The Effects Of Hearing Impairment On English Learning Of The Deaf In China

EFL (English as a foreign language) learners in China include the hearing/normal and the hearing impaired, the study of the former attracts plenty of researchers who have devoted much efforts and made great contributions to it, while the study of the latter remains the undeveloped field even today. Based on the reviews of the effect of hearing impairment on language learning of the deaf and of the findings of English as a second language (ESL) learning of the deaf in English-speaking countries, this paper aims at examining the effects of hearing impairment on the deaf learning English in China. The study focuses on: 1) the current situation of the deaf learning English in China, 2) the characteristics of the deaf learning English in China compared with those of the hearing/normal in China and the deaf in English-speaking countries, 3) the implications of this study for EFL learning of the deaf in China.Data are collected from one report on the observation of the natural English class, four systematically structured interviews with four English teachers, and questionnaire responses supplied by 108 students from three deaf schools in China. Analysis of the results reveals that the Chinese deaf learn English as a foreign language mainly through the visual-manual channel; written English is the focus of learning and teaching; the Chinese deaf learn English in trilingual and bicultural environment; there are two languages---Chinese Sign Language and Chinese which assist the deaf in learning English.Based on the findings of the study, the implications for EFL learning of the deaf in China are proposed pertaining to learning, teaching, and syllabus design as well as testing. The information shared here can serve as the trigger to the further researches inthe field of English learning of the deaf in China.