Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1889-08-22
RuR TILE nEAE Talk.
A visit to miss Zane's School I'm
cleveland, o.

cleveland, %.
Cleveland Leader.
Yesterday afternoon Lander reporter
paid visit to Miss Zaue's school. As
he approached the door he heard childish
voices, which ceased suddenly at his
knock. A demure little miss OF some 10
years opened tine door aud the visitor
found hiuself in an apartment allied with
the usual parspherualia OF the school
room. The reporter explained that he
wished to give the public an idea of the
new method OF instruction employed,
and the teacher replied
"The oral method of teaching the deaf
can hardly be called new, though 1t has
not been followed in this city. II has
been used In Germany hundred years,
in Italy for very long time and in |
France and England, and is fast succeed |
ing the sign language. In the United
States there are IA oral schools and 60 |
Institutions where tue sign method pre-
walls. In some OF these, however. there
is ono teacher who gives oral instruction,
but usually with indifferent success, be.
cause child needs to concentrate his
mind on one or the other method in order
to master either"
Ills II as natural for deaf children to
read the tips 40 the handsg
'Just as natural. deaf baby who is
constantly talked to will get sort OF lip
Language of its own. II it's mother in
stead of holding out her hands and saying
come would persiatently keep her hands
out Of sight aud direct attention to her
| lips alone when speaking the word, the
child would learn when his company was
wanted Just rs surely as If she bsokoned
to him"
'Suppose deaf child enters your
school, what do you first do to him?"
"Atter we have won his confidence, We
proceed to instruct min through tho
medium of his SENSES Of sight and touch.
The sense Of touch or feeling you know
ia very acnte in the deaf. IL wish to
attract q scholars attention csn do 1t
by rapping loudly on the desk with my
pencil. They do uos hear the SQUAD but
feel the jar; we do not feel the jar but
hear the sound. Tue same Is true OF
firing of cannon on the square.
at must be remembered that by way of
compensation for loss OF hearing, these
afflicted children have q very quick
powers OF observation and very fine
aud delicate sense of touch. We try to
make the moat OF these faculties in our
instruction We begin with the simplest
words, words whose vocal elem ants are
most clearly doaned and easily pro.
nounoed. We taxa tins word papa for
example. The teacher takes the child to
, her side in front OF mirror. She then
speaks the word papa making the
articulation as visible as possible. The
/ child, watching her face and his own,
tries to get the same movement OF the lips.
So much for the sense Of sight. At the
, same time the child is told to place his
hand over the vocal organs used il
| making the sound and feel them vibrate.
When he has piaosd his lips in the same
/ position az his teacher and used the Hamt
vocal organs he has made the same
r sounds, infection aside. He does moi
learn the letters but the sounds Of tbs
language. He discovers that hard &
' is felt in the throat; NH in the nasl
. passages; that 'e' causes vibration at thu
chin aud in front of the ears, and SO OF
: through all the elementary sounds of thu
, English language. He must know
b just whore to phase his tongue
a what organs to use aud how tt
i. form his lips to produce any desiret
sound. Professor Alexander Melville
!, Bell of the University of E1inburg
father OF the Professor Bell, Of telephon
ii
4 which were pictorial representations Q
i. the organs Of articulation. The SCUM
h indicated by the letter M Yves by Pre-
!. feasor Bell expressed by character
" every line of which indicated the pos
ii ton of some vocal organ used in pre-
!. nounciDR it. II newspapers had bee
n printed In theae characters, instead of i
~ Roman text Professor Bells inventio
i would have been of great practical yaiu
ia to our pupils"
II "How do your pupils learn to resd?"
ID "We use the diaGrlticai text lettel
Al which you see written thsre on the boart
II They are the same characters as are use
al in WOroesters dictionary TO distinguis
nj tue different sounds of the several vowel
m Long IA has one mark, short 7
another, the Italian a. another, an
it SO on. They are taught syllab
8. drill, using every sound in the Englia
A language. When our deaf children nav
ii BIZ patient observation and exercise
Il. the sense of touch, learned to make
Az given sound, we write the character rel
al reseptiug it on the board, so that IL
o. sound and the letter are forever ASSOC
Il ated in the child's mind. When he hi
M learned to make all the sounds of Il
,b language, aud can produce any ono
an them az soon as the letters are seen, he
n on this aRme footing to 90 on aud learn
n read that child is who has been tau2
he in the primary school by the phonet
method. Both can pronounce the wore
NJ correctly, even il they have no idea VIII
Ia they mean, and never saw them befoT
ma provided the necessary diaeFitical mar
he are over the words. IL they are Mother
" and in ordinary text they are not, I
n child who can hear must listen to
,er teachers pronunciation, and the Chi
IA. who cannot hear must watch her lips"
oh "a notable disadvantage of the de
IA child" added Miss Zane, sis his lack
nst vocabulary. The child that hears b
ma learned the names OF hundreds OF thin
,ep before he begins TO think of readln
ss. We carry illustration with us at eve
ths step. Whenever an object is mention
nj. we Try to have picture OF it to sh
nd what we mean. II an abstract word
va introduced 1 try to use it IN ditfere
for connections go that at last its sisnif
inJ ton is learned"
nd The reporter noticed TINT in speak,
TO her pupils Miss Z5ue never moved
hands at all, but had no difficulty
being understood. Mrs. johnson ca
in during the interview and talked W
Of her daughter, aged IL years, with
ia difficulty. This little girl never u.tei
word until taught by the oral meth
yes but is now Studying readi
lers language, writing, arithmetic and &C
the position. She can read the lips Of /
eed one who will take pains to talk to
hos 49, aHI hos. al. 41sA=, a.