Deaf learning
Start date: Sep 1, 2015,
End date: Aug 31, 2018
PROJECT
FINISHED
Deaf people all over the world have difficulties with learning of a written/spoken national language.
This is the group, for which sign language is natural language and national written language is the second, which they should be taught as a foreign (this method is called bilingual education).
In most European countries deaf people are not taught in such way, but with use of total communication (sign language, oral communicating, signed national language, which is not very well understandable). Effects are visible: deaf people do have a problem with proper understanding of written language, what shell be a big barier in social inclusion and independent life (decisions about education, finding job, access in public information, participation in culture).
The project is going to make bilingual method of education more popular and accessible to increase deaf people national language knowledge and decrease illiteracy among deaf people.
Direct impact - 300 persons - those will be the participants of seminars (teachers of national language from deaf schools, teachers from glottodidactic cathedras of universities, authorities who have influence on deaf education system and regional solutions.)
Indirect impact - 1000 a year - users of an e-course available on projects website (each partner will prepare an e-course in their national language), deaf people, parents of deaf children.
An international team of professionals will work on:
- development of the programme of the course of national language as a foreign language for deaf adults - the programme will include aims, specific needs of deaf people education, research and bibliography in the field of deaf adults education etc. It will also contain examples of lessons, tools, exercises etc. to be used during elaborating of the courses.
- development of the handbooks with courses - Courses will consist of: a handbook with video and additional educational materials. Each partner will elaborate courses from level A1 to level B2 regarding CEFR. During the work on the output we will involve deaf people to consult it, test it and improve it. This output will be ready-made for use by all groups of interests: teachers, universities, parents of deaf children etc.
- development of an e-course - Each partner will produce one e-course, based on a programme developed in the project. E-course will be ready for individual users (without any external help). It will be available on the project website. Using it will be free of charge.
Activities:
- international work team (representatives of each partner) will work on the product - common programme; each member of the team will have his/her tasks, they will meet during international partnership meetings and disscuss their work; they will also communicate via e-mails, google docs, videoconferences etc. so that the product be as common and elaborated as it is possible;
- national work teams, on the basis of common programme, will elaborate courses of national written language courses for deaf adults; every partner have professionals who is going to work on those courses; the product will be a handbook and DVD and website and other educational materials needed to lead the course for deaf adults;
- elaborating of e-course template, common for all partners, which will be fulfilled by them with texts, pictures, films and other educational content; this task will be done by the British partner, who has experience in e-learning courses creating and leading.
Within the task of elaborating common programme and national courses we predict participation of deaf people in our teams as main stakeholders of this initiative and future users of the project products. They will consult content, test it and check it accessibility for deaf adults, so that courses were as deaf friendly, as possible.
The project will influence the educational situation of deaf people in each partner country, as it will elaborate new approach and concrete way (courses) of national written language learning for deaf adults.
Products elaborated during the project (a programme, handbooks, e-courses) can be useful not only for deaf adult individuals, but also for secondary schools for the deaf and universities with deaf students.
Thanks to the seminars we will reach the target groups, which have biggest influence on deaf linguistic education: teachers in deaf schools and universities and authorities.
Through such events the elaborated courses will be widely known, accessible and more and more popular even when the project ends. Still it will work on decreasing illiteracy among deaf people.