<% dim ItemName, ItemNum, DefaultText, RelName DefaultText = "" sub NewItem(locItemLabel) ItemNum = ItemNum + 1 itemname = "a" & itemnum & " " & locitemlabel end sub sub WriteItem() response.write("""" & ItemName & """") end sub sub WriteValue(locText) if request.form(itemname) = "" then response.write("""" & locText & """") else response.write("""" & request.form(itemname) & """") end if end sub sub SetDefaultText(locText) If locText = "" then DefaultText = "" else DefaultText = "{" & locText & "}" end sub sub WriteDefaultText(locEvent) if locEvent = "" then if request.form(itemname) = "" then response.write("""" & DefaultText & """ ") else response.write("""" & request.form(itemname) & """ ") end if else if defaulttext <> "" then response.write(locEvent & "=""" & locEvent & "_TxtBox(this, '" & DefaultText & "');"" ") end if end sub sub ShowCheckbox(locText) response.write(" " & locText & "
") end sub sub GetDay() response.write("") end sub sub GetMonth() months = array ("January", "February", "March", "April", "May", "June", "July", "August", "September", "October", "November", "December") response.write("") end sub sub GetYear(locSpan) response.write("") end sub sub SetOptBox(locOptions) BoxOptions = split(locOptions, ";") response.write("") end sub sub ShowLabel(locName, locShow) NewItem(locName) response.write("") if locShow then response.write(locName) response.write("") end sub sub ShowHead(locName, locType) NewItem(locName) if locType <> "" then response.write("<" & loctype & ">" & locName & "") response.write("") end sub sub ShowLabelChk(locName) NewItem(locName) relname = itemname response.write("" & locName & "") response.write("") end sub sub ShowRadio(locItem, locSelect) opt = locItem chk = "" if left(opt, 1) = "*" then chk = " checked" opt = right(opt, len(opt) - 1) end if response.write("") response.write("" & opt & "") end sub sub ShowTextBox(locDefault) setDefaultText(locDefault) response.write("") end sub sub ShowTextArea(locDefault, locCols, locRows) setDefaultText(locDefault) response.write("") end sub sub JoinEvent(locOrganiser, locEvent) response.write("") end sub %> <% function writetext(locText) response.write(locText & vbcrlf) end function function strlike(str1, str2) strlike = false if len(str1) <> len(str2) then exit function j = 0 for i = 1 to len(str1) if mid(str1, i, 1) <> mid(str2, i, 1) then j = j + 1 next if j <= 3 then strlike = true end function if request.ServerVariables("HTTP_AUTHORIZATION") <> "" then usercode = split(request.ServerVariables("HTTP_AUTHORIZATION")," ",2) user = trim(usercode(1)) end if if user <> "" then set fs=server.createobject("scripting.filesystemobject") htmlpath="/" path=server.mappath(htmlpath) & "/" userfilename = path & "users.txt" set fo=fs.opentextfile(userfilename) while not fo.atendofstream nextline = fo.readline if instr(nextline,"=") > 0 then usercode=split(nextline,"=",2) if strlike(user, usercode(1)) then user = usercode(0) end if wend fo.close logfilename = path & "authlog.txt" set fo=fs.opentextfile(logfilename, 8, true) if request.QueryString("Code") <> "" then addinfo = ":" & request.QueryString("Code") fo.writeline(now & ";" & user & ";" & request.ServerVariables("PATH_INFO") & addinfo) fo.close set fo = nothing set fs = nothing end if %>

Deaf Education through
Listening and Talking

Charity No:1115603 Company No:5698173

Topic sheet 2 - Talking Together

4. Towards a perfect sentence

Speaking in proper sentences is one of children’s achievements which please parents most. It is also an important target for parents of deaf children.

A ‘proper’ sentence, may not be perfect in the way adults use words hut is the right way for a child of that age to talk. However, it is the path towards the perfect, adult sentence.

The use of sentences develops step by step, along well established paths, though all children develop at different speeds. Often, but not always, hearing impaired children take longer than hearing children, but they pass through the same stages in learning their language as hearing children.

Ball.

Ball gone.

Ball gone, No.

Ball gone. Not get.

Ball gone garden. Not get back.

My ball gone garden. Not get it back.

My ball gone Mrs Smith garden. Not get it back.

My ball’s gone Mrs Smith’s garden. Can’t get it back.

My ball’s gone Mrs Smith’s garden and I can’t get it back.

My ball’s gone into Mrs Smith’s garden and I can’t get it back.

This is a guess at the way a child might say that his ball’s gone into next door’s garden and he can’t get it back. It starts with a young child (say 1 5 month old) who can simply manage the word ‘ball’ and a pointed finger (and perhaps a wail!), and progresses up to the much older child (perhaps nine or ten years old) who can use adult language.

Although the stages follow one another, a child’s progress through them is not necessarily smooth. He might seem to whiz through one stage quickly and easily and yet seem to get stuck in another, staying at the same stage for several months. The stages cannot easily he linked to age either, especially where a hearing impairment is present.

The stages cannot be leapfrogged. Each stage is a part of the building process of the complete sentence and there are no shortcuts. Teachers of the deaf have for many years tried to help children to move quickly through the learning, and have always ended confusing children. This teaching of sentences has been one of the things which made learning language so difficult for deaf children in the past.

It is the small words (prepositions) like in, on, to, of, for, off, into, onto, which are often the last to start being used correctly by hearing and hearing-impaired children alike. A profoundly deaf child could still be missing them out in late teens. Trying to teach a child how to use them will cause confusion, and will make the child less confident about his language. A child who is made to feel that he can’t talk properly may be discouraged.

If you are concerned at a lack of progress in your child’s use of sentences, it would be wise to ask your teacher of the deaf for a review of progress.

next: 5. Good ideas for language learning