Nontraditional Ways Research Paper
English
February 11, 2011
Learning Language in Nontraditional Ways
For most of us, the acquisition of language is something we never stop to think about. Learning language is something that seems to come naturally to us. It begins with our parents or caregivers, and continues throughout our lives. We rarely give any thought to how we learned all of the words and the meanings of the words we know today. Two girls, Helen Keller and Diana Adams, both blind since they were babies, were not able to learn language in the way most of us do. However, each girl was fortunate enough to have the right person cross her path, and teach her language in the most unusual and nontraditional ways. In “The Day Language Came into My Life,” from
Helen Keller’s autobiography, The Story of My Life, Helen wrote about the dense fog she felt she lived in. Helen’s blindness was compounded by the fact that she was also deaf. With no vision, and no hearing, one can only imagine how dark and silent Helen’s universe could be. Helen did not have any idea of what the meaning of colors or objects meant. Her mother hired a teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan. Anne had a unique way of teaching Helen. She used sign language, and she signed the word into Helen’s hand after giving her an object to feel. This was no easy task, and Helen became very impatient and frustrated. Her breakthrough came unexpectedly one day while Anne was trying to teach her the difference between “mug” and “water”. Anne let the water flow over Helen’s hand while she signed the word “w-a-t-e-r” into it. Helen described this magical event as “a misty consciousness as of something forgotten.” Never in her life was she able to understand language in the way Anne taught her. Finally, Helen was able to identify to her world in the way that most of us take for granted. Diana Adams, a character from the movie, Mask, was blind since birth. She could feel someone’s face, and get a general idea of what he or she looked like, she could make her way around by touching and feeling, but she did not understand the concept of colors. Unlike Helen, Diana seemed to be content in her world. She seemed to accept her limitations and work with them. However, something extraordinary happened for her when she became friends with Rocky Dennis, the main character in the film. As Diana and Rocky were spending time together, Rocky was describing the scenery to Diana and telling her the different colors. Rocky took for granted that Diana understood. She explained to Rocky that she had no idea what “green” or “blue” looked like. Rocky even tried to tell her the clouds were “billowy”. Diana could not imagine any of this, because she had never had any sight. Rocky came up with a brilliant idea! He had Diana hold out her hand, and he put a rock that was boiled in hot water into it. He explained to Diana that this is “red” because it was hot. He used more objects to describe different colors. He also put a handful of cotton in her hand to describe “billowy”. Diana understood! Like Helen, Diana’s world would be different from that day on. She learned language in a way that she never had before. Both of these girls were blind, but Helen had even more of a disadvantage because she was also deaf. Not only was her world colorless, it was silent. Helen and Diana were each able to learn language from someone who had come into her life and connected with her in a way she could never before understand. Both Helen and Diana were taught language using the sense of touch. Through the gift of their new-found language, the worlds in which Helen and Diana lived were now full of color and meaning.
February 11, 2011
Learning Language in Nontraditional Ways
For most of us, the acquisition of language is something we never stop to think about. Learning language is something that seems to come naturally to us. It begins with our parents or caregivers, and continues throughout our lives. We rarely give any thought to how we learned all of the words and the meanings of the words we know today. Two girls, Helen Keller and Diana Adams, both blind since they were babies, were not able to learn language in the way most of us do. However, each girl was fortunate enough to have the right person cross her path, and teach her language in the most unusual and nontraditional ways. In “The Day Language Came into My Life,” from
Helen Keller’s autobiography, The Story of My Life, Helen wrote about the dense fog she felt she lived in. Helen’s blindness was compounded by the fact that she was also deaf. With no vision, and no hearing, one can only imagine how dark and silent Helen’s universe could be. Helen did not have any idea of what the meaning of colors or objects meant. Her mother hired a teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan. Anne had a unique way of teaching Helen. She used sign language, and she signed the word into Helen’s hand after giving her an object to feel. This was no easy task, and Helen became very impatient and frustrated. Her breakthrough came unexpectedly one day while Anne was trying to teach her the difference between “mug” and “water”. Anne let the water flow over Helen’s hand while she signed the word “w-a-t-e-r” into it. Helen described this magical event as “a misty consciousness as of something forgotten.” Never in her life was she able to understand language in the way Anne taught her. Finally, Helen was able to identify to her world in the way that most of us take for granted. Diana Adams, a character from the movie, Mask, was blind since birth. She could feel someone’s face, and get a general idea of what he or she looked like, she could make her way around by touching and feeling, but she did not understand the concept of colors. Unlike Helen, Diana seemed to be content in her world. She seemed to accept her limitations and work with them. However, something extraordinary happened for her when she became friends with Rocky Dennis, the main character in the film. As Diana and Rocky were spending time together, Rocky was describing the scenery to Diana and telling her the different colors. Rocky took for granted that Diana understood. She explained to Rocky that she had no idea what “green” or “blue” looked like. Rocky even tried to tell her the clouds were “billowy”. Diana could not imagine any of this, because she had never had any sight. Rocky came up with a brilliant idea! He had Diana hold out her hand, and he put a rock that was boiled in hot water into it. He explained to Diana that this is “red” because it was hot. He used more objects to describe different colors. He also put a handful of cotton in her hand to describe “billowy”. Diana understood! Like Helen, Diana’s world would be different from that day on. She learned language in a way that she never had before. Both of these girls were blind, but Helen had even more of a disadvantage because she was also deaf. Not only was her world colorless, it was silent. Helen and Diana were each able to learn language from someone who had come into her life and connected with her in a way she could never before understand. Both Helen and Diana were taught language using the sense of touch. Through the gift of their new-found language, the worlds in which Helen and Diana lived were now full of color and meaning.