Foreign languages and deafness: how to build up TEFL on deaf students’ strengts and needs

This paper addresses foreign language teaching related to deafness by considering the Italian school context, and Italian deaf students in their attempt at trying to learn a foreign (and vocal) language. It is important to keep in mind that there is a strong connection between language development, learning, motivation, and accessibility of resources, especially when we have to do with deaf students. For this reason, it is relevant to consider how language resources and materials can influence the learning process, which leads us to the core of this research, i.e. the materials for Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) to deaf students, that are very limited. Furthermore, in the Italian school context there is only one English handbook for deaf and hard-of-hearing learners, entitled: “Talking Hands”. We analyze the syllabus, the use of pictures, the graphic and visual design, and the organization of the units, learning strategies used with deaf students with the aim of structuring new, modern, and deaf-oriented activities for textbooks. Starting from the analysis of the existent handbook, a prototype unit for a hypothetical new inclusive English handbook for deaf learners and for all will be proposed. By explaining some of the activities, it will be possible to evaluate to what extent the strategies used in “Talking Hands” are innovative.