Marshark

Evelyn O’Brien

March 13, 2015

Assign: CH 7

Marshark details literacy and deaf children. Marshark presents information to whomever is reading the book and lets the reader have their own opinion about the information.  Chapter seven discusses different meanings the word literacy can have. There is a broader definition of literacy that encompasses language and culture and then another definition of literacy that means an individual can read or write. Marschark refers to literacy as “flexible and creative enough to support educational and employment success” (pg162). Expecting Deaf children to be literate in a broader definition of the word is not possible.  Throughout the chapter Marschark talks about what deaf children need to know to become literate. In order to become literate do they need to be fluent in both English and ASL? Or can they become literate without fluency of both languages? In my opinion, unless a deaf child has both a hearing parent and Deaf parent they can only be fully culturally literate in one language. It’s not possible to become literate if the child has not grown up in that culture because no matter how much they try and assimilate themselves into hearing culture or Deaf culture, unless they grew up in both cultures it will always be their second culture/language. “Fluency in  sign language, or any  minority language, in not enough for the full access to the larger culture even if it is sufficient enough for many of the purposes or family, friends, schooling, and day-to-day life” (164).  Just like an interpreter who has been interpreting for years and years will never be able to be totally literate in ASL. There are so many nuances of the culture and language that they can’t attain unless they grew up in that culture.

There are many things that hearing people assume about Deaf individuals. Things like, teaching a deaf child ASL delays their language development or a deaf child is stupid because they can’t read or write. It all based on misinformation that a person got because of an experience they had with someone. A lot of the time no one takes the time to find out the truth. When Marschark says, “Imagine, then, what it would be like if you did not really understand the rules of the first language when you tried to learn a second, if the letters and words on the page did not correspond to what people “said”, and if you did not see the correspondence or words and events. That is the situation of the average deaf child trying to learn and read” (pg168), it adds a whole new perspective on a deaf child’s capabilities. Hearing people compare their children’s reading level to that of a child who has little access to communication because of their deafness. This places expectations on the deaf child that is hard to meet. Only deaf children who have early access to communication can expect to meet these unfair expectations. A deaf child is doing really well if they can learn another language without actually knowing their first language. I think if people stopped trying to compare deaf children to hearing children and let the deaf child become fluent in their first language before moving onto their second language it would be an easier process for the child to become literate. This however will probably not happen since society views below average children as having some sort of problem. Society in general has a problem with people being different. It someone is different than the average person then they must be ‘fixed’.  Instead of encouraging a child, were they are at, in their learning, teachers tell kids “you need to work harder to catch up since you are behind”.  Empowering kids would be better than forcing writing and reading on them. Deaf children do not need to be like the average hearing kid. A deaf child is already at a disadvantage because they are learning two languages at the same time they are using both of the languages.