Using effective ESL methods to teach English to deaf students can be challenging and exciting. I use ESL methods to inspire my deaf students who engage in texts and use media to make connections across disciplines. Newell (1992), Davis (1997), and Staley (2008) described ways in which interdisciplinary courses enrich student learning. The “unshakeable focus on student learning” described by Kuh, Kinzie, Schuh, Whitt, and Associates (2005) encourages me to reflect on my teaching strategies to ensure that I am experimenting with engaging ESL pedagogies and challenging students to perform at high standards. My students created dynamic videos in American Sign Language which helped them develop their reading and writing abilities in my interdisciplinary courses.

Students in my interdisciplinary courses “Vampires: Their Historical Significance in Literature, Film, and Pop Culture” and “Multiple Lenses: Grappling with Reality and Illusion” make short films to help them create meaning between the texts they read and the essays they write. In the first course, students think about their own culture and identity when they examine the phenomenon of vampirism in verbal and visual culture from various historical periods and from both Eastern and Western cultures. Students create videos for interviews with a vampire and Deafula (Holstrom, 1975), a deaf Dracula film. In the second course, students examine how people look through various lenses as they view events. The texts used provide characters with interesting and unique perspectives on cultural issues as well as social and ethical responsibilities. After people witness events, what are their interpretations of what happened? Are we looking at reality or seeing our own illusions? We focus on the bystander effect and how this plays out in films such as Rashomon (Minoura, 2002) and Rear Window (Hitchcock, 1954). The bystander effect occurs when individuals do not help victims during emergency situations when other people are present as they think someone else will help. Students create films from their own points of view to show this effect. These films lay the foundation for writing activities, such as essays, reflective pieces, and research papers.

Acknowledgement: Dr. Sharon Pajka, associate professor of English at Gallaudet University, team-taught these courses with Jane Nickerson.

REFERENCES

Davis, J. R. (1997). Interdisciplinary courses and team teaching. Phoenix, AZ: American Council on Education/ Oryx Press Series on Higher Education.

Hitchcock, A. (Producer & Director). (1954). Rear window [Film]. Los Angeles, CA: MGM.

Holstrom, G. R. (Producer) & Wolf, P. (Director). (1975). Deafula [Film]. Portland, OR, USA: Signscope.

Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Schuh, J. H., Whitt, E. J., & Associates. (2005). Student success in college: Creating conditions that matter. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Minoura, J., et al. (2002). Rashomon. Irvington, NY: Criterion Collection.

Newell, W. H. (1992). Academic disciplines and undergraduate education: Lessons from the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at Miami University, Ohio. European Journal of Education, 27(3),211-221.

Staley, C. (2008). Focus on college success. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Publishing.

OTHER USEFUL RESOURCES

Nickerson, J. F. (2007). Film and Society: From Citizen Kane to Erin Brockovich. In M. Christel & S. Sullivan (Eds.), Lesson plans for creating media-rich classrooms (pp. 115-123). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.

Jane Nickerson, PhD, is a professor of English at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. Dr. Nickerson started teaching English at Gallaudet University in 1983. Since that time, she has taught many courses including reading, composition, introduction to literature, literature and film, and media studies. Dr. Nickerson has written articles for English Journal, The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, and other journals. Her most recent article entitled “Film and Society: From Citizen Kane to Erin Brockovich” is in Lesson Plans for Creating Media-Rich Classrooms, a National Council of Teachers of English publication. She is also a cochair of the NCTE Film Festival, which takes place during each annual convention.