Purpose

  • To assist educators of deaf students in their efforts to promote their students' English language acquisition and literacy development
  • To assist educators of hard-of-hearing students, of students of English as a second language (ESL), and of other students with limited English proficiency (LEP), whose English difficulties are often similar to the difficulties experienced by many deaf students
  • To provide a "bridge" between theory and practice (to demonstrate the implications and applications of research)
  • To help professionals to remain current with the latest research findings that are relevant to their teaching needs
  • To demonstrate the complexities of the English language and the details of specific English structures and processes
  • To explain the linguistic challenges confronting English language learners
  • To help teachers anticipate the kinds of problems students might have with specific English structures and processes
  • To clarify the language acquisition process
  • To translate grammatical explanations and theoretical research findings into "everyday" language
  • To offer teachers suggestions for illustrating structures, promoting readability, and applying research results
  • To give teachers guided practice (with feedback) in identifying and modifying specific structures for instructional purposes
  • To encourage teachers to provide feedback on their use of SEA web site and to report the results of their experimentation