Abstrakt
Teaching English to deaf and hard of hearing students is a richly rewarding experience, yet often a great challenge. Which approach/teaching method is the most effective? How do we cope with teaching English to deaf/Deaf students? Can a hard of hearing student regard themselves as culturaly deaf? And does it influence their learning style? Are really all these questions relevant when teaching English to the deaf and hard of hearing? Do we, really, have to pay any attention to these issues? And why continue teaching these students English? Why should they want to learn English at all? In this talk I will aim to answer at least some of these questions.
The Language Resource Centre at Charles University in Prague is the main provider of English language teaching to deaf and hard of hearing university students. In the second part of the talk, I will talk about the Centre and its importance in the provision of high quality English language education to deaf and hard of hearing students.
I will discuss its current situation and challenges concerning learning/teaching resources or assessment. Last, but not least, I shall draw upon my personal experiences with teaching English to deaf, Deaf and hard of hearing students and suggest ways in which some of the challenges could be overcome