sign
language - it is useful to define language as such. The language:
may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring
and using complex systems of communication or to a specific
instance of such a system of complex communication (Language). It
is also important to know that sign language has its own grammar
and syntax and has developed, as well as any other spoken language,
during the period of time into separate languages. The following
citation clearly expresses the meaning. Sign languages: are not
collections of gestures nor do they mirror their spoken language
equivalents; they are fully functioning languages in their own
right, moreover, Most sign languages are not grammatically linked
in any way to their national spoken language (Mole, McColl and Vale
17). Every single country has its own spoken as well as sign
language and also dialects can be found in both types of
languages.
The link between spoken language and sign language can be seen
in the finger spelling. Sign languages differ through out the
countries (e.g. American Sign Language, Czech Sign Language) and
the finger spelling follows the same rule which means that there
are used different systems of finger spelling in different
countries. However, in general we can distinguish two groups namely
one-handed, for example used in Poland and two handed, for example
used in Turkey. The function of finger spelling is among the others
to emphasis some part of the speech or to finger spell the spoken
word which has not an equivalent in the sign language.
1.4 Support StaffAccording to Mole, McColl and Vale, the support
staff are: the human aids who help deaf people to communicate and
refer to staff other than the ...teacher and ...assistants who are
supporting the deaf or hearing impaired learner ( Mole, McColl and
Vale 21). There are many types of the support staff specialist but
in this thesis we will focus only on three of them
sign language interpreter
lip-speaker
note-taker
First of all, the sign language interpreter is one of who is
well-known by the broader public. A sign language interpreter has
to be, as any other interpreter, fluent in both languages because
the translation proceeds simultaneously. For language classes, the
translator should be educated in mother tongue, sign language and
foreign language at the same time which puts a huge demand on him
or her. The reality is usually far from the ideal situation.
The second type of support staff is lip-speaker who is in fact a
kind of translator. The work of a lip-speaker is to repeat
everything what is said by the person with the deaf person
communicates but to make it easier for lip-reading. Lip-speaker
uses finger spelling if needed.
The last but not least mentioned in this thesis is note-taker.
The note-taker should not differ from previous two members of
support staff in terms that he or she should provide the exact text
that was said and not only summarize the important points. In other
words, the note-taker is a translator from spoken to written (Mole,
McColl and Vale 22). Once again the note-taker in a foreign
language class should have knowledge of the foreign language to be
able to write what is really said without mistakes.
The support staff, student and teacher make one team and all of
them participate in the students learning. It is highly recommended
or obligatory for the support staff and teacher to have a meeting
where they agree on their communication which includes teachers
providing supportive materials such as handouts or presentations.
Their cooperation should be of high quality from all sides and if
teacher have questions or suggestions the member of the support
staff should be willing to discuss it with him or her.
It is not possible to say which kind of the support staff is
better. Every hearing impaired person prefers different support
staff and ideally every deaf student should have possibility to
choose what is best for his or her studies thereby fulfilling the
right for education.2. Deafness and Language2.1 Deafness and
Language in General
First of all, it is necessary to look closer at the question
connected to terms such as first and second language, and spoken
and sign language. It is important to be aware of that the language
widely spoken in the country where deaf people live such as Czech
language or English language may or may not be the first language
for deaf. However, it is the first language for the majority of
citizens of the country and usually is consistent with the official
language. For our purposes, on the one side, we will distinguish
between first language (mother tongue) and second language and, on
the other side, between sign language and spoken language. As
mentioned in the first chapter, there does not exist only one first
language among deaf people of one country. Hard of hearing people
can use sign language as their first language and language of their
country as the second one and vice versa. Also the combination of
both is possible too. We look closer on languages and bilingual
education in sub-chapter 2.1.1.
Secondly, it is useful to focus on the differences between sign
and spoken languages. As mentioned in the first chapter, the
grammar and vocabulary of sign languages generally differ from
spoken and written languages. Without the knowledge of this, it is
hard to understand the difficulties experienced by some deaf with
acquisition of the spoken language of their country. Hearing people
are in contact with spoken language most of the time even without
focusing on it, such as overhearing conversation in public
transport, listening to the radio. The amount of time which hearing
people spend hearing or listening to the language is enormous and
can be hardly comparable to the amount of time which deaf people
spend by learning spoken language of their country (Lozanova and
Savtchev 4).Also, it is important to know that the spoken language
is, in contrast to sign language, auditory based language, hence
the language based on listening and speaking (Eilers-Crandall 65).
According to Gioia, Johnston and Cooper: For example, sign language
cannot be written down, and as a visual language, it is
substantially different from an oral-aural language in term of
structure and organization. (Gioia, Johnson and Cooper 3). Deaf
students without previous experience with the auditory languages
are forced to use the auditory languages while learning writing and
reading (Eilers-Crandall 66). In other words, hearing people
usually learn to read and write in their first language, in
contrary to deaf, whose first language might be sign language, who
learn to read and write in their second language. 2.1.1
Communication Methods and Learning ProgramsTo speak about
communication of deaf, the methods have changed over the years. We
will briefly look at three basic methods. The first method is
represented by the manualists who sign or prefer to sign. The
second one is represented by oralists who lip-read or prefer to
lip-read. Marschark says that: the separation between spoken
language and sign language.. is clearly an oversimplification. It
is rare that deaf children are exposed only to spoken language or
only to sign language. (13). We will continue with the last of the
three methods which is Total Communication. Total Communication
combines the usage of sign and spoken language as well as other
means of communication. As usual, this method has advantages and
disadvantages. On one hand, Total Communication is connected with
breaking the communication barrier, because Total Communication:
can provide a safety net for children who have difficulty following
oral methods by using English that is supported by sign (Zapien).
While using Total Communication students might feel more secure
during communication. On the other hand, students are not exposed
to language, either sign or spoken, as a complex and, therefore
they are not able to work on one language systematically (Zapien).
2.1.2 Bilingual-Bicultural EducationTo speak about education of
deaf, we will look closer at bilingual-bicultural education. For
the first, it would be efficient to define the term bicultural and
bilingual. To speak about culture, according to Finnegan, A person
who is bicultural can move freely within and between two different
cultures. Biculturalism implies an understanding of the mores,
customs, practices, and expectations of members of a cultural group
and the ability to adapt to their expectations. (qtd. in Baker and
Baker 2). To speak about language, Individuals who are Deaf are
considered bilingual if they are able to communicate effectively in
both American Sign Language (ASL) and English or the spoken
language of their country. (Baker and Baker 2).
The bilingual-bicultural approach looks at sign language and
spoken language of one country as at two different languages (Baker
and Baker 3). According to Evans: ASL and English should be
recognized as separate and distinct languages, but valued equally.
Each language has its unique grammatical features, but neither is
better or worse than the other. (Evans 5). Evans continues: Studies
examining the linguistic features of ASL show that ASL functions in
the same way as spoken languages. (11).
According to Marschark: Preliminary findings suggest that
programs that combine sign language and spoken English (also known
as bilingual education programs) may prove more effective than
programs that use either spoken or sign language alone. (Marschark
8).
2.1.3 Practical Advise for Language LearningBecause deafness is
a low incidence disability, many teachers do not have a strong
knowledge about learners who are deaf or hearing impaired. To
ensure that students who are deaf receive the quality education
they deserve, educators must understand the learning needs of this
population (Briggle 68-69). In the following paragraphs, we will
look at some practical advice for teaching language to deaf
students.
For the first, it is relevant to have a closer look at the
connection between education and culture. According to Ching:
Teaching bilingual students also requires having an understanding
of their cultural values. (qtd. in Evans 21). Someone might think
that deaf living in the particular country have the same culture as
hearing citizens. It is important to recognize the differences
between hearing and deaf cultures and be at least aware that the
differences exist. Teacher should be aware of the differences
between cultures and also should know about students needs. Though,
teacher should not make mistakes in a way of working with deaf
students just as like with hearing students. It is sufficient to
give an example of two important differences connected to needs of
deaf students and their bilingualism. Firstly, hearing students are
expected to take notes while teacher is speaking which is not
possible for deaf students who need to keep visual contact with
teacher. We, as humans, are invested with some communication
sensory channels. In contradistinction to hearing people who
recognize language through the auditory channel sometimes with
support of visual channel, deaf people recognize language through
visual channel sometimes with support of auditory channel (Anderson
77). According to Marschark: Because most deaf children are
dependent on the visual modality for language reception regardless
of whether they are acquiring a spoken or sign language, they have
to shift attention between their activities and their language
partners in order to obtain information both about what is going on
around them and about language itself (21). Secondly, deaf students
learn academic language, written form of an auditory language, as a
second language. The decoding of the message is, more or less,
harder for deaf students (Anderson 76). Once again, teachers with
no experience with education of the deaf may come across the
feeling that their deaf students are not on the same level of the
acquisition of the academic language and they might, more or less,
be impatient with their students. It is essential to be aware of
the differences and give to deaf students more time during their
work.
Moreover, we can look on the table made by mentor-teachers and
teachers who took part in Nover and Andrews research (60):
Tab. 1 culturally influenced patterns of language useLanguage
Use PatternDeaf CultureHearing Culture
Ways to get attention shoulder tap
Light switch
Tap on table or floor Shouting
Whistling
Clearing throat
Making noise (knock, bang, tap, etc.)
Ways to maintain attention Eye contact
Ask questions
Facial expressions
Feedback cues Voice inflection
Ask questions
Ask for responses
Stop talking
Turn taking Stop signing
One-on-one or group eye contact Voice inflection (especially at
the end of sentences)
Questioning
Pausing
Question patterns Eye brow movement
Head tilt
Lean torso Wh-questions
Polite questions (would you, could you, couldnt you)
How-how are you?
Source: Nover, Stephen M. and Jean F. Andrews. Critical Pedagogy
in Deaf Education: Bilingual Methodology and Staff Development.
USDLC Star Schools Project Report No 2. Year Two, 1998-1999. New
Mexico, Santa Fe, 1999.
For the second, it is important for teacher to show their
interest in the students lives. There is one possible way for
teachers to help students and in the same time show interest, the
usage of students first language sign language. Briggle says about
this topic:While most regular education teachers are far from
fluent signers, those who learn and use basic, common signs show
deaf students their interest in communicating. Students who are
deaf will have an interpreter, but teachers can create a feeling of
belonging by learning sign themselves and teaching sign to their
classes (69). Basic knowledge of childs first language is also
necessary, in order to be aware of points of linguistic
interference or conflict between the two languages. The knowledge
helps teachers to identify errors that are systemic in nature and
can be eliminated by emphasizing the distinction between languages
rules (Evans 17). According to Nover and Andrews, it is also
important for deaf children to be in contact with deaf adults. Deaf
adults, parent or teacher, provide to children adult model of deaf
and can help children to be able to orientate bicultural-bilingual
environment (Nover and Andrews 21). Moreover, in the Nover and
Andrews research: Teachers stressed the importance of having deaf
role models; teachers recommended students read about famous deaf
persons in history. (56).To make the learning process as easy as
possible, teachers should also keep in mind that deaf students
learn the most from the situations connected to real life,
emotions, self experience etc. such as role playing and acting in
general (Anderson 78). Another useful tool is connected with
teaching and learning vocabulary. It is appropriate to teach new
vocabulary in the thematic circles where there are new words
associated to each other or the known vocabulary (Anderson 78).
Teaching vocabulary does not need to be taught only in circles
which include words with associated meanings but also words with a
grammatical association or words based on the same root. To stay
with the theme of teaching and learning vocabulary, Anderson says
that deaf students: must learn a new word seven or more times in
order to own the word. Not only do they need to use it in different
ways such as defining, putting it in a sentence, teaching it to
others, and using it in a puzzle. (Anderson 78). Two previous
rules, learning through experience and learning vocabulary in
circles, as well as usage of new vocabulary in different ways, are
perfectly applicable to hearing students too.
To continue with advice useful in learning process of deaf
students, we will now focus on the usage of graphic organizers.
Graphic organizers present the approach of visual teaching and can
be used for a range of purposes such as for grammar, story reading
and writing. Anderson gives these examples of graphic organizers:
(1) fishbone diagrams, (2) Venn diagrams, (3) story structure maps,
(4) concept webs, (5) network trees, (6) continuum scales, (7)
problem/solution outlines, (8) chain of events, (9) cycles
(Anderson 79). To let readers gain the general idea about the types
of graphic organizers, we will look closer at two of them and three
more graphic organizers can be found in Appendix A. Firstly,
fishbone diagrams can be used for identifying possible causes for a
problem and sorts ideas into categories. It is frequently used
during brainstorming and team work (Write Design on Line). Pic.
1
[Fishbone Map]. 2008. Write Design On Line. GIF file.Secondly,
Venn diagrams are good tools for visualization of similarities and
differences and are used as pre-writing activity to organize
thoughts (Write Design on Line).
Pic. 2
[Venn Diagram]. 2008. Write Design On Line. GIF file.
To sum up, graphic organizers help students to imagine the
relation between words, grammar rules, and etc. and they also help
teachers to explain these relations. Moreover, as mentioned above,
the graphic organizers perfectly follow the rule of visual
teaching.2.2 Deafness and Foreign LanguageAs deaf people are, or at
least should be, part of the society they experience the
globalization and the growth of communication all over the world as
well as everybody else. The need of knowledge of foreign language
for hearing people goes hand in hand with the need of knowledge of
foreign language and the spoken language for deaf people (Lozanova
and Savtchev 5). There used to be, and still are, some mistaken
beliefs that deafness is a language disability (Lozanova and
Savtchev 4). According to Leeson: The experience of countries where
foreign languages spoken and signed are introduced to deaf children
(e.g. Sweden) demonstrates that this approach is grounded in false
beliefs about the nature of deafness. (Lozanova and Savtchev 4).
Vidmov does not agree that opinions about deafness as a language
disability are still present. According to her, approaches to
teaching foreign language to deaf have changed over the years and
it is believed that everyone can learn language. She says that the
main attention moved from the question: who is able to learn
foreign language to the question how to present foreign language
and make the learning easier (Vidmov).
2.2.1 Foreign Language Learning according to the AgeWe will
briefly look at the school legislation of learning foreign
languages in the Czech Republic. Learning foreign language is in
the Czech Republic compulsory for children attending the third to
the ninth grade of primary school. The amount of lessons is three
forty-five lessons per week (Nrodn pln vuky cizch jazyk 5-6).
During the education, students meet with foreign language studies
also in comprehensive and grammar schools. If students want to
accomplish secondary education with final exam they have to pass
foreign language exam as its part. Academic year 2010-2011 brought
changes in the final exam which became national, however the
foreign language still remained as a compulsory part. In tertiary
education, such as universities, the foreign language does not
necessary have to be part of the study program.
According to Brok, deaf children usually attend school without
knowledge of any type of language on high level, therefore they
have very hard way to acquire two languages (spoken language of
their country and sign language) and after two years of this
practice there stands one more inhibition in the form of foreign
language as their third language (Brok). Following citation of
Johnson represents the same opinion: The [children] tend to enter
kindergarten without a sophisticated competence in any language,
signed or spoken. (qtd. in Evans 14). Definitely not all deaf
children have the same problem. Research during the 1980s, for
example, demonstrates that deaf children of deaf parents, who were
exposed to sign language as their first language, acquired that
language at the same rate and with the same milestones as hearing
children acquired spoken language. (Marschark 16). Unfortunately,
that can be mainly applied only to deaf children of deaf parents,
which means that 90 percent of deaf children may come across the
literacy problems because they are the first deaf person in the
family. However, the previous statements do not change the fact
that if we compare the situation of deaf children with hearing
children, we can not see much logic in the system of language
education for deaf children. Hearing children who, moreover,
experience a greater exposure to language than deaf children, are
supposed to learn two languages (spoken language of their country
and foreign language) whether deaf children need to, more or less,
acquire two languages on a high level (spoken language of their
country and sign language) and, last but not least, have to learn
one foreign language. The advantage of hearing children is also the
fact that they usually learn second language (foreign language)
after they perfectly acquire the first language (spoken language of
their country). In contrast to the previous comment, deaf children
hardly acquire the first or second language before learning the
third one. The question is whether the number of languages to which
deaf are exposed is too high and negatively influences the speed
and quality of learning process. The question is, more or less,
answered by the research accomplished by Vzkumn stav pedagogick v
Praze (The Research Institute of Education in Prague). Outcome of
the research done in the Czech Republic was, that learning foreign
language from the third grade of primary school is too stressful
for deaf children (Gblov). On the other side, it is not appropriate
to generalize the ability of deaf children to learn foreign
language. One of the factors is the level of the first language.
According to Cummins: for minority students who are academically at
risk, strong promotion of first language conceptual skills may be
more effective than either half-hearted bilingual approach or
monolingual English immersion approach. (qtd. in Evans 15).
According to Vladoviov and her research done with students of
secondary education, deaf students, on the one hand, realize the
importance of foreign language knowledge, but on the other hand,
they rather use the possibility to skip final exam in foreign
language. Vladoviov gives some possible reasons for this dilemma,
such as low level of teacher qualification and experience with
teaching deaf students, lack of study materials adjusted for hard
of hearing students, unfinished methodology specialized for
teaching foreign language to deaf students (Vladoviov 228). In
other words, there are seldom perfect or at least satisfactory
conditions for the learning process of deaf students in the foreign
language field.rejbrov points out the importance of motivation
because according to her, effort which has to be put into learning
foreign language by a deaf student is incomparable with effort put
by hearing students. Usually, the progress made by deaf students in
learning foreign language is slower and students have to show a
presence of patience. With deaf students and foreign languages the
statement that without hard work there is no success is truer than
ever (rejbrov 53-54).
In previous paragraphs, we focused on primary and secondary
education. Now, we will have a brief look at foreign language in
tertiary education. At universities, students are, in general,
expected to work on their foreign language mainly during their
self-studies. Yet, according to Jankov, it is inadequate to expect
the same from deaf students, or more precisely to expect same
result of their self studies. She gives an opinion that deaf
students need feedback from the teacher more than hearing students,
therefore their self studies will not bring much success (Jankov
27). Another difference between foreign language study of hearing
and deaf students, is amount of revisions and practice, which needs
to be generally higher while working with deaf students. Moreover,
even at universities, deaf students often lack adequate knowledge
of the spoken language of their country. Some students also mention
that while studying English or other foreign language, even thought
they understand, they are not able to translate or explain the
meaning in the spoken language of their country (Jankov 27).
2.2.2 Practical Advise for Foreign Language Learning
Considering the demand factor of the foreign language learning
for deaf students, it is important to make the learning process as
easy as possible. Firstly, during teaching foreign language to deaf
students, there should be emphasized the visual approach because
visual communication carries 100% of communicative information for
the deaf (Brok). All communication systems (sign language, finger
spelling, lip-reading, written foreign language, written language
of their country, pictures etc.) should be included in the teaching
process. In the classroom of foreign language there are three
languages present namely foreign language, sign language, spoken
language of their country. Following advice is useful for students
of every age. Also it gives the solution to problem mentioned in
the previous sub-chapter; problem which is connected with the lack
of ability to explain or translate the meaning of foreign language
expression into the spoken language of their country. According to
Marschark: Within the classroom, reading and writing activities
should be given high priority. Having students retell stories at
home, collect or draw relevant pictures, and act out portions of
stories can help establish links between written words and their
meanings. (Marschark 11).
It is necessary to realize that teaching foreign language to
deaf students requires careful preparation of the teacher. During
teaching foreign language to deaf pupils or students who still have
not acquired sign language and spoken language of their country
perfectly, teachers should use students knowledge of these two
languages and start thematically with vocabulary well known in
these two languages (Vidmov). During teaching foreign language,
especially teachers of deaf pupils in lower grades of the primary
school, mainly focus on the vocabulary of foreign language.
Language teachers of deaf children and students in general need to
know the differences between teaching hearing children and deaf
children. The main point which directs the whole style of teaching
approach is the fact that many children do not know same amount of
the words as hearing children of the same age (Brok). The following
citation uphold the previous statement: The vocabularies of deaf
students and the rate of acquisition of new words have been found
to be far below those of their normally hearing peers.
(Charlesworth, Charlesworth, Raban and Rickards 23). Usage of
translation, for example from the Czech language to English is not
appropriate. In other words, explaining the meaning of the word in
foreign language through the first or second language equivalent
does not guarantee success (Brok). The reason is non-complexity of
vocabulary in the spoken language of their country. Once and again,
we come across the importance of the pictures and other visual
tools during foreign language lessons.
Moreover, the variety of students from the degree of deafness
point of view is one of the biggest problems connected to teaching
foreign language to deaf students. Marschark mentions that: the
needs of children who are hard of hearing are very often different
than the needs of children who are deaf. (13). Classes would be
ideally distinguished by the level of hearing loss. Practically,
there are never enough deaf students with the same level of hearing
loss at particular school to create one class and the size of the
class is limited by financial and human recourses. In the Czech
Republic, English teachers in secondary education also experience
classes with students on very different level of English.
Frequently, classes are compound of students who learn English for
more than five years, students who learnt other foreign language
and students with no experience with foreign language (rejbrov 53).
The most adequate solution is to prepare exercises on different
levels and, more or less, work with students individually (rejbrov
53). Of course, this solution is not ideal and, moreover, very
complicated and demanding for teacher. The problem with assessment
comes hand in hand with the previous problem. If teacher works
individually with class, he or she has to also check and assess
different exercises on different levels of English (rejbrov 53). In
this case, it is important to explain to students the reason for
different assessment.
It is not necessary to teach all for skills reading, writing,
speaking and listening. Teachers should do research in their
classes and ask students whether they want to learn speaking and
listening mainly represented by lip-reading. Teacher should be also
aware of the difference between the degrees of hearing loss:
People with mild hearing loss may be able to participate in
group and individual conversations with little adaptation. People
with more significant hearing loss usually have difficulty
understanding speech from a distance of more than a few feet and
may not be able to follow group conversations, with or without the
aid of an amplifier. People with profound hearing disabilities
often cannot interpret oral language and speech, even with
amplification of sound (Foreign Language Learning and Students with
Disabilities).
2.2.3 Tools for Foreign Language LearningAs generally believed,
the need of appropriate text book is very important for hearing as
well as deaf students. Vidmov gives important advice for the choice
of the text book. She points out the importance of: (1) presence of
visual materials such as pictures, photos; (2) understandable and
logic organization of lessons, exercises; (3) lessons organized to
thematic cirques; (4) easy and understandable grammar; (5) moderate
growth of difficulty; (6) workbook connected to textbook
(Vidmov).
Secondly, Nover and Andrews research provide the advice given by
teachers of deaf students who participated in the research. The
advice is following: the wearing of T-shirts with the manual
alphabet on them. Having books with signs in classroom, inviting
deaf speakers, displaying the manual alphabet on the board, and the
teaching of formal Deaf studies courses. (57).To speak about one
more possibility how to make learning process more interesting and
satisfying for deaf students and in the same time to keep the rule
about visual learning, we come across the usage of internet. Kimmel
built her class of journal writing on the interactive approach with
the help of computers and internet and she proclaimed: The use of
the computer made the experience more satisfying for my deaf
learners. Their insecurities in spelling and some grammar concerns
could be reduced with the email systems. (Kimmel 107). Kimmel
continues about the advantages of computer use: When I compared the
stack of print outs of our email interactions and the written
course assignments with those of the traditional class, the stack
was triple the size of the traditional class. I am fairly certain I
had more interactions with my journaling class than my traditional
class as result of the electronic journaling. (Kimmel 113-114). It
is possible to say that Kimmel was successful in motivating
students to use written English, share their pieces of writing and
interact with others via internet. Internet provides to students
connection with the whole world and lets students recognize the
importance of the English, which is the best motivation for their
learning process. According to Luft: The Internet has many
capabilities that make it especially useful with Deaf and
hard-of-hearing students, who benefit from highly visual
presentation of information. (Luft 85). Once again we come across
the need of deaf students to learn as visually as possible.
Moreover, The Internet provides teachers with access to a wide
variety of visually-based resources for use in the classroom
including pictures, graphics, and video. (Luft 85). Internet also
offers many texts from all fields of interests and provides web
sides specified to learning English as a second or foreign
language.
3. Research3.1 Research Introduction
The research focuses on motivation of the deaf to learn foreign
language in the Czech Republic. As it is widely believed, the
motivation to learn is one of the factors which determines, whether
or not the learning process will be successful. Rather then blindly
follow the textbooks and curriculum and push the deaf to learn
foreign language, a teacher should know what the students'
interests are and why they wish to learn foreign language. Of
course, the knowledge about students' wishes and needs is important
for teacher of hearing students too. Because the foreign language
is after spoken language and sign language of their country the
third language the deaf want to or need to acquire, teacher should
put as much of the attention on motivation and use his or her
knowledge about the students.
3.2 Research Goal
The goal of the research was, firstly, to find if the deaf
students think that the knowledge of English-as-a-Foreign-Language
is important and if they are interested in learning foreign
language, especially English. Secondly, we wanted to gain the
information about students motives for learning English and their
experience with the use of English in their normal life, outside of
the classroom. Also, we focused on the diversity of the group
(classes) concerning the hearing loss. Last but not least, we were
interested in the length of participants experience with learning
English.
3.3 Research Procedure
The research method was an anonymous questionnaire. The
questionnaire was created to use clear and simple expressions to
give every participant the possibility to understand without any
difficulties. The language used in the questionnaire was Czech
language to fulfill the idea of the simple material as mentioned
above. The questionnaire used closed questions and students, who
answered the questionnaire, had very little or none opportunity to
express themselves in a way of being creative in their answers. The
number of the main questions was nine and seven questions out of
nine required yes-no answer.
The research took place in Brno, Czech Republic. Participants of
the research were the students of the secondary school Stedn kola
pro sluchov postien a OU, Gellnerova 1, which is specialized for
the education of hard of hearing students with various study
programs. The questionnaire was given to students by their teacher
of English during their English lessons without the presence of the
researcher. The first and second grade students were questioned on
1st June 2010 and the third grade answered their questionnaires on
2nd June 2010. The answers were then analyzed and for better
orientation organized into the graphs and tables.
3.4 Participants Profiles
As mentioned above, participants were secondary school students.
Of nineteen students, five students were the first grade students,
seven were the second grade students and seven were the third grade
students.
In the first grade, there were two female and three male
participants. One of the participants was sixteen years old and
four were at the age of seventeen. From the degree of deafness, one
student was without any hearing loss, two students had hearing
impairment on the level of severe hearing loss and two students had
hearing impairment on the level of profound hearing loss.
In the second grade, there were three female and four male
participants. The age of the participants was in the range from
eighteen to twenty-one, whereof three participants were eighteen
years old, one student was at the age of nineteen, one student at
the age of twenty, one student at the age of twenty-one and the age
of the last participant was not fulfilled in the questionnaire and
therefore is not known. In this class three students had moderate
degree of hearing loss, one student had moderately severe degree of
hearing loss, and two students had profound degree of hearing loss
and once and again there are no data about the degree of hearing
loss of one student.
The last questioned students were the students of the third
grade, of which four were females and three were males. The age of
the participants was from eighteen to twenty-three. One of the
participants was at the age of eighteen, three participants at the
age of nineteen, two participants at the age of twenty and one
participant at the age of twenty-three. In this group two
participants had moderately severe degree of hearing loss, three
participants had severe degree of hearing loss and two participants
had profound degree of hearing loss.
To conclude, the group of participants was in the age of
eighteen to twenty-three hence, from the age of point of view,
quite homogenous. Also the group was from gender point of view very
balanced with nine females and ten males. From the degree of
hearing loss, the group was heterogeneous where on the one side
there was one student without any hearing impairment and on the
other side seven students with the profound degree of hearing loss.
The diversity can be seen in the following graph.
Graph 1 diversity of the classes from the degree of hearing
loss
3.5 Research Questions
The research questionnaire can be found in the appendix. For
original version which is in the Czech language, please see
Appendix B. For English version of questionnaire, please see
Appendix C.
3.6 Research Results
In this sub-chapter, we follow the research questionnaire and
provide answers gained from participants organized in graphs and
tables.
(1) How many years have you been learning English language?
Following graphs show for how many years participants have been
learning EFL in the date of the answering questionnaire.
Graph 2 the length of the experience with EFL in the first
grade
Graph 3 the length of the experience with EFL in the second
grade
Graph 3 the length of the experience with EFL in the third
grade
Where have you been learning English language and how many
years?
68% of students learnt EFL in primary school, 100% learnt EFL in
secondary school, 10% in hobby group, 5% with private teacher and
5% by self-studies. The students spent learning EFL 50 academic
years in primary school, 47 academic years in secondary school, 2
academic years in hobby group, 2 academic years with private
teacher and 1 academic year by self-studies. For more precise
information please see the Appendix D.
(2) Do you like English language?
Graph 4 the relation to EFL
(3) Would you learn English language, if it was not the
compulsory subject?
68% of students would learn English language if it was not
compulsory subject while the remainder would not.
(4) Have you ever used English language outside of the
classroom? (e.g. travelling, internet, films).
58% of students have experience with the use of English language
outside of the classroom.
If yes: where, when, how did you feel?
80% of participants, who had experience with the use of English
outside of the classroom, experienced the usage during travelling
or other contact with foreigners, 40% while using internet, 10%
while watching movies. They experienced the use of English in
different times and during their experience had various kinds of
feelings. For more precise information please see the Appendix E.
(5) Do you think that the knowledge of English language is
important?
95% of participants answered that they thought that the
knowledge of English is important. 5% of participants thought that
the English was and in the same time was not important.
(6) Would you prefer to learn only English language connected to
your study subject? (e.g. vocabulary, technical papers).
Graph 5 the preference of learning technical or general
language
(7) Do you think you will use the knowledge of English language
in the future?
90% of students thought that they would use the knowledge of
English language in future. 5% of participants thought that they
would not use the knowledge of English language in future and 5% of
participants did not answer to this question.
If yes, where:
76% of participants, who thought that they would use the
knowledge of English language in their job, 88% during travelling,
65% in communication with foreigners, 71% while using internet and
12% in other situations. For more precise information please see
the Appendix F.
(8) If you had a possibility, would you choose another foreign
language than English?
Graph 6 the preference of another foreign language
If yes, which one:
Tab. 2 another foreign language
P8Czech
P9German
P11German
P13Slovene
P16FrenchItalian
(9) If you had a possibility, would you learn English language
and other foreign language?
37% of participants would learn English language and one more
foreign language while 63% would not.
If yes, which one:
Tab. 3 one more foreign language
P4German
P8Czech
P11German
P12German
P13Slovene
P14Spanish
P15FrenchSpanish
3.7 Questionnaire Analyses
In this sub-chapter we will analyze the research results and
compare it with the information known from the theoretical
part.Firstly, we will speak about the diversity of the group from
the hearing loss. As it can be seen from the first graph the whole
group as well as every class is very heterogeneous. The lesson
should be created according to the degree of hearing loss of the
students which is not easy with the heterogonous group. As
mentioned in 2.2.2., there is not necessary to teach all four
skills reading, writing, speaking and listening and teachers should
do research in their classes and ask students whether they want to
learn speaking and listening mainly represented by lip-reading. The
approach to teach speaking and listening (lip-reading), more or
less, depends on the degree of hearing loss. Teaching four language
skills speaking, listening, reading, and writing is mostly
successful for students with moderate hearing loss. These students
are also successful in acquiring the ability to listen to the
foreign language as well as to speak in foreign language. On the
other hand, for students with profound hearing loss is the learning
of speaking in the foreign language and listening to the foreign
language (which is in this case represented only by lip-reading)
hard and not motivating and usually brings little progress. However
complicated this situation is for the teacher, he or she should
give the chance to students with ability and motivation to learn
listening and speaking and in the same time should not push
students who do not feel comfortable with the exercises for
learning listening and speaking. The teacher should be able to
handle the situation and work with two groups within the class
separately.Secondly, we also come across the diversity connected
with the level of English of students attending one class. To be
more precise we will look more on the length of learners experience
with English-as-a-Foreign-Language than on the level of their
English which we do not know. From graph in the previous
sub-chapter it can be seen how heterogeneous the classes were when
the research was done. Once again we can see the problems which are
connected with the diversity of the group. Teacher of classes which
are heterogeneous have to work with the class as with few different
groups according to the level of students knowledge. Especially the
second grade students formed the group with great diversity when
two students studied for two years, one student for three years,
one for five years, two for ten years and one for eleven years. The
research asked where the participants gained the experience with
learning EFL. The obtained data showed that the participants spent
the most years, with studies of EFL in primary school. The second
biggest amount of years was in secondary school. Participants also
learnt two years in hobby groups as well as with private teacher
and one year by self study. From the view of number of participants
learning in each kind of education, the secondary school was, of
course, the most frequented answer that means that all nineteen
participants experienced studying EFL in secondary school. Only
thirteen students out of nineteen learnt EFL in primary school, two
students also in hobby group, one student with private teacher and
one student by self study.
Thirdly, the research focused on the students relation to EFL.
Answers for the question, if they like foreign language, were
balanced. Six students answered that they rather liked English
language, seven answered that they did not mind and six answered
that they rather did not like English language. In our research we
did not focus on the reasons for their relation to EFL. However we
analyzed the answers and try to find the connection between the
lengths of their experience with EFL and positivity of their
relationship. From the available information we concluded that it
is not possible to say whether the length of the experience with
EFL have positive or negative influence over the students
relationship to the EFL. For example there were three students with
ten year experience with EFL per each, from which one participant
answered that he rather liked English, one answer that he did not
mind and one answered that she rather did not like English. Also we
looked for the connection between the level of hearing loss and
positivity of the relationship. Once again we did not find the
connection between these two factors. The third question focused on
the rational side of learning process. Thirteen participants from
nineteen would learn EFL even if it was not compulsory subject. We
compared the answers to the second and third questions and got to
the results that the answers to the third question were more
positive. Especially in the third grade 100% of participants would
learn EFL if it was not compulsory subject even though two
participants did not mind English language and, moreover, two
participants rather did not like English language. The fifth
question asked students their opinion about the importance of the
knowledge of English language. Eighteen participants out of
nineteen answered that they thought the knowledge of English
language is important and only one participant thought the
knowledge of English language may or may not be important. From the
answers it is clear that participants were aware of the fact that
English language is a language which is used internationally. The
research was also the interest in participants experience with the
usage of English in their daily life, outside the classroom. Eleven
students admitted that they used English language in their free
time and eight students declared that they never used English
language during their life except at school. We again looked for
connection between the experience with the usage of English during
participants free time and the length of the studies of EFL, and
the experience with the usage of English during participants free
time and relationship to the EFL. We came to the conclusion that
there is no connection between experience with English outside the
classroom and the length of experience with EFL as well as there is
no evidence about connection between experience with English
outside the classroom and relation to English language. We searched
further and detected that no experience with usage of English
during free time might have impact on the decision they would make
if English was not compulsory subject. 60% of participants who
would not choose to learn English if it was not compulsory had
never used English in their daily life. We also collected more
precise information about the situation, in which they experienced
the contact with English in their daily life. The participants
mainly used their knowledge during travelling and the internet. One
participant also chats with her friends in English. Moreover we
asked about students feelings during their usage of English in
their daily lives. We are not able to generalize their feelings
because they experienced various kinds from feeling fantastic,
normal to stressed, but we would say that their feelings were
rather positive or neutral. We would suggest to the teachers to ask
their students about their experience and to use obtained data
about their students in learning process, in a way of focusing on
the topics students experienced as well as in discussions or
writings about their experience and feelings.
The aim of this question was to find out whether the students
wanted to learn general English or technical English connected to
their studies. From the results we can say that seven students
would prefer to learn only general English, one student would
prefer to learn only English connected to her studies, eight
students would rather learn technical as well as general English
language and unfortunately, three students skipped this question
hence we do not know about their preference. Once again we would
suggest to teachers to ask their students about what would they
prefer and adjust their lessons to their students interest.
Seventeen participants thought that they would use the knowledge
of English language in future. One participant thought that he
would not use it and one participant did not fill this question.
The part of the question was also the situation where they thought
they would use the knowledge of English language. In the various
situations the most students (fifteen) thought they would use
English during travelling, thirteen in their job, twelve while
working with internet, eleven while communicating with foreigners.
We would suggest to the teachers to once again open the discussion
about where students think to use the knowledge of English language
in future. Speaking or writing about this topic could give the
students reasons to learn English and their thoughts might become
their motives for learning English language. The obtained data can
help teacher to make lessons interesting for students.
The last two questions were connected to other foreign languages
and preference of learning them. For the first, we were interested
if the students would prefer to learn other foreign language than
English. The answers show that thirteen students would prefer
English language, two students German language, one student French
or Italian language, one student Slovenian language and one student
Czech language. For the second, we were interested if students
would learn one more foreign language if possible. The number of
students who would like to learn more foreign languages was
surprisingly high. Six students would like to learn one more
foreign language and one student would even like to learn two more
foreign languages. Over 90 percent of participants in the research
thought that the knowledge of English-as-a-Foreign-Language is
important. However only approximately 68 percent would learn
English if it was not compulsory subject and less than 32 percent
of participants had rather positive relation to English language.
We also found out that over 68 percent of students prefer learning
English. Moreover less than 37 percent would learn one or two more
foreign languages.
It is appropriate to speak about the students motives for
learning English and their experience with the usage of English in
their normal life. From research, nearly 58 percent had previous
experience with the usage of the knowledge of English language
during their free time. 90 percent of participants believed that
they would definitely use the knowledge of English in their
future.
To speak about the diversity of the group, we found out that the
classes are from the length of experience with EFL point of view
very heterogeneous. The most heterogeneous is the second grade
class and the least is the first grade class. Conclusion
The aim of the thesis was to investigate whether the students of
secondary school Stedn kola pro sluchov postien a OU, Gellnerova 1
believe the foreign language especially English is important for
them or not and also whether they want to learn EFL or eventually
another foreign language. Moreover we wanted to find out the
diversity of the classes in the secondary education of deaf
students concerning hearing loss and the length of experience with
EFL. The goal was not only to investigate the situation in the
secondary education but also to provide the summary and the main
points about the education of deaf students in general.
The research confirms that the deaf students of secondary school
Stedn kola pro sluchov postien a OU, Gellnerova 1 are aware of the
importance of the foreign language namely EFL. Surprisingly, some
students are interested in one more foreign language. Over half of
the questioned students used their knowledge of English language
outside the classroom; most of the students believe that they will
use the knowledge of English in their future. And two thirds of
students would learn language if it was not compulsory subject. On
the other side only one third of the questioned students have
rather positive relation to the EFL.
The research proved the high diversity of the classes in both
research spheres. Of course, the diversity slightly differs from
class to class. However we do not know the level of English of the
students, who answered the questionnaire, the length of their
experience with English is in the range of one to eleven years. We
believe that it could be a complication for students as well as for
teachers. From the hearing loss, the classes are heterogeneous
too.
The research was done with a small sample of students and
students were only from one school. We would suggest questioning a
larger sample of students all around the Czech Republic to gain
more general idea about the situation. Moreover we would recommend
investigating the level of English language rather than the length
of the experience with EFL. The interview with some students could
be done for better knowledge about students ideas, needs and
wishes.
To conclude, in our opinion the field of the foreign language
education of deaf needs more investigation and focus.
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List of Appendices
Appendix A: Graphic organizers
Appendix B: Questionnaire in the Czech language
(Dotaznk)Appendix C: Questionnaire in the English language
Appendix D: Tab. 4 place and the length of students experience
with EFLAppendix E: Tab. 5 the use of English outside the
classroom
Appendix F: Tab. 6 the situations of the use of English in the
futureAppendix AGraphic organizers
Concept webs are the spider web-like diagrams for a hierarchical
organization of the particular topic. In language learning, we use
concept webs for example for learning vocabulary (Write Design on
Line).Pic. 3
[Spider Map]. 2008. Write Design On Line. GIF file.
Time line is the well-known type of continuum scale. Continuum
scales can be also used for showing degrees, shades of meaning etc
(Write Design on Line).
Pic. 4
[Continuum Scale]. 2008. Write Design On Line. GIF file.
Network trees provide visualization of hierarchical relationship
between concepts or the line of progression of ideas (Write Design
on Line).Pic. 5
[Network Tree]. 2008. Write Design On Line. GIF file.
Appendix BDOTAZNK
Datum:
Vk:
Pohlav: ensk / musk * (*nehodc se krtnte)
Ronk:...
Stupe postien: lehk nedoslchavost / stedn tk nedoslchavost /
tk nedoslchavost /praktick hluchota / pln hluchota *
1) Kolik let se ute anglick jazyk?...............
Kde jste se uili anglick jazyk a kolik let?:
Vmatesk kole:.
Na zkladn kole:
Na stedn kole:..
Vzjmovm krouku:.
Soukrom:
Srodii:
Samostudium:..
Dal:
2) Mte rdi anglick jazyk?
Velmi / spe ano / nevad mi / spe ne / nesnm ho *
3) Uili byste se anglick jazyk, kdyby to nebyl povinn pedmt?
Ano / ne *
4) Pouili jste anglick jazyk nkde jinde ne vhodin anglickho
jazyka? (p.cestovn, internet, film)
Ano / ne *
Pokud ano: Kde
Kdy....
Jak jste se ctili..
5) Myslte si, e je znalost anglickho jazyka dleit?
Ano / ne *
6) Uili byste se radji pouze anglick jazyk souvisejc sVam
studijnm oborem (p.slovn zsoba, odborn lnky)
Pouze odborn jazyk / obecn i odborn jazyk / pouze obecn jazyk
*
7) Myslte si, e vyuijete anglick jazyk vbudoucnu?
Ano / ne *
Pokud ano, kde: Vprci:
Kcestovn:.
Komunikace scizinci:.
Internet:...
Ostatn:
8) Pokud byste mli monost, vybrali byste si jin ciz jazyk ne
anglick?
Ano / ne *
Pokud ano, jak:
9) Pokud byste mli monost, uili byste se anglick jazyk a dal ciz
jazyk?
Ano / ne *
Pokud ano, jak:
Dkuji za vyplnn (Appendix CQUESTIONNAIREDate:
Age:
Gender: female / male * (*delete as appropriate)Grade: ...
Degree of hearing loss: mild / moderate / moderately severe
/severe / profound *
1) How many years have you been learning English language?
...............
Where have you been learning English language and how many
years?:
In the kindergarten: .
In the primary school: . In the secondary school: .
In hobby group: ..
Privately:
With your parents: ..
Self study: ..
Others:
2) Do you like English language?
Greatly/ Rather yes/ I do not mind/ Rather not/ Hate it *3)
Would you learn English language, if it was not the compulsory
subject?
Yes/No *
4) Have you ever used English language outside of the classroom?
(e.g. travelling, internet, films).
Yes/No * If yes: Where: .
When: .
How did you feel?
.................................................
5) Do you think that the knowledge of English language is
important?
Yes/No *
6) Would you prefer to learn only English language connected to
your study subject? (e.g. vocabulary, technical papers).
Only technical language/ technical and general language/ only
general language *7) Do you think, you will use the knowledge of
English language in the future?
Yes/No *If yes, where: In your work: ..
During travelling: ...
In communication with foreigners:
Internet: .
Others:
8) If you had a possibility, would you choose another foreign
language than English?
Yes/No *
If yes, which one: 9) If you had a possibility, would you learn
English language and other foreign language?Yes/No*
If yes, which one:
Appendix DTab. 2 place and the length of students experience
with EFLKindergartenPrimary
schoolSecondary schoolHobby groupPrivatelyWith parentsSelf
studyOthers
P100100000
P200100010
P300100000
P406100000
P501110000
P601200000
P708202000
P800510000
P900200000
P1007400000
P1106400000
P1200200000
P1301300000
P1406400000
P1503300000
P1602300000
P1704300000
P1803300000
P1902200000
P1+190504722010
P1= the first participant
Appendix ETable-The use of English outside the classroom
WhereWhenFeeling
P1internet3 years agostrange
P2internet
P8In Brnogood
P11internetnormal
personalinteresting
P13travellingAll the timefantastic
Chatting with friends
P14Abroad during holidayEvery yearStrange, nervousness
P15In Francethree months agoHorrible ashamed I am not good at
English
P16Travelling, internet, movie etc.Feeling better while using
dictionaries (internet or books)
P18travellingLast yearNormal
P19travellingTwo years agoNormal
Appendix FTable-The situations of the use of English in the
future
jobtravellingCommunication with foreignersinternetOthers
P1yesyesnoyesno
P2noyesyesyesno
P3yesyesyesyesno
P4nonoyesyesno
P5noyesyesyesyes
P6yesyesyesnono
P7yesyesnoyesno
P8yesyesnoyesno
P9yesnononono
P11noyesyesyesno
P13yesyesyesyesno
P14yesyesyesyesno
P15yesyesyesyesno
P16yesyesyesyesyes
P17yesyesnonono
P18yesyesyesnono
P19yesyesnonono
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