What’s Your Address?
By Louise Rollins, Maryland/DC H&V
Where we (well-meaning adults) can create a problem is if we assume that children are not ready for more sophisticated language, so we never expose them to it. If we wait until a child understands a word before using it, when are children supposed to learn it?
The other day I asked a 17-year-old student, “What’s your address?” He thought for a beat and then told me, “Baltimore.” * I asked again, “What’s your address?” He corrected himself, “Broadway.” I asked again, intentionally preserving the original question: “What’s your address?” This time he answered, “5455.” It was only then, when I was sure that the student did not understand the question, that I scaffolded the conversation by repeating “What’s your address?” and pairing it with “Where do you live?” It turned out that this student knew all of the parts of his address, but didn’t know that question as I had asked it means to give the whole thing, from your house number to your zip code. Once I explained, “Your address is your house number, street, city, state, zip code – the whole thing.” he was able to answer the question. On the one hand, he knew the answer, and we can’t discount that knowledge. On the other hand, he could only give the answer if the question was presented in a very specific way. From a language perspective, this reveals a crucial need that this student had, which I might have missed if I had been too quick to rephrase the question. In an interaction with another person not as aware of his language needs (say, a police officer), this young man would have never been able to provide the necessary information.
This is a frequent conundrum with deaf and hard of hearing children: It’s good practice to break down language and explain things in different ways to help our d/hh kids understand – but we need to make sure that we’re not always the only ones doing all the work. We need to give our children opportunities to do some of the work of language-learning, so that they don’t become reliant on only the most simplistic language. Think of the difference between asking “What did you do over the vacation?” and “Remember school was closed last week? Did you stay home or did you go somewhere?” Depending on the child’s age and developmental level, the latter question might be more appropriate. Where we (well-meaning adults) can create a problem is if we assume that children are not ready for more sophisticated language, so we never expose them to it. If we wait until a child understands a word before using it, when are children supposed to learn it? Yes, many of our deaf or hard of hearing children need some explicit instruction in language structures and vocabulary development. They also need to be exposed to rich and complex language (appropriate for their developmental level) that requires them to do some independent thinking about what they hear and/or see. With my student who didn’t know the word “address,” if I had jumped to “Where do you live?” immediately, I would have taken away the opportunity for my student to consider the question again (and again, and again), think about what I was asking, determine which word he did not understand, and try to retrieve the meaning of that word from his memory or construct the meaning from the context of the conversation.
So how do we get from “Where do you live?” to “What’s your address?” Sometimes, all it takes is to sandwich the newer language with more familiar language. (“What’s your address? Where do you live?”) Sometimes, a quick definition or explanation is all that’s needed. (“Your address is where you live. It means your house number, street number, city, state, and zip code. What’s your address?”) These first two strategies may feel the most comfortable or familiar, especially when talking to younger children. There are times when a clue or an example might be more appropriate. (“When I want to mail a letter, I need to know the person’s address so I can write it on the envelope. What’s your address?”) This stimulates thinking about the topic without feeding the answer. When children are really stuck on something new, I sometimes get them started. (“What’s your address? Remember? We’ve been practicing – 5… 4… 5… 5…”) A word of caution here: Especially for students who already have significant language delays or deficits, I see this technique severely over-used. For example, a student may be able to skip count by 5’s to infinity, but only if you get them started by saying “5, 10, 15…” rather than by responding to the question, “Can you count by 5’s?” A student may be able to name all 50 states in the U.S., but only after you cue them by saying, “You know, Maryland, Nebraska, Montana…”
By employing these strategies, we can help our children develop cognitive flexibility – the ability to think about a concept in more than one way – and prepare them with the language they need for all of the unpredictable situations that life presents. ~
*Identifying details have been changed