Special education _ Deaf_3 - Essay Example

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT Introduction The method of language acquisition as well as its processing by deaf children has historically remained a puzzle until recent past when several researches were conducted aimed at finding out how it works. The following essay aims at describing some of the ways by which deaf children are able to acquire their language and process it in a form that can easily be understood by non deaf people. It further proceeds to clearly distinguish the process of language acquisition among the deaf children and other hearing children as well as outlining the role of mothers as far as language development among children is concerned.

ContentIt is evident from the beginning that acquisition of sign language is usually a more technical approach than the spoken language. At an early stage, deaf children begin to practice manual babbling as opposed to vocal babbling witnessed in hearing children (Emmorey, 2002 page170 line 5). The American Sign Language (ASL) which is a natural and direct sign language is first developed among deaf infants and it later results in the production of lexical signs. It is role of the parents especially mothers to deaf children to develop and adopt lexical signs that make sense (Andrews, 2003 page 18-19 line 3-7).

Mothers of deaf children begin by making signs on the bodies of their deaf children as well as molding their hands to make signs. The motor nerves in the hands deaf children developed faster hence they are able to quickly use their hands to make signs. This makes deaf children to begin their process of language acquisition earlier than hearing children. Due to their very sensitive and mature visual cortex as opposed to their auditory cortex, they are able to clearly distinguish between objects (Andrews, 2003 page 18-19 line 8-9).

Hearing babies are in a position to listen and watch or view an object being displayed at the same time and this forms a key difference between them and the deaf babies. Deaf children produce what is known as baby signs while hearing children produce baby words (Meier, 2002 page 882, line 5). Owing to the fact that speech can be heard in the womb by the unborn child, it is a clear prove that mothers have a big role to play in process of developing speech among children at the pre-natal stage. It is therefore the role of mothers to ensure that their children only listen to soothing sounds that will have positive impact in their lives later in life.

Mothers can influence language type among their children at a tender age and this shows why children will quickly learn the language being spoken by their mothers as their primary means of communication (William, 2005 page 143 lines 6-7).Conclusion/ SummaryIt is a clear prove that that process of language acquisition and development among deaf children is a unique process that requires a lot of effort and concentration especially from those around them. Each stage of infant development is made up of different approaches as they seek to draw attention and concern.

ASL is key to language development among the deaf children since it provides them with basic sign communication techniques that later advance as they undergo proper training on sign language.ReferencesAndrews, J. F., Leigh, I., & Weiner, T. (2003). Deaf people: Evolving perspectives from psychology, education and sociology. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.Cormier, K., Meier, R. P., Quinto-Pozos, D., & Conference. (2002). Modality and structure in signed and spoken languages: [Conference held at the University of Texas at Austin on February 25-27, 2000, sponsored by the Texas Linguistics Society].

Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press.Emmorey, K. (2002). Language, cognition, and the brain: Insights from sign language research. Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.OGrady, W. (2005). How children learn language. Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press.