Total Communication: Structure and Strategy

PREFACE

PREFACE The growth of total communication as a major concept in the education of deaf children has produced some important questions about its nature, scope, and purpose. Is total communication a completely new philosophy, or is it a reformulation of previous ideas in the light of modern knowledge and resources? Why was this approach advocated, and with what supportive research evidence? Where, and in what way, is it being used? What are the linguistic properties of the constituent media, do they combine for enhanced efficiency, and how should they be ordered in a language development sequence? What is the teaching methodology for total communication, and what implications does it have in relation to other developmental needs and practical constraints? This book briefly brings together information on these areas of inquiry. It reviews research findings and practical developments that have relevance to the concept of total communication and develops some theoretical ideas for language acquisition and growth. Chapter 1 outlines some antecedents of total communication , then discusses educational attainments for deaf children and the professional attitude which gave rise to the philosophy of total communication, and traces the growth of its influence. Chapter 2 examines how widely, and in what way, it has been used in practice. In order to understand the linguistic structure of total communication, it is necessary to know the strengths and limitations of its elemental parts. Chapter 3 looks at the problems of oral communication through speech and lipreading ; Chapter 4 is concerned with fingerspelling; and Chapter 5 outlines different forms of signing-the salient linguistic properties and perceptual parameters of these x Total Communication media are explained. Chapter 6 deals with some of the perceptual processes and the communication effects in the simultaneous use of both oral and manual media. For total communication philosophy to influence educational advance, the need for total communication theory and methodology is essential. Chapter 7 interprets the research findings and their relevance to the construction of a theoretical model of integrated oral and manual language development. Chapter 8 is concerned with the implementation of theory into practice. It sets out a methodological approach and examines some of the main implications for teachers, parents, and administrators. The book offers an explanation of these problems for teachers-teachers of deaf children in particular, but also teachers of hearing children with language handicaps. As total communication occupies common ground between education, linguistics, speech science, audiology, and psychology , it should be of interest to professionals in these related disciplines. It assumes that the reader will come to the study of total communication with a basic knowledge of deafness and audiology and the problems deaf people have with written language. It also aims to provide an introduction to the more specialized research studies with a bearing on visual linguistic communication, some of which are included in the bibliography of suggestions for further reading. It is hoped that the organization of the chapters on a topic basis will make the book useful as a text for students. From its origins in the United States, the concept of total communication has spread widely, and the book is written for an international audience. It must be pointed out, however , that for sheer simplicity, the linguistic examples refer , mainly, to the English language, or to systems for representing English-and there might well be some differences in other languages. Washington, D.C. June 1981 Lionel Evans ...