Age: 11 Tuesday
25th December 2007 CHRISTMAS DAY
To Diary,
I am Catherine Mae Joynson and I started to write this of
age 11 yrs old. I’m deaf by cochlear implant. I’m an artist, active, I’m good
at Science, Art, Design Technology, Maths, English, Physical Education or more
but I thought I was hard for me… I have a deaf group which is called NDCS
(National Deaf Children Society) which does helps each other of learning about
deaf / hard hearing. I had hearing aids before I was 3 yrs. It doesn’t work for
me. I don’t born deaf, I born normal, but then I was 3
months, my mum found out that I had an ears damaged, that’s why. I’m deaf. I
can lipread, I find differculty at hearing without lips. I’ll tell you more
soon, I’m totally tired now, got to go for sleep.
Love,
Cathy..x
Cathy..x
Friday 11th January 2008
Dear Diary,
Hi. In my dance lesson today was fine…. I’ve just made a new club in Learning Support called ‘Knitting Club.’ It’s like you knit a scarf or hat or some others. Cool, innit. It’s been boring today except dance and science and I.C.T. Lol. I’m feeling so tired right now. zzzz … my niece might come to my home 2moz or on Sunday, not sure. But I want them to cuz I love my niece, She’s like 1 months old. She loves me. Cuz when I first saw her, I went like ‘Hello! Hello, hello!’ and she smiles at me and she seems she’s trying to say hello but she almost can say it. She can mime saying ‘hello! Thats so cute and clever! I think her first word would be ‘hello or ‘yeah’ Lol!
Dear Diary,
Hi. In my dance lesson today was fine…. I’ve just made a new club in Learning Support called ‘Knitting Club.’ It’s like you knit a scarf or hat or some others. Cool, innit. It’s been boring today except dance and science and I.C.T. Lol. I’m feeling so tired right now. zzzz … my niece might come to my home 2moz or on Sunday, not sure. But I want them to cuz I love my niece, She’s like 1 months old. She loves me. Cuz when I first saw her, I went like ‘Hello! Hello, hello!’ and she smiles at me and she seems she’s trying to say hello but she almost can say it. She can mime saying ‘hello! Thats so cute and clever! I think her first word would be ‘hello or ‘yeah’ Lol!
Cathy
xxx
xxx
Monday 21st July 2008
Dear Diary,
Hey! Sorry for a while! 2 more days to go! Woo! I can’t wait for a holiday to Brighton! But one awful news, tomorrow, after skool, I have a metting with Gary Webster, Mrs Mcdonald and Madame Ellis Maduit about MP3 player on French Listening! Aargh! I’m going on my own because mum couldn’t come as she has work to do! I’m scarced! *Gulps* Anyway, umm… Yeah… I have nothing to say, really! Ooh, I went to Wicksteed Park, didn’t I? It was so cool!! And the Prizegiving went well! Not bad. I spent the prize on Michael Morpurgo books! Haha! Called ‘Dear Olly’ and ‘The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips’ They’re so cool the stories were lovely! See ya
Dear Diary,
Hey! Sorry for a while! 2 more days to go! Woo! I can’t wait for a holiday to Brighton! But one awful news, tomorrow, after skool, I have a metting with Gary Webster, Mrs Mcdonald and Madame Ellis Maduit about MP3 player on French Listening! Aargh! I’m going on my own because mum couldn’t come as she has work to do! I’m scarced! *Gulps* Anyway, umm… Yeah… I have nothing to say, really! Ooh, I went to Wicksteed Park, didn’t I? It was so cool!! And the Prizegiving went well! Not bad. I spent the prize on Michael Morpurgo books! Haha! Called ‘Dear Olly’ and ‘The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips’ They’re so cool the stories were lovely! See ya
Cathy
xx
xx
Friday 2nd January 2009
Dear Diary,
Happy New Year! Sadly, we have lost our last guinea pig, clear Frisky. She was like Spirit, same death. Laura, my friend lost a hamster on Xmas day, dear star. Today was the good day, funny evening. I was on the laptop with Lyn, we took funny pictures on webcam. Really funny, though. I just been London for a night two days ago, good night. We went to the cinema, watched Madagascar 2 Escape To Africa. It’s a funny, family movie. I like it, though. I just got a new laptop three days ago. Then we got the internet the next day, before we went to London. Xmas was good. I loved my presents especially my UGG Slippers!
Dear Diary,
Happy New Year! Sadly, we have lost our last guinea pig, clear Frisky. She was like Spirit, same death. Laura, my friend lost a hamster on Xmas day, dear star. Today was the good day, funny evening. I was on the laptop with Lyn, we took funny pictures on webcam. Really funny, though. I just been London for a night two days ago, good night. We went to the cinema, watched Madagascar 2 Escape To Africa. It’s a funny, family movie. I like it, though. I just got a new laptop three days ago. Then we got the internet the next day, before we went to London. Xmas was good. I loved my presents especially my UGG Slippers!
Cathy
xx
xx
Sunday 4th January 2009
Dear Diary,
My sister is going back to school tomorrow. I’m going back on Tues, which includes Thomas. Today was a good day. I typed a lot of my story called “The War” and I’ve written like 16 pages. Also known as “The Dome” written by Rachel Day. We didn’t finish but we’re still typing. At the mo, I’m watching Top Gear. And that is the funny episode. I like comedy, funny real episodes. Including Top Gear! To be honest, I don’t know what to say. I just saw an episode about the killing bees attack in football match in Spain. It was full of millions of bees attacking. The footballers were lying down, covering themselves in their clothes. Most of the audience ran away. Ouch….
Dear Diary,
My sister is going back to school tomorrow. I’m going back on Tues, which includes Thomas. Today was a good day. I typed a lot of my story called “The War” and I’ve written like 16 pages. Also known as “The Dome” written by Rachel Day. We didn’t finish but we’re still typing. At the mo, I’m watching Top Gear. And that is the funny episode. I like comedy, funny real episodes. Including Top Gear! To be honest, I don’t know what to say. I just saw an episode about the killing bees attack in football match in Spain. It was full of millions of bees attacking. The footballers were lying down, covering themselves in their clothes. Most of the audience ran away. Ouch….
Cathy
xxx
xxx
Wednesday 9th December 2009
Dear Diary,
I am seriously sick of everything! Mum’s still worse and it’s making my life miserable! Can’t everyone understand?! I truly wish everything was realistic, so undramatic!
Shantel says there’s a final hearing whether her father could take her and sisters to live with him in Southampton. She hasn’t seen her dad for 4 years, until now. It’s what she wants, I’m fine with that. If she is gonna leave, how can I cope with that? ‘Cause then I have no friends to hang out with. I’m not used with hanging out with Chloe and Charlotte. Miss McD. (my teacher of the deaf) says I’m strong and has loads of friends, well she’s wrong. I just feel I can’t take it anymore. I just want to pray that God could give me the solutions!
I felt the possible of ‘yes’ for Shantel’s wish in Southampton. Hell’s are coming to me.
I’m so sick of Lyn, bossing me around. Not doing some things I politely ask her to. I’m getting sick of this.
I feel like stabbing myself or run away. I relly need to sort this out! – Cathy
Dear Diary,
I am seriously sick of everything! Mum’s still worse and it’s making my life miserable! Can’t everyone understand?! I truly wish everything was realistic, so undramatic!
Shantel says there’s a final hearing whether her father could take her and sisters to live with him in Southampton. She hasn’t seen her dad for 4 years, until now. It’s what she wants, I’m fine with that. If she is gonna leave, how can I cope with that? ‘Cause then I have no friends to hang out with. I’m not used with hanging out with Chloe and Charlotte. Miss McD. (my teacher of the deaf) says I’m strong and has loads of friends, well she’s wrong. I just feel I can’t take it anymore. I just want to pray that God could give me the solutions!
I felt the possible of ‘yes’ for Shantel’s wish in Southampton. Hell’s are coming to me.
I’m so sick of Lyn, bossing me around. Not doing some things I politely ask her to. I’m getting sick of this.
I feel like stabbing myself or run away. I relly need to sort this out! – Cathy
Monday 30th March 2010
Dear Diary,
Dear Diary,
Reading back in the few last pages just reminds me of these
moments. Also, I have tears in my eyes, because of that.
I think family life is getting worse. I just had an argument with mum, she was complaining about how much mess Lyn and I had made (but it’s not even real messy!) It’s just like she only cares about her own self and the stupid house. Err, hello? It’s her who just raised us up, then just ignore us and concentrates on her own life.
I just met her boyfriend, Trevor. He seemed nice, also I absolutely love his dog, Ziggy!
I just don’t want to be hurt anymore, she’s just like a useless mother who doesn’t know about teenagers – internet, fashion, online games, hanging out, high schools.
Now she just said “I’m sick of this! You do your own washing, ironing, whatever!”
She didn’t even know how to stop shouting than just talk – it just hurts my ears! I’m not a slave! Why would she expect us to be perfect at keeping everything clean?! We’re not housekeepers yet! We are growing, we’re teenagers!
Dad, I just need you.
- Catherine.
I think family life is getting worse. I just had an argument with mum, she was complaining about how much mess Lyn and I had made (but it’s not even real messy!) It’s just like she only cares about her own self and the stupid house. Err, hello? It’s her who just raised us up, then just ignore us and concentrates on her own life.
I just met her boyfriend, Trevor. He seemed nice, also I absolutely love his dog, Ziggy!
I just don’t want to be hurt anymore, she’s just like a useless mother who doesn’t know about teenagers – internet, fashion, online games, hanging out, high schools.
Now she just said “I’m sick of this! You do your own washing, ironing, whatever!”
She didn’t even know how to stop shouting than just talk – it just hurts my ears! I’m not a slave! Why would she expect us to be perfect at keeping everything clean?! We’re not housekeepers yet! We are growing, we’re teenagers!
Dad, I just need you.
- Catherine.
Monday 28th June 2010
Dear Diary,
Today was okay. Only Shantel weren’t there. She was an accident, broke her collar bone by elipsy fits thingy. She keeps getting these fits since like couple of months ago, she fell off the chair, hit her above eye. That’s what caused her fits. Well, as long she can be okay for a while…
I had Beth and Megan today… Everything’s calm. Hottest weather, I begin to hate summer, they suffer my body temperature. I prefer Winter, it’s easy that way, get your blanket, you’re warm long enough. Lyn’s gone to Berlin for week, a tidy bedroom for me! She keeps things messy, making me feel like Cinderella.
Hahaha J
Dear Diary,
Today was okay. Only Shantel weren’t there. She was an accident, broke her collar bone by elipsy fits thingy. She keeps getting these fits since like couple of months ago, she fell off the chair, hit her above eye. That’s what caused her fits. Well, as long she can be okay for a while…
I had Beth and Megan today… Everything’s calm. Hottest weather, I begin to hate summer, they suffer my body temperature. I prefer Winter, it’s easy that way, get your blanket, you’re warm long enough. Lyn’s gone to Berlin for week, a tidy bedroom for me! She keeps things messy, making me feel like Cinderella.
Hahaha J
-
Catherine
Monday 22nd August 2011
Dear Diary,
Yo!
Just starting to get used to my life, just learnt that I will get good and bad times. Feeling happy that I’ve got an appointment to Nottingham tomorrow to discuss my interest in bilateral implant which I’ve wanted for months. I hope I get one soon, my hearing’s been shit. Also, I want the new upgrade called Nucleus 5, the Freedom’s really gay.
Been to london to meet Rachek and it was fantastic. Got to meet Tom for the first time. Then deaf camp, can’t tell you how much I miss it now. So much easier that I can understand people. Braved myself and let my confidence out, and apparantly got myself populated by the group. Feeling proud but can’t bring it at school, obviously because they’re not deaf.
Life’s becoming normal for once.
Ouch, my hand’s so sore. Explains my fucked handwriting.
- CathyMae ♥
Dear Diary,
Yo!
Just starting to get used to my life, just learnt that I will get good and bad times. Feeling happy that I’ve got an appointment to Nottingham tomorrow to discuss my interest in bilateral implant which I’ve wanted for months. I hope I get one soon, my hearing’s been shit. Also, I want the new upgrade called Nucleus 5, the Freedom’s really gay.
Been to london to meet Rachek and it was fantastic. Got to meet Tom for the first time. Then deaf camp, can’t tell you how much I miss it now. So much easier that I can understand people. Braved myself and let my confidence out, and apparantly got myself populated by the group. Feeling proud but can’t bring it at school, obviously because they’re not deaf.
Life’s becoming normal for once.
Ouch, my hand’s so sore. Explains my fucked handwriting.
- CathyMae ♥
Friday 16th March 2012
Dear Diary
Looking back to past, it’s funny how you change within a few years. Mad world. Recently, I’ve decided to accept life. Yes, it is hard but only you can do is, waste your life with whatever you want to do. My life goal, is to achieve a photography career and see what happens next.
I’ve noticed how my life changed. I’ve finally sorted out myself. I’ve met a couple of friends and I’ve became more friends with Chloe now. Life’s going well so far, I guess. I’m in my final GCSE’s year and only I’m struggling in English and History. Apart from that, I guess I’m coping fine. English is my main concern because I obviously need them for my A Level Film Studies in Northampton College in this September. I seriously can’t wait for college life. Something new in my education life, finally.
Dear Diary
Looking back to past, it’s funny how you change within a few years. Mad world. Recently, I’ve decided to accept life. Yes, it is hard but only you can do is, waste your life with whatever you want to do. My life goal, is to achieve a photography career and see what happens next.
I’ve noticed how my life changed. I’ve finally sorted out myself. I’ve met a couple of friends and I’ve became more friends with Chloe now. Life’s going well so far, I guess. I’m in my final GCSE’s year and only I’m struggling in English and History. Apart from that, I guess I’m coping fine. English is my main concern because I obviously need them for my A Level Film Studies in Northampton College in this September. I seriously can’t wait for college life. Something new in my education life, finally.
-
CathyMae.
Saturday 18th
October ‘08
Dear diary,
I went to my niece’s birthday party today. She was 1yr old on the 15th, and Wej wanted to have a small family party for Louise. Danny was glued to his Gamecube, playing Super Mario Sunshine on it and asking me to win loads of levels and shine sprites for him. He kept telling me I was his ‘favourite Lyn!’J He’s only 5.
I am coming to the end of my first week of holiday. My school has different holidays to the other schools, so it’s just me in the house alone until I either have to pick up Thomas or Catherine comes home and I have to do my paper round. Because of this, I have gotten into reading Doctor Who books. I have a major collection of them. But, funnily enough, I have read all of them! I hate the way you buy a book, read it then never touch it again. Mostly. But I went shopping this morning and bought three new ones: Forever Autumn, Wetworld & Sick Building. I love them.
My hand hurts from not writing this much in nearly a week now. I must exercise – hehe!
I have been hooked up on The Sims 2 recently, too. I made the Smudge family – me, Toni & Danielle – and Lilac (Toni) got the flu and was coughing quite violently and it was pretty funny!
I cough too. I have a really bad cough. Its going away though. I have a cold as well, which isn’t going away and probably won’t go away till next month!
Andrew texted me this afternoon, said he saw me up town. He suggested we should all meet up and go to the cinema or something. He said he’d ring me. :O
Ha, I’m running out of things to write about. I must send one of my immensely long emails round again! And I must ask Kaisie if I can borrow her Chronicles of Ancient Darkness book. I need to read it before the next one comes out!
Over and out!
Dear diary,
I went to my niece’s birthday party today. She was 1yr old on the 15th, and Wej wanted to have a small family party for Louise. Danny was glued to his Gamecube, playing Super Mario Sunshine on it and asking me to win loads of levels and shine sprites for him. He kept telling me I was his ‘favourite Lyn!’J He’s only 5.
I am coming to the end of my first week of holiday. My school has different holidays to the other schools, so it’s just me in the house alone until I either have to pick up Thomas or Catherine comes home and I have to do my paper round. Because of this, I have gotten into reading Doctor Who books. I have a major collection of them. But, funnily enough, I have read all of them! I hate the way you buy a book, read it then never touch it again. Mostly. But I went shopping this morning and bought three new ones: Forever Autumn, Wetworld & Sick Building. I love them.
My hand hurts from not writing this much in nearly a week now. I must exercise – hehe!
I have been hooked up on The Sims 2 recently, too. I made the Smudge family – me, Toni & Danielle – and Lilac (Toni) got the flu and was coughing quite violently and it was pretty funny!
I cough too. I have a really bad cough. Its going away though. I have a cold as well, which isn’t going away and probably won’t go away till next month!
Andrew texted me this afternoon, said he saw me up town. He suggested we should all meet up and go to the cinema or something. He said he’d ring me. :O
Ha, I’m running out of things to write about. I must send one of my immensely long emails round again! And I must ask Kaisie if I can borrow her Chronicles of Ancient Darkness book. I need to read it before the next one comes out!
Over and out!
Monday
27th October ‘08
Dear diary,
Not much to write really except that I have started writing a sequel to my friend’s story – The Dome. Her story is 72 or so pages long. I wrote some of it & there are very funny parts in it!! Rachel says I am very good at writing stories and describing things.
I got a worker agreement sheet from my shop today. Luckily it doesn’t say anything about age except from you cannot be over 16. It has to be signed by my mum & my headteacher. Mum said she’s going to write a note with it saying the pay is stingy. :P
We got split into sets for science today. I am in a fast track group with Tayler & Jess. Our table is funny but Joe thinks I fancy Tayler, Jess is just weird and not many people like Bhargav – except for boffs like Tayler. I don’t fancy him, btw. J
I went to Leicester with Toni & bought loads of things in Primark & WH Smith on Thursday.
I have an ALAN test in maths in 3 weeks time. I took one last year but failed by 1 mark. :O I have to retake it.
The government have decided to take away SATs & ALAN tests and replace them with ‘Functional Skills.’ Its stuff like how to use a checkbook, and how to handle maths in everyday life. The main thing is that it’s non-algebra -> so I’m happy!
Anyway my hand hurts big time. Talk soon! X
Dear diary,
Not much to write really except that I have started writing a sequel to my friend’s story – The Dome. Her story is 72 or so pages long. I wrote some of it & there are very funny parts in it!! Rachel says I am very good at writing stories and describing things.
I got a worker agreement sheet from my shop today. Luckily it doesn’t say anything about age except from you cannot be over 16. It has to be signed by my mum & my headteacher. Mum said she’s going to write a note with it saying the pay is stingy. :P
We got split into sets for science today. I am in a fast track group with Tayler & Jess. Our table is funny but Joe thinks I fancy Tayler, Jess is just weird and not many people like Bhargav – except for boffs like Tayler. I don’t fancy him, btw. J
I went to Leicester with Toni & bought loads of things in Primark & WH Smith on Thursday.
I have an ALAN test in maths in 3 weeks time. I took one last year but failed by 1 mark. :O I have to retake it.
The government have decided to take away SATs & ALAN tests and replace them with ‘Functional Skills.’ Its stuff like how to use a checkbook, and how to handle maths in everyday life. The main thing is that it’s non-algebra -> so I’m happy!
Anyway my hand hurts big time. Talk soon! X
Sunday
6th Sept. 09
Ohai diary! ^-^
Long time no talk! Like, honestly, long time! I’ve started GCSEs now. I chose 3D Art, Music, Drama & German. I have near enough the same timetable, except I’m in like, different groups and such in different lessons.
There isn’t really much to write about. Theatre group is going well – Love is all you need went amazing. I got a part in From this Moment and should be getting the DVD for it soon, when Ken decides to bring it in. Now we’re half way doing a play called The Boyfriend written by Sandy Wilson. I got the part of Dulcie, which is quite good as I have a duet with Ken who plays Lord Brockhurst.
Sasha and I have our own Youtube account now. ItWasMyButton. But lately things between Sasha and I have not been so good. She thinks I spend too much time with my boyfriend Ben.
Ben’s lovely. He loves me and I love him. We’re going strong.
It’s midday atm so not much is happening. My laptop just overheated so I’ve stood it in front of the fan to cool down. Its such a pain when it does this, but it only does it on my account. and Thomas’ – apparently. Thomas wrote that haha.
Ohai diary! ^-^
Long time no talk! Like, honestly, long time! I’ve started GCSEs now. I chose 3D Art, Music, Drama & German. I have near enough the same timetable, except I’m in like, different groups and such in different lessons.
There isn’t really much to write about. Theatre group is going well – Love is all you need went amazing. I got a part in From this Moment and should be getting the DVD for it soon, when Ken decides to bring it in. Now we’re half way doing a play called The Boyfriend written by Sandy Wilson. I got the part of Dulcie, which is quite good as I have a duet with Ken who plays Lord Brockhurst.
Sasha and I have our own Youtube account now. ItWasMyButton. But lately things between Sasha and I have not been so good. She thinks I spend too much time with my boyfriend Ben.
Ben’s lovely. He loves me and I love him. We’re going strong.
It’s midday atm so not much is happening. My laptop just overheated so I’ve stood it in front of the fan to cool down. Its such a pain when it does this, but it only does it on my account. and Thomas’ – apparently. Thomas wrote that haha.
5th
March 2010
Dear diary,
Long time no talk. I am currently on the plane to Hannover, Germany. “Ten minutes to landing,” he says. “Ten minutes.” More announcements – fasten your seatbelts, make sure your seats are upright, fold up your tables.
As part of an exchange trip, I am now nine minutes away from being totally removed from my tiny, fluffy comfort zone. I am now to be plunged into the deep end – staying with a family I do not know. Everyone else on this flight had their partner stay at their house in October. I’m staying with Toni’s penpal, Louisa, because they obviously didn’t click at all when she came to stay.
The plane is dipping, levelling, morphing. My ears are popping continuously – ugh, I hate flying. The flight was only an hour and a half.
Kate and Kirsty are panicking because the cabin lights have dipped. The plane is rocking. I need to swallow continuously or else it feels like my head will explode. Of course I’ll look back on this and laugh. “This is stupid,” I’ll laugh as I read.
But right now…
Ugh.
Louisa says we’re going to an ice hockey match on Sunday, swimming on monday. She told me to bring sports clothes as well. I will try and make myself not seem like a boring person. I brought my drawings with me, and then there’s extra paper in this should I want to draw.
Flying makes me sleepy.
I wish Ben was here.
When we go to Berlin, the flight will be easy. I’ll sit next to him and he’ll hold my hand.
I thought they gave you sweets for landing. They do on Brunei airlines, We’re about to hit the ground.
This is tense, because I can’t see a thing…
I want to live.
I’m alive. And it’s snowing.
Dear diary,
Long time no talk. I am currently on the plane to Hannover, Germany. “Ten minutes to landing,” he says. “Ten minutes.” More announcements – fasten your seatbelts, make sure your seats are upright, fold up your tables.
As part of an exchange trip, I am now nine minutes away from being totally removed from my tiny, fluffy comfort zone. I am now to be plunged into the deep end – staying with a family I do not know. Everyone else on this flight had their partner stay at their house in October. I’m staying with Toni’s penpal, Louisa, because they obviously didn’t click at all when she came to stay.
The plane is dipping, levelling, morphing. My ears are popping continuously – ugh, I hate flying. The flight was only an hour and a half.
Kate and Kirsty are panicking because the cabin lights have dipped. The plane is rocking. I need to swallow continuously or else it feels like my head will explode. Of course I’ll look back on this and laugh. “This is stupid,” I’ll laugh as I read.
But right now…
Ugh.
Louisa says we’re going to an ice hockey match on Sunday, swimming on monday. She told me to bring sports clothes as well. I will try and make myself not seem like a boring person. I brought my drawings with me, and then there’s extra paper in this should I want to draw.
Flying makes me sleepy.
I wish Ben was here.
When we go to Berlin, the flight will be easy. I’ll sit next to him and he’ll hold my hand.
I thought they gave you sweets for landing. They do on Brunei airlines, We’re about to hit the ground.
This is tense, because I can’t see a thing…
I want to live.
I’m alive. And it’s snowing.
An Investigation into the Differences
in Written Language in Young Deaf People and Young Hearing People
In normal children,
language acquisition and development is a process that Chomsky thinks comes
innately to humans through a device called the LAD – Language Acquisition
Device. His theory states that babies are born with the knowledge of basic
rules of language structure and that humans come with an innate ability to pick
up language. However, what happens if the child suffers from a disability that hinders
their ability to hear the language around them?
For my language
investigation I will be analysing the differences in written language in deaf
people compared to hearing people. My investigation will consider grammar,
lexis and cohesion. Being deaf puts a person at a huge disadvantage in terms of
learning both written and spoken language because they cannot pick up
information through being immersed in language, especially if they were born
deaf or lost their hearing at a very young age.
This disadvantage
means that learning language is extremely difficult for them because the
children often cannot hear themselves, let alone the person talking to them.
Teaching them words and concepts of life are often a slower process than it
would be with a hearing child who is more aware of their surroundings. Piaget's
theories on language acquisition are mainly focused around "cognitive
development" - the language they learn is controlled by the development of
thinking. This means that the child would have to understand the concept in
order for them to be able to correctly use the phrase: e.g. children who use
phrases such as "more than" must have grasped the concept of it
before they were able to use it in an utterance. I also wish to challenge this
theory in my investigation.
Aims
I will be looking at the lexis and grammar used by a young deaf person and comparing it to that of a hearing person of a similar age
I will be looking at the lexis and grammar used by a young deaf person and comparing it to that of a hearing person of a similar age
Methodology
I will conduct a case study about my sister who had meningitis when she was almost one year old and became deaf because of it. She received a cochlear implant that allowed her to hear in one ear but she mainly relies on lip reading and, in earlier stages of life, sign language. She picked up spoken and written language at a later age than hearing children through speech therapy and she received special help at school from specialised departments for deaf children. This provides an interesting case to test the theories mentioned above.
I will conduct a case study about my sister who had meningitis when she was almost one year old and became deaf because of it. She received a cochlear implant that allowed her to hear in one ear but she mainly relies on lip reading and, in earlier stages of life, sign language. She picked up spoken and written language at a later age than hearing children through speech therapy and she received special help at school from specialised departments for deaf children. This provides an interesting case to test the theories mentioned above.
Expectations
I expect that the language she uses will differ from my own (which is what I will be comparing her data to), especially grammatically because she could not pick up sentence structure and other language features from listening to people at a young age when she relied heavily on sign language and lip reading. I also expect that this means her vocabulary and understanding of concepts will be more limited than my own, meaning that perhaps some things she writes may not make sense because she does not understand the concept before trying to use the word.
I expect that the language she uses will differ from my own (which is what I will be comparing her data to), especially grammatically because she could not pick up sentence structure and other language features from listening to people at a young age when she relied heavily on sign language and lip reading. I also expect that this means her vocabulary and understanding of concepts will be more limited than my own, meaning that perhaps some things she writes may not make sense because she does not understand the concept before trying to use the word.
Analysis
Grammar
The most obvious difference between Catherine’s diary entries and my own is the use of grammar. Catherine’s grammar is less developed than my own and almost seems childlike. She mixes up tenses in sentences a lot which takes away from the coherence of the sentence: ‘I’m going on my own because mum couldn’t come as she has work to do!’ This agrees with Chomsky’s theory that children are born with a basic knowledge of language structure because she knows to put the verbs in the right places but because she does not understand the concept of tenses as well as we do, she often gets it wrong.
Also, Catherine understands the concept of prepositions and where to put them in a sentence, but she perhaps doesn’t quite understand the meaning of some prepositions or which ones to use in which context. For example, she wrote, ‘I started to write this of age 11 yrs old.’ The use of the preposition ‘of’ (instead of ‘at’) shows that she recognises that a preposition should be used but she uses the wrong one. This somewhat agrees with Piaget’s theory of understanding the concept before using the phrase, but she doesn’t quite fully understand which preposition to use, disproving it to some degree.
My own diary entries show a pretty much fully developed understanding of how to use language, and shows confidence in when to use plurals and singular words. However, Catherine sometimes mixes hers up, putting plurals where it should be singular: ‘1 months’, ‘had an ears damaged’. This links, once again, into Piaget’s theory and disproves it; the use of the plural in this case may suggest that she does not understand the concept of plurals, but she has seen people use plurals before (maybe in literature or in other people’s writing) and tried to use them in her own way. This relates to the theory of imitation – that children learn language through imitation, but this theory has been found incorrect. However, Catherine has imitated what she has seen/heard other people write/say and used it without understanding the meaning, so it shows that it is possible to learn words through imitation but the child would need to be taught the meaning of the word.
In Catherine’s 2009 diary entries, she has shown a major development in her grammar, not getting too many prepositions wrong and her sentence structure is often very cohesive. However, it is evident that she has picked up the concept of the word ‘though’ but she doesn’t quite understand it. She uses it a lot when she doesn’t need to, causing her to sound like she’s contradicting herself: ‘we took funny pictures on webcam. Really funny, though.’ This sentence is not entirely coherent because the ‘though’ suggests that the first part of the sentence is negative, but here she says the same thing in both parts of the sentence. This clearly suggests that she does not understand the meaning of the word but has perhaps heard/seen it from other people and has tried to use it in her own way.
The most obvious difference between Catherine’s diary entries and my own is the use of grammar. Catherine’s grammar is less developed than my own and almost seems childlike. She mixes up tenses in sentences a lot which takes away from the coherence of the sentence: ‘I’m going on my own because mum couldn’t come as she has work to do!’ This agrees with Chomsky’s theory that children are born with a basic knowledge of language structure because she knows to put the verbs in the right places but because she does not understand the concept of tenses as well as we do, she often gets it wrong.
Also, Catherine understands the concept of prepositions and where to put them in a sentence, but she perhaps doesn’t quite understand the meaning of some prepositions or which ones to use in which context. For example, she wrote, ‘I started to write this of age 11 yrs old.’ The use of the preposition ‘of’ (instead of ‘at’) shows that she recognises that a preposition should be used but she uses the wrong one. This somewhat agrees with Piaget’s theory of understanding the concept before using the phrase, but she doesn’t quite fully understand which preposition to use, disproving it to some degree.
My own diary entries show a pretty much fully developed understanding of how to use language, and shows confidence in when to use plurals and singular words. However, Catherine sometimes mixes hers up, putting plurals where it should be singular: ‘1 months’, ‘had an ears damaged’. This links, once again, into Piaget’s theory and disproves it; the use of the plural in this case may suggest that she does not understand the concept of plurals, but she has seen people use plurals before (maybe in literature or in other people’s writing) and tried to use them in her own way. This relates to the theory of imitation – that children learn language through imitation, but this theory has been found incorrect. However, Catherine has imitated what she has seen/heard other people write/say and used it without understanding the meaning, so it shows that it is possible to learn words through imitation but the child would need to be taught the meaning of the word.
In Catherine’s 2009 diary entries, she has shown a major development in her grammar, not getting too many prepositions wrong and her sentence structure is often very cohesive. However, it is evident that she has picked up the concept of the word ‘though’ but she doesn’t quite understand it. She uses it a lot when she doesn’t need to, causing her to sound like she’s contradicting herself: ‘we took funny pictures on webcam. Really funny, though.’ This sentence is not entirely coherent because the ‘though’ suggests that the first part of the sentence is negative, but here she says the same thing in both parts of the sentence. This clearly suggests that she does not understand the meaning of the word but has perhaps heard/seen it from other people and has tried to use it in her own way.
Lexis
The lexis that I use in my diary entries is very well developed, choosing more adventurous adjectives (for a child of 12) such as ‘violently’ and ‘immensely’. Such words are not evident in Catherine’s diary entries. Instead, she uses quite basic words for an 11 year old: ‘cool’, ‘lovely’. This may be because Catherine’s first language was British Sign Language (BSL) and, because she did not become deaf until around 2 years of age, she was not exposed to learning BSL from birth. Sign language takes more effort than speaking (movement of hands, arms, body and face) and so the ‘articulation of individual signs is about 1.5 times slower than for words’.[4] This could suggest that, because, as proven by Scarborough and Dobrich (1990), children who are delayed in experimenting with language at a young age develop slower than normal, Catherine’s lack of developed vocabulary is down to starting to learn language at a later age, and having to be taught it rather than experimenting with it as a baby.
Catherine, at the time of these diary entries, was clearly influenced by language in society changing around her. She often communicated with her friends via instant messaging when she wasn’t at school and the result of this is evident in her diary entries from the beginning. She uses phonetic spelling and number homophones: ‘cuz’ and ‘2moz’. This shows that she understands the concept of these techniques and this is probably because she had first-hand experiences of using these often, since she was using instant messaging so often. She also uses some slang words, like, ‘innit’ which suggests that she is aware of the language of her generation. She also uses it in the right context, suggesting that she fully understands the concept of slang and the meanings of the words. This agrees with Chomsky’s theory of having an innate ability to pick up language, and also with Piaget’s theory of understanding the concept in order to use the phrase. Slang is not used in my own diary entries (except the use of the initialism ‘btw’ although this could have just been used to save time rather than because of my idiolect) and this could be because of differences in our surroundings – slang may be part of Catherine’s sociolect and not mine, we went to different schools, etc.
There are more spelling mistakes in Catherine’s entries than my own, suggesting a slower development of language acquisition. She writes down ‘differculty’, which is a phonetic spelling, which is something you might expect to see in a child of a younger age who is still learning how to spell. This supports the theory that starting to learn language at a later age means learning language at a slower rate.
The lexis that I use in my diary entries is very well developed, choosing more adventurous adjectives (for a child of 12) such as ‘violently’ and ‘immensely’. Such words are not evident in Catherine’s diary entries. Instead, she uses quite basic words for an 11 year old: ‘cool’, ‘lovely’. This may be because Catherine’s first language was British Sign Language (BSL) and, because she did not become deaf until around 2 years of age, she was not exposed to learning BSL from birth. Sign language takes more effort than speaking (movement of hands, arms, body and face) and so the ‘articulation of individual signs is about 1.5 times slower than for words’.[4] This could suggest that, because, as proven by Scarborough and Dobrich (1990), children who are delayed in experimenting with language at a young age develop slower than normal, Catherine’s lack of developed vocabulary is down to starting to learn language at a later age, and having to be taught it rather than experimenting with it as a baby.
Catherine, at the time of these diary entries, was clearly influenced by language in society changing around her. She often communicated with her friends via instant messaging when she wasn’t at school and the result of this is evident in her diary entries from the beginning. She uses phonetic spelling and number homophones: ‘cuz’ and ‘2moz’. This shows that she understands the concept of these techniques and this is probably because she had first-hand experiences of using these often, since she was using instant messaging so often. She also uses some slang words, like, ‘innit’ which suggests that she is aware of the language of her generation. She also uses it in the right context, suggesting that she fully understands the concept of slang and the meanings of the words. This agrees with Chomsky’s theory of having an innate ability to pick up language, and also with Piaget’s theory of understanding the concept in order to use the phrase. Slang is not used in my own diary entries (except the use of the initialism ‘btw’ although this could have just been used to save time rather than because of my idiolect) and this could be because of differences in our surroundings – slang may be part of Catherine’s sociolect and not mine, we went to different schools, etc.
There are more spelling mistakes in Catherine’s entries than my own, suggesting a slower development of language acquisition. She writes down ‘differculty’, which is a phonetic spelling, which is something you might expect to see in a child of a younger age who is still learning how to spell. This supports the theory that starting to learn language at a later age means learning language at a slower rate.
Conclusion and Evaluation
My original
hypothesis for this investigation was that there would be significant
differences in the level of language used in deaf and hearing people because of
the disability barrier of deaf children not being able to acquire language from
their surroundings as naturally as hearing children. I collected my data from
old diary entries of my sister and compared them to some of my own.
Following close observation of the diary entries, it is very clear that there are differences and a number of theories can be applied as explanations for these. Some theories were confirmed and some were disproved. For example, the existence of an innate ability to learn language (Chomsky’s LAD) was demonstrated but his theory of children being born with the knowledge of basic language structure can be debated because Catherine showed awareness of certain sentence structures but not others (e.g. Subject/object/verb was often correct but she was unsure about prepositions). However, the theory was supported with my own diary entries because, by age 12, I had developed knowledge of a wide range of sentence structures.
Throughout the investigation, it was clear that learning language at a later age puts you at a major disadvantage and has repercussions in later years. Catherine’s level of language is one that you might expect to find in a child of a young age rather than one that is about to start secondary school. However, there are many variables during the time that could have affected the results. For example, her level of education would have been slower than my own and there have been changes in education on the whole since 2008 – for example, styles of teaching are very different today as they might have been four years ago, meaning that some of this data could be anomalous or outdated. Another reason this data could be anomalous would be because I didn’t compare it to any other case studies or data of other deaf children.
In conclusion, it is clear that a deaf child’s language is not as well developed as a hearing child’s. This is because the deaf child is unable to be immersed in the language and must be manually taught some aspects of language that children would otherwise pick up themselves. As well as learning language at a slower rate, in this particular case study, Catherine started learning spoken and written English (British Sign Language was her first language) at a later age than normal children and the effects of this prove the theory that learning language at a later age effects your language development for your whole life and that children who learn language later – in any context (disability, bad parenting, etc.) – develop slower than other children.
Following close observation of the diary entries, it is very clear that there are differences and a number of theories can be applied as explanations for these. Some theories were confirmed and some were disproved. For example, the existence of an innate ability to learn language (Chomsky’s LAD) was demonstrated but his theory of children being born with the knowledge of basic language structure can be debated because Catherine showed awareness of certain sentence structures but not others (e.g. Subject/object/verb was often correct but she was unsure about prepositions). However, the theory was supported with my own diary entries because, by age 12, I had developed knowledge of a wide range of sentence structures.
Throughout the investigation, it was clear that learning language at a later age puts you at a major disadvantage and has repercussions in later years. Catherine’s level of language is one that you might expect to find in a child of a young age rather than one that is about to start secondary school. However, there are many variables during the time that could have affected the results. For example, her level of education would have been slower than my own and there have been changes in education on the whole since 2008 – for example, styles of teaching are very different today as they might have been four years ago, meaning that some of this data could be anomalous or outdated. Another reason this data could be anomalous would be because I didn’t compare it to any other case studies or data of other deaf children.
In conclusion, it is clear that a deaf child’s language is not as well developed as a hearing child’s. This is because the deaf child is unable to be immersed in the language and must be manually taught some aspects of language that children would otherwise pick up themselves. As well as learning language at a slower rate, in this particular case study, Catherine started learning spoken and written English (British Sign Language was her first language) at a later age than normal children and the effects of this prove the theory that learning language at a later age effects your language development for your whole life and that children who learn language later – in any context (disability, bad parenting, etc.) – develop slower than other children.
Bibliography
