Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students face unique challenges in English education. Some do not have access to spoken English or American Sign Language (ASL) inputs that promote language skill development early in life. According to the National Association of the Deaf, some parents of DHH students receive medical guidance not to use ASL, which, combined with an inability to hear verbal communication, can lead to a phenomenon called language deprivation.
To make grammar practice more accessible for these students, Erin Finton, a lecturer at Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), recently teamed up with Google to create an AI-powered English learning tool called Grammar Laboratory.
“There is a lot of research that’s happening about early intervention,” she said. “But there’s much less research on, ‘If it has happened already, then what do we do to address it?’”…