Abstract
Typhlopedagogy as a branch of pedagogy dealing with education of the visually impaired has recognized a potential of these learners in the field of second language acquisition. The comparative analysis of blind and sighted people provides much information about the nature of language acquisition. The article focuses on various aspects related to language acquisition in the context of the learners with visual impairment. There are two main aims of the article. Firstly, it presents the research related to first language acquisition by these learners. Secondly, the author attempts to answer a question concerning the possible success of the visually impaired learners in second language acquisition. The paper discusses the following problems: language and cognition, lexical development, the role of input, sound perception and production. Though the mere process of learning may differ because the visually impaired and sighted learners do not follow the same route when acquiring the second language, there is no doubt that both groups are able to achieve success in second language acquisition. Finally, the author discusses a direction of further research that should focus on providing neurolinguistic evidence for the brain functioning in the visually impaired learners and linguistic evidence for the assumed advantage of this group in the phonological/phonetic domain.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The study by Jan et al. (1977) shows the figures for North America being over 90%.
References
Burlingham, D. 1961. Some notes on the development of the blind. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child 19: 121–145.
Chapman, E. K. and M. J. Tobin, ed. 1979. Look and think: Handbook for teachers. London: Royal National Institute for the Blind.
Claudine, M. 1976. Some considerations of teaching foreign languages to visually-handicapped persons. Protectorate 4: 1–8.
Couper, H. 1996. Teaching modern languages to visually impaired children. Langauge Learning Journal 13: 6–9.
Dunlea, A. 1982. The role of visual information in the emergence of meaning. Doctoral dissertation, University of Southern California.
Elonen, A. S. and S. B. Zwarensteyn. 1964. Appraisal of developmental lag in certain blind children. Journal of Pediatrics 65: 599–610.
Elstner, W. 1983. Abnormalities in the verbal communication of visually-impaired children. In Language acquisition in the blind child, ed. A. E. Mills, 18–41. San Diego: College- Hill Press.
Fraiberg, S. 1977. Insights from the blind: Comparative studies of blind and sighted infants. London: Souvenir books, New York: Basic Books.
Gill, M. 1983 and 1987. International register of research on visual disability. Research Unit for the Blind, Brunel University, Uxbridge.
Jan, J. E., R. D. Freeman and E. P. Scott. 1977. Visual impairment in children and adolescents. New York: Grune and Stratton.
Jedynak, M. 2008a. A road to independence of a visually-impaired and blind learner: Polish reality and European Commission Report on teaching foreign languages in special education. In Autonomy in foreign language learning – achievements and directions, ed. M. Pawlak, 257–266. Poznań – Kalisz – Konin: Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts in Kalisz, Adam Mickiewicz University and PWSZ in Konin.
Jedynak, M. 2008b. Towards equal opportunities: On foreign language education to visually impaired university students. Anglica Wratislaviensia XLVI: 175–183.
Jedynak, M. 2008c. Analysis of mental lexicon in sighted and blind children on the basis of prototypes. Paper presented during the 1st International Scientific-Training Conference The Concept of Philological Education in Regional and European Context, Jelenia Góra, Poland. 17–18 October 2008.
Jedynak, M. 2011. Językowe odwzorowanie rzeczywistości przez niewidomych i widzących użytkowników języka polskiego. [Linguistic representation of reality in blind and visually sighted learners of Polish]. Rozprawy Komisji Językowej XXXVIII: 61–73.
Kekelis, L. S. and E. Andersen. 1984. Family communication styles and language development. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness 78: 54–64.
Landau, B. and L. R. Gleitman. 1985. Language and experience: Evidence from the blind child. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
LeZak, R. J. and H. B. Starbuck. 1964. Identification of children with speech disorders in a residential school for the blind. The Education of the Blind 31: 8–12.
Lucas, S. A. 1984. Auditory discrimination and speech production in the blind child. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research 7: 74–76.
Mathieu, G. 1961. A second language means a second sight. Exceptional Children 27: 269–273.
Mills, A. E. and R. Thiem. 1980. Auditory fusions and illusions in speech perception. Linguistische Berichte 68: 85–108.
Mills, A. E. 1983. Acquisition of speech sounds in the visually-handicapped child. In Language acquisition in the blind child: normal and deficient, ed. A. E. Mills, 46–56. London: Croom Helm, San Diego: College Hill.
Mills, A. E. 1987. The development of phonology in the blind child. In Hearing by eye: The psychology of lip-reading, eds. B. Dodd and R. Campbell, 145–161. London: Erlbaum.
Mills, A. E. 2004. Visual handicap. In Language development under exceptional circumstances, eds. D. Bishop and K. Mogford, 150–164. Hove, UK: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Miner, L. E. 1963. A study of the incidence of speech deviations among visually-handicapped children. New Outlook for the Blind 57: 10–14.
Morisey, W. P. 1931. Teaching foreign languages in schools for the blind. Teachers’ Forum 4: 34–37.
Mulford, R. C. 1987. First words of the blind child. In The emergent lexicon: The child’s development of a linguistic vocabulary, eds. M. D. Smith and J. L. Locke, 89–109. London: Academic Press.
Nelson, K. 1973. Structure and strategy in learning to talk. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 38.
Nikolic, T. 1986. Teaching a foreign language in schools for blind and visually impaired children. Language Teaching 19: 218–231.
Nikolic, T. 1987. Teaching a foreign language in schools for blind and visually impaired children. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness. 81: 62–66.
Norris, M., P. J. Spaulding and F. H. Brodie. 1957. Blindness in children. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Omwake, E. B. and A. Solnit. 1961. It isn’t fair: The treatment of a blind child. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child 16: 352–404.
Perez-Periera, M. and G. Ramsden. 2006. Language development and social interaction in blind children. Hove and New York: psychology Press.
Piatelli-Palmarini, M. 1980. Language and learning: The debate between Jean Piaget and Noam Chomsky. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Pring, L. 2008. Psychological characteristics of children with visual impairments: Learning, memory and imagery. British Journal of Visual Impairment 26: 159–169.
Reynell, J. 1978. Developmental patterns of visually-handicapped children. Child Care, Health and Development 4: 291–303.
Röder, B., F. Rösler and H. J. Neville. 2001. Enhanced auditory memory for verbal material in congenitally blind people compared to sighted matched controls: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence. Cognitive Brain Research 11: 289–303.
Sękowska, Z. 1974. Kształcenie dzieci niewidomych. Warszawa: Polskie Wydawnictwo Naukowe.
Semzowa, M. I. 1961. Besonderheiten der Erkenntnistatigkeit blinder Kinder im jungeren Schulalter. Die Sonderschule 6: 336–340.
Snow, C. 1986. Conversations with children. In Language acquisition. (second edition), eds. P. Fletcher and M. Garman, 69–89. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Urwin, C. 1978. The development of communication between blind infants and their parents: some ways into language. Doctoral dissertation, University of Cambridge.
Wesołowska, D. 2008. Memory strategies applied by visually impaired learners in learning English vocabulary. Unpublished MA, University of Wrocław.
Wills, D. M. 1979. Early speech development in blind children. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child 34: 85–117.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jedynak, M. (2011). Across the Borders of Typhlopedagogy and SLA: New Research Problems, Recent Findings, Perspectives. In: Extending the Boundaries of Research on Second Language Learning and Teaching. Second Language Learning and Teaching. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20141-7_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20141-7_20
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-20140-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-20141-7
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)