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2.6.5.1 Metacognition

Metacognition refers to both the knowledge that people have about their own cognitive processes and to their intentional use of certain cognitive processes to facilitate learning and memory (Ormrod, quoted in Vogel 2006:51).

When young, children believe that they are able to learn beyond their actual capabilities and, therefore, spend less time processing information and asking questions if the information is unclear. However, as children grow older they become increasingly aware of their metacognitive processes. They slowly realise that there are limitations to their memory in that they cannot recall everything they see or hear. They subsequently recognise what they know and do not know, so they spend more time learning and asking questions. Children also become increasingly aware of how they learn best and they make more use of learning strategies such as planning, organising, repeating and processing (Ormrod, quoted in Vogel 2006:52). A child’s quality of attention, his willingness to learn, his prior knowledge and experience, and his conscious use of effective learning strategies are metacognitive skills which influence the ability to learn effectively. Inadequate metacognitive abilities will impact on a child’s metalinguistic abilities because the child’s ability to use language efficiently is determined by his awareness of the quality of language he is employing and the manner in which he is employing it (Vogel 2006:52). Metacognitive strategies are involved in spoken language, reading and writing (Dednam 2007:121). The research participant has poorly developed metacognitive strategies as she often works impulsively without reflecting back on what has been asked and what she has recorded. She does not always know what she does not know.

2.6.5.2 Metalinguistics

Metalinguistics is the ability to understand language and think about how it works. It is explicit knowledge of the language itself (Woolfolk 2007:55). It is a skill which requires the learner to reflect on the dimensions of language, vis-à-vis form (phonology, morphology, syntax) and semantics. If you ask a learner to select the meaning of a word, choose the correct word in a multiple choice item or write the correct form of a specific syntactic structure, you are asking him to think metalinguistically, using his explicit knowledge about the product of the language (Paul 2009:444,451). The research participant has not developed the ability to think metalinguistically in this regard. She battles to write words in the correct form (morphology) and her lexical knowledge is poorly developed. Many errors of syntax are present are present in written expressive language. Metalinguistics generally develops phonologically (awareness of phonemes or

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sounds), then syntactically (awareness of structural grammar) and lastly semantically (perceiving the difference between words and what these words symbolise) (Burns, Roe & Ross, quoted in Vogel 2006:52). If this is the case then developing the research participant phonologically should support her development in the dimensions of syntax and semantics.

Examples of the beginnings of metalinguistic development involve manipulating and discussing language, analysing the elements of language, and making decisions about acceptable and unacceptable forms of language. Some children may demonstrate basic metalinguistic skills by the age of 3 years or younger; and by the age of 4 or 5 years numerous children have quite an extensive store of metalinguistic knowledge about words, sentences and speech sounds – knowledge that is key for early literacy development. Segmentation skills (awareness of syllables and phonemes) also begin to emerge at this stage (Paul 2009:102). In order to communicate effectively in language, a person must have an explicit knowledge of the rules of language. Metacognitive processes and metalinguistic awareness are pivotal to the sound development of spoken communication and the later mastery of reading and writing (Vogel 2006:53).

Marschark (2006:4) contends that both deaf and hearing children who begin to read or who present with reading problems are generally lacking in metalinguistic and metacognitive skills. Deaf learners seem to be unable to evaluate their reading comprehension and generally consider that they are good readers (Ewoldt, quoted in Marschark 2006:4).

The questions which now arise are, “How do deaf children acquire language?’’ and ‘’Do deaf children acquire language in the same way as their hearing counterparts?’’ and ‘’What are the components of language learning by deaf children?’’

2.6.5.3 Language acquisition in deaf and hard-of-hearing children

The first years of life are when basic language skills develop, and the first 2-3 years are generally recognized as a critical period for language learning. There is no substitute for natural language learning, and language acquisition that begins at age 3 or 4 is not natural (Marschark & Hauser 2012:44)

Throughout the stages of pre-linguistic vocal and manual babbling, the linguistic phases of first words and signs to the more complex language structures it is evident that the prerequisite for normal language development is the frequency and regularity of communication opportunities between deaf children and the people round them. Whether the communication is spoken or signed is inconsequential. Although deaf children initially babble vocally much like their hearing counterparts, their vocal babbling diminishes in both quantity and variety during the first year of life. Manual babbling may also be evident in deaf children and both manual and vocal babbling

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‘’conversations’’ with hearing or deaf parents play a definitive role in contributing to the child’s social, cognitive and language development (Marschark 2009:134).

It is natural for both deaf and hearing children to use gesture in order to identify, request or show things in social situations; and the gestures they employ are astonishingly similar, although deaf children make more use of gesture initially. As they develop towards adulthood both deaf and hearing children develop vocabularies to replace gestures with conventional language. There is no evidence that preventing the use of gesture or early sign language impedes the development of spoken language skills, and it may even be disadvantageous to the child’s ability to acquire language if gesture and early sign are forbidden, especially in young deaf children without cochlear implants (Marschark 2009:135).

Children who are born deaf or acquire deafness at an early age, with severe to profound hearing loss are unable to acquire language through audition, and subsequently have to depend on the visual modality to communicate. It must be emphasised that if the spoken language approach is the chosen method of communication, only 20-30% of speech sounds are visible on the human lips when attempting to speech read – even in dyadic conversations. This is of particular significance in a mainstream setting because it is easy to treat deaf and hard-of-hearing learners in the same way as their hearing counterparts. Children with hearing loss in excess of 60 dB do not generally develop good spoken language skills because normal conversational speech sounds fall into the 40 dB to 60 dB range. (See section 2.2.3 on degrees of hearing loss and the speech banana). Early identification and amplification may ameliorate this to some extent (Schauwers, Gillis & Govaerts 2005:95). However, it must be noted that even with the aid of cochlear units, ‘’the typical child with an implant hears about as well as his hard-of-hearing grandfather’’ (Marschark & Hauser 2012:14). These authors refer to evidence that has suggested that exposing deaf and hard-of-hearing children only to spoken language impedes their language development from early childhood through to the High School years.

Early skills, whether they be through the mode of spoken language or sign language, are predictive of later language development, and as younger children tend to acquire sign language more readily than spoken language, it stands to reason that they would benefit by being exposed to both. Early language development requires early and consistent input, and the hearing parents of deaf children may find that their learning of a sign language will be most valuable and beneficial. However, the needs of each child as an individual with unique circumstances must be addressed within the context of family and the educational system (Marschark 2009:135-136). The research participant was not exposed to sign language as her hearing parents chose the spoken language approach.

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The concept of literacy involves the strong, reciprocal relationships between spoken language, reading and written language. Whether deaf children acquire language through the vehicle of the spoken word or the signed word, their levels of achievement in this regard will impact on the higher skills of reading and written language. Trezek et al (2010:10) validate this statement by emphasising that conversational language, whether it be spoken or signed, has a crucial, reciprocal relationship with the language of print – language is critical for the development of print literacy (Trezek, Wang & Paul 2010:10). Some research scholars hold the view that reading and writing ought to be discussed together because reading and writing share underlying processes, especially in the emergent literacy phases (Paul 2009:268).