History of Communication - Essay Example

Following the emergence of the recent technological innovations such as the cochlear implants, issues of community, language, unification and identity keep on becoming rampant. (Deaf Culture: Introduction) Following various efforts, the ultimate achievement was witnessed with the establishment of the Columbia Institute for the Deaf at Washington, DC in 1864. The later portion of the 19th century saw the growth of the oral theories of deaf education. Even though a lot of these theories persist, they have in common a stress on the value of acquiring oral skills, i.e. reading and speech in the educational training of the deaf children.

It is very important to note that a major supporter of technique of oral methods was Alexander Graham Bell whose mother and wife had problems in hearing. The first important oral school in the U.S., Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Massachusetts was opened in 1867. This variation in philosophy between the supporters of conventional sign language and those who are in favor of oral language formed a vital division across the second half of the 19th century as well as the 20th century.

The differences were sometimes strong, resulting in intense divisions within the deaf education community. (History of Deaf Education in America) The capability to educate in oral skills depends largely on the extent of hearing loss, the age in which the student lost his/her hearing ability particularly if it was prior to or following acquisition of the sign language and other factors as well. Thus there is broad array of achievement and failure dependent, which is not on intelligence, rather on these factors.

During the history of development, oral skills are not generally very helpful for communication among deaf persons, and the application of the oral techniques really prevents the deaf from careers as teachers. The American School for Deaf at this time, tried out students in oral classes initially, and in case they did not get results, placed them in manual classes as an alternative, under a philosophy known as the Combined System. A lot of other schools meant for the deaf accepted the oral method to a greater degree.

The 20th century witnessing a scenario wherein the oral method was losing its popularity to the sign method which was gaining increased acceptance. (History of Deaf Education in America) The difference between spoken language and sign language, while crucial for researchers, is a sweeping statement for most real-life situations. It is exceptional that deaf children are subjected to spoken language or sign language, even if this is the purpose of their parents or teachers. As per data relating to the year 1999, roughly 55% of deaf children in America are officially enrolled in programs which state suing of sign language solely just more than 5% or signed and spoken language in combination just more than 49%.

(Albertini; Lang; Marschark 89) One more aspect observed in the Ralph Fasold authored publication entitled "The Sociolinguistics of Society" gives an account of the essence of sociolinguistics that is dependent on two facts regarding language. First of all, that language changes which is to state that speakers have more than a single means to speak roughly the same thing. The second aspect is that language serves a widely inclusive objective just as important one of