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Barbara Kannapell's Keynote Address |
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Sunday, 29 June 2008 |
"Bilingual Education of Deaf Children: A Movement Begins"
(The history of bilingual-bicultural education advocacy in the US)
Keynote address by Dr. Barbara Kannapell
Dr. Kannapell's address started off with this Power Point page:
--Convincing people about linguistics' discovery that American Sign Language is a bona fide language
--Attitudes toward Deaf people and ASL (ethnocentrism hinders progress)
--40% of children of children misdiagnosed as mentally retarded because
many teachers equate linguistic ability with intellectual ability. This statistic exactly parallels the misdiagnosis rate of mental retardation of Deaf students (See McCay Vernon's research)
--The real problem is the inflexibility of an orally-based program.
--10% to 15% Deaf teachers in the 1970s
Dr. Kannapell then discussed parallels between bilingualism in
Spanish-speaking community and the Deaf community, explaining: "The
Deaf child must WANT to learn English. They must not be forced or
coerced into using that particular modality."
Title VII--Bilingual Education Act (BEA), passed January 2, 1968 by LBJ
Sent out mimeographed copies to all Deaf schools around the country of
a 50-page paper relating to Deaf education and bilingualism. Only ONE
school responded, saying they do not accept the recommendations of the
paper. The other schools probably threw the paper in the trash.
1972 Set up Deafpride organization
1978 Resolution made at the National Symposium on Sign Language
Research and Teaching in San Diego. The resolution was sent to the US
Department of Education and asked them to recognize ASL as the language
of Deaf people.
1984 NAD finally recognized ASL and English as the natural languages of
the Deaf community and began advocating a bilingual approach in the
education of Deaf children
1988 Congress appointed 12 people to serve on COED. Recommendation #15
in the COED report advocated for ASL being included in the list of
languages covered by the Bilingual Education Act.
Spring 1989 Robert Davila appointed Asst. Sec. of OSERS
July 1989 Sam Supalla--"Equality in Educational Opportunities; The Deaf Version"--his idea to propose this and take it to court
Davila letter to Harkin: The US Department of Education DOES NOT
recognize ASL as a "native" language as defined in the Bilingual
Education Act
1990 Harlan Lane article
May 1990 Internal memo of advice from the Office of General Counsel
(OGC) was written and sent to Dr. Davila, saying that ASL should not be
included under the Bilingual Education Act
1991-- a commission of the World Federation of the Deaf made the strong
recommendation for the recognition of natural sign languages
Feb. 1992 Roz Rosen president of NAD, testified before Congress and
called on Congress to recognize ASL as a language (no real response)
June 1992 Petition to request NAD to recognize ASL as the first
language of Deaf children and English as their second language.
Petition written by participants of the English as a Second Language
Conference held at the Northwest Campus (NWC) at Gallaudet
NAD resolutions--NAD was established on the premise that there was a need to preserve sign language
July 1994 NAD convention. David O. Reynolds proposed a mandate: "Be it
moved that the NAD take action on the NAD position paper..."
Sept 16, 1995 For the first time in history, the National Association
of the Deaf met with representatives from OSERS and the Office of
Bilingual Education and Minority Language Affairs (OBEMLA) to discuss
ASL issues in Deaf education (NAD Broadcaster, Jan. 1995). BK: "We came
to an understanding...We were thrilled..."
Jan. 1996 Second term of President Clinton--many people left the Clinton Administration and support was lost
2002 Bilingual Education Act was superceded by the "English Language Acquisition Act"
Lessons learned:
--Need strong support at both levels--national and local
--Strong support from the Deaf community. BK: "We're in the right place
now with the Deaf Bilingual Coalition. Everything seems to be in
place."
--Strong support from the NAD
"Think Globally, Act Locally"
Encourage discussion amongst factions, not infighting
Ella Lentz opened the floor to questions.
Marylin Harbison, from Illinois, stood up in front and gave a rousing
speech about Deaf people needing to contact their legislators.
(Visual applause)
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