Bimodal Bilingualism: Acquisition of English as a Second Language among deaf Primary School Children

Abstract

Humans with their intelligence can make meaningful usage of language, along with the application of its grammar and other related components. Unlike normal-hearing children, education, as well as language acquisition for deaf children, poses a great challenge. Hence for the ease of their learning process, the traditional teaching methods have undergone certain modifications with the advent of technology. Being deaf is not an illness, it is a human condition. But oftentimes, deaf people become products of discrimination and isolation when they are denied opportunities to assert their individuality. Every humans’ primary need consists of self-expression, for which they require ‘language'. Language has a determinant role to play in the self-development development of a person. This paper deals with the study about various methods of language acquisition among deaf children to identify how a second language like English is acquired by deaf students of primary age level belonging to different schools in Kerala. It focuses on the problems of deaf culture, variations in first and second language acquisition of deaf and analyses the factors affecting second language acquisition to understand how language deprivation occurs. Further, the research aims to find out the most effective method for English language acquisition among the students.