“CELEBRATING BRAILLE:
A CANADIAN APPROACH”
A Round Table Discussion Topic
Presented By
Myra M. Rodrigues Ph.D.
October 19, 2009
BACKGROUND PAPER:
1. INTRODUCTION:
The purpose of this paper is to share information about a new Canadian textbook for teachers and students of braille entitled “Celebrating Braille: A Canadian Approach”, authored by Florence G. Carter, Rosina Zampese and Myra Rodrigues.
By way of background, in Canada, historically and currently, American Braille textbooks are relied upon by teachers of Braille. Although many of these texts are excellent in terms of presenting the Braille code, they do not reflect Canadian culture, geography, history, or Canada’s rich multi-cultural heritage.
Based on the experience of the authors, and anecdotal feedback from other teachers and students of Braille, there has been an increasing desire and demand for a culturally relevant Canadian Braille textbook.
In order to address this gap in learning materials and with the generous support and encouragement of CNIB management, staff and volunteers, the Canadian Braille Literacy Foundation, and the Knowledge Exchange Programme, the authors commenced work on the creation of a new Canadian Braille textbook in February, 2006. The textbook was completed and officially launched in January, 2009, coinciding with world wide celebrations of Louis Braille’s bicentenary. An extensive Teacher’s Guide, in electronic format, was completed a few months later. Both the textbook and Teacher’s Guide are available for purchase from CNIB.
2. PRINCIPLES AND OBJECTIVES:
Principles and objectives underlying the development of this work include:
· the creation of a textbook that is uniquely Canadian and culturally relevant
· Introduction of the Braille code in a way that avoids a “learning, unlearning and relearning” cycle by avoiding inclusion of words in the text until they are fully contracted.
· creation of a text that not only promotes the learning of the Braille code, but that also promotes Braille literacy through mastery of highly proficient Braille reading and writing skills
· presentation of reading material that is pleasant, positive, interesting, challenging and fun
· development of lessons that may accommodate a broad range of educational and linguistic abilities, including ESL students
· inclusion of material that is up to date, and reflects today’s world of technology
Note that the above principles and objectives that were the under-pinnings for the development of this Canadian textbook can also be applied as a model for the development of culturally sensitive braille textbooks in other countries and languages around the world.
3. FORMAT AND STRUCTURE:
Reading Braille by touch is somewhat analogous to attempting to read print through a drinking straw. Whereas a complete word (and much more) can be seen and recognized at a glance visually, only one or two Braille letters or characters can be felt at a time.
Therefore, it is frequently assumed that reading Braille is, by its very nature, a slow and tedious process. As a result, new learners are not always encouraged to work toward building up their reading speed and achieving maximum Braille skills.
The new Canadian Braille textbook is intended to not only support learning of the Braille code, but also to encourage proficient reading and writing skills so that students may gain maximum benefit and pleasure from the learning of Braille.
The text includes pre-reading materials, uncontracted Braille, contracted Braille, supplementary reading and an in depth teacher’s guide.
3.1 PRE-READING:
The “Pre-reading” section is intended to:
(a)Provide teachers with a tool for determining a student’s sense of touch, manual coordination and motivation, and
(b) Assist students to develop the sense of
touch, appropriate posture, hand positioning and hand
movements, that is, development of motor and tactile skills,
consistent with fluent Braille reading.
The first half of the pre-reading section consists of tactile shapes (e.g. braille clocks, phases of the moon, geometric shapes, etc.) The tactiles range from simple to more complex objects, and from large to smaller shapes.
These are followed by an enlarged tactile of the Braille cell (including raised dot numbers), and materials for learning and recognizing Braille cell patterns, using a Braille cell configuration.
The remainder of the Pre-reading section consists of a wide range of braille patterns, using the standard Braille cell size, and showing various dot configurations. This part of the Pre-reading volume is intended to assist the student in acquiring correct hand and finger positions, tracking skills, a light touch, and appropriate movement from line to line on a Braille page.
3.2 UNCONTRACTED BRAILLE:
This section is contained in two volumes. The first volume presents the Braille alphabet, numbers and simple punctuation.
The letters are presented in alphabetical order. For the most part, each letter when introduced, is shown first at the beginning of words, then as the final letter, then as a letter contained within a word and finally, where applicable, as a double letter within or at the end of a word. Initially, short, simple words are presented, followed by longer more complex words. Ten to twelve sentences, again beginning with the simple and moving on to the more difficult, provide additional reading practice.
Many of the lessons include a “challenge box”, that is, a tactile box or frame containing more difficult words or sentences. These are intended as optional reading, and practice materials for those students who enjoy taking on a challenge. Feedback to date from students and teachers regarding this feature of the text has been very positive.
A major effort has been made to present practice reading material that is upbeat, positive, pleasant and interesting. Words that are potentially derogative or tend to conjure up unpleasant or unhappy thoughts and emotions have been avoided, i.e. words such as “cry”, “sad”, “die”, “guns”, “kill” and “rage” have been avoided in spite of the fact that they meet the criteria for this section of being contraction-free.
Because of the limitations imposed by using only words that are “contraction free” in this section, lists of various kinds have been included. These help to maintain interest and expand the range of available reading materials. Many of the lists have a very Canadian flavour (e.g. Canadian Wildlife, Trees (native to Canada), Bird Talk (birds found in various parts of Canada).
Canada’s rich multi-cultural heritage is reflected throughout the text, for example, by inclusion of foods and household items (e.g. biscotti, wok) and first names from various ethnic and linguistic groups, (e.g. Yezdi, Bruno, Juan, Ali).
The remainder of the Uncontracted Braille section (Volume 3) focuses on punctuation and practice reading drills. The drills are specifically designed to promote efficient reading, i.e. good hand and finger positioning, development of sense of touch in fingers of both hands, quick left/right finger movement consistent with rapid tactile recognition of letter groupings, e.g. prefixes suffixes, and other letter combinations common to the English language.
With a view to creating a text that reflects today’s world of computer technology, words such as “e-mail”, “website”, “blog” and “upload” are included in the lessons.
Concerning format, the text is double-spaced and single sided throughout the uncontracted Braille section.
3.3 CONTRACTED BRAILLE:
This section presents the contracted Braille code, commencing with alphabetic word signs, contractions for “and, for, of, the, with” and short form word abbreviations that do not contain contractions. For the most part, the contracted Braille code is introduced in a way that is consistent with the seven lines of Braille.
“Challenge Boxes”, many of which contain interesting facts about Canada, and lists similar to those found in the Uncontracted section, but containing contractions, are also included, e.g. lists of National Parks, and Canadian Towns and Cities.
In addition to presenting the contracted Braille code, this section also introduces the student to basic computer Braille symbols used in e-mail and website addresses.
In terms of Braille format, single line spacing and interpoint embossing are gradually introduced in this section.
3.4 TEACHER’S GUIDE
The Teacher’s Guide has been produced in electronic format. Each section of the textbook is discussed in detail in order to provide teachers with a maximum comfort level in using the new text. It consists of nine chapters, and includes tips for teaching Braille reading and writing, definitions of words that may not be in common usage in some regions of the country, a summary of rules for the braille code, and tables of contents for each of the five volumes of the textbook.
Volume 5 of the textbook is embossed in interpoint braille. Because interpoint is difficult to read visually, the text of this volume is reproduced in Chapter 8 of the Teacher’s Guide for the benefit of those teachers unable to read braille by touch. The Teacher’s Guide that accompanies “Celebrating Braille: A Canadian Approach” is one of the most thorough tools available today for teachers of braille.
4 FIELD TESTING:
In May 2007 field testing of the pre-reading and uncontracted Braille sections was initiated. The materials were distributed to 15 teachers of Braille across Canada, along with a questionnaire for analysis of feedback. The material was tested with approximately 25 students in total across the country. Feedback was extremely helpful in refining the text.
5. UNIFIED ENGLISH BRAILLE (UEB):
Although the initial publication of the text uses the Standard American Braille code, the authors are keeping abreast of UEB developments, and are prepared to make adjustments to the text to reflect the UEB code when it becomes the official Braille standard for Canada.
6. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION;
In summary, the new Canadian braille textbook, “Celebrating Braille: A Canadian Approach”, was officially launch in January 2009. At that time, the authors gave CNIB full reproduction and distribution rights, but maintain copyright for the time being.
The authors sincerely hope that this unique and culturally relevant text will encourage teachers of braille and others to recognize and promote the importance of braille literacy. And, as a result, hopefully an increasing number of blind adolescents and adults will pursue and enjoy the learning of braille and discover that braille literacy is not only useful but that it is an important tool for independence, and a rich and satisfying life style. Braille can unlock the doors to knowledge and life-long learning.
Although this textbook is uniquely Canadian, the underlying concepts and principles on which it is based are transferable to other countries and cultures around the world.
REFERENCES:
A Little Book of Facts about a Really Big Country
By John Robert Colombo
Penguin Canada, 2007
Baily, J. (2003). Surmounting the braille reading speed plateau. Braille Monitor. 46(5), 323-325.
BANA Braille Codes Update 2007
(Copyright) The Braille Authority of North America
Effective January 1, 2008
Bertelson, P., Mousty, P., & D'Alimonte, G. (1984). A study of braille reading: 2. Patterns of hand activity in one-handed and two-handed reading.
http://www.braille.org/papers/anal2/anal2.html
Canada Postal Code Book
Canada’s Natural Wonders
By Joanne Richter
Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2008
Davidson, P. W., Appelle, S., & Haber, R. N.(1992). Haptic scanning of braille cells by low- and high-proficiency blind readers. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 13(2), 99-111.
English Braille, American Edition, 2004
Lowenfeld, B., Abel, G. L., Hatlen, P. H. (1969). Blind Children Learn to Read. (pp. 39-120). Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publisher.
Mousty, P. & Bertelson, P. (1985). A study of braille reading: 1. Reading speed as a function of hand usage and context. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 37A, 217-233.
Our Special Household Hints
Compiled by Lisa Gazarek Ostrow
Published by National Braille Press Inc.
Boston MA, 2006
True North The Yukon and North West Territories
By William R. Morrison
Oxford University Press
Don Mills, Ont. Canada 1998
WOW CANADA!
Exploring This Land from Coast to Coast to Coast (new updated edition)
By Vivien Bowers
Maple Tree Press Inc.
Toronto, 1999 and 2007