Keys to English Print:

As published in Odyssey, Fall 2003
Manipulative Visual Language...in PDF (9 pages, 303 kb)

Manipulative Visual Language
A TOOL TO HELP CRACK THE CODE OF ENGLISH

By Jimmy Challis Gore and Robert Gillies

Hearing children learn English through constant exposure to the spoken language that surrounds them. For instance, young hearing children understand the correctness of “The dog is eating the cookie” long before they can explain what the, is, and the suffix -ing mean in that sentence. Hearing children just“know” that this sentence sounds right—as opposed to “Dog eat cookie,” which sounds wrong even to many very young children.

But where are the models that will enable deaf children to crack the code of English—to assimilate this syntax?

At a school for deaf children in Maine, we are answering that question with Manipulative Visual Language (MVL). For students with hearing loss, especially those in elementary school, MVL provides a visual model of English in its basic forms. Although basic elements of this technique are in use in some Montessori schools, we developed this system, refining MVL in order to address some of the difficulties in teaching English grammar to deaf students.

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Shapes

The most striking feature of MVL is the use of colored shapes to teach the parts of written English. Black equilateral triangles represent nouns, red circles represent verbs, purple triangles represent pronouns, green crescents represent prepositions, and blue equilateral triangles represent adjectives. Using these shapes, we show the patterns of simple sentence structure.

Once students become accustomed to the pattern of shapes that constitute a sentence, they can see that a noun needs an article while a proper noun does not, that adjectives immediately precede nouns, and that every basic sentence needs a verb.

In a system to represent English visually, teachers in Maine use blocks in different shapes and colors. Black equilateral triangles represent nouns, red circles represent verbs, purple triangles represent pronouns, green crescents represent prepositions, and blue equilateral triangles represent adjectives. Other information about the English word may be included on the color block. For example, blue triangles with a white number sign mean adjectives of number or quantity. Photos courtesy of Jimmy Challis Gore.

We often use stories to introduce the shapes as symbols to students. Besides providing a memory aid, this technique helps explain a symbol’s origins and purpose. For example: The little blue triangle [which denotes the article] was looking for a friend one day and approached the big ‘N’ triangle [proper noun]. ‘N’ was very proud, and said:“Go away! I don’t need you! I prefer to be alone!” Luckily for the little blue triangle, there was a kinder triangle, the‘T’ triangle [common noun], and it was very happy to have a friend. The two of them became inseparable.

Materials

We find that students can work with these colored shapes in a variety of materials. For example, three-dimensional wooden shapes feel comfortable in the hand when students want to organize and sequence shapes at their desks. We have observed that some students like to have a set of these wooden shapes on their desks when they are practicing a particular sentence structure. As one student said, “I cannot hear the order. I need to see and touch it, and that way I can understand it.”

When our students are “symbolizing” sentences on the whiteboard, they work with two-dimensional shapes made from sturdy, vibrantly colored pieces of plastic with magnetized backings. The visual impact of these shapes against a white or black background is striking.

In the hands of imaginative teachers, the two- and three-dimensional shapes can be used in many creative and meaningful ways. If teachers are working on a set structure, they can set up a left-to-right sequence of shapes, placing the shapes on a road or train track they have drawn, so students can identify the elements they need to make a sentence. Then the teacher can add forks in the road to show that a choice has to be made: for example, between is and are, or the and her. This approach is flexible enough to let teachers target specific grammar goals.

Another creative activity relates to verb tenses. We draw a timeline based on a short length of real videotape; students who have just acted out a brief videotaped drama can then plot the verbs along the line by putting the shapes along it. They can see the sequence of actions, and compare progressive and simple verb tenses with ease.

Like many elementary school teachers, we have filled the walls of our classrooms with examples of the most common patterns in English sentence structure. The big difference in our classrooms, though, is that we display sequences of shapes that illustrate these sentence patterns rather than printed advice for students to follow in developing their understanding of grammar. Our students vividly see that before a noun they usually must put an article, that an article follows a preposition, and that a noun and subject are followed by verbs.

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Our students use an “MVL Sentence Map” to build on what they have learned from their work with the wooden and plastic shapes. On this writing guide, which resembles a road map, students can trace a line from left to right, selecting the elements they will need to write a clear, simple sentence. There are several options along the way, but on this “road” there is no way to bypass the first verb! For instance, beginning writers quickly become dependent on the article the, but we need to encourage them to consider other options. So when they edit their sentences with the map, they see that when the road forks at the little blue triangle, it also forks for the possessive noun and possessive pronoun. They can reflect on their choice of the, and can decide if there is a better option at this point on the map. Before the common noun there also comes a fork for an adjective. As they edit their sentences, they can consider this option and add an adjective to improve the sentence. We designed the sentence map for those students who are reluctant writers, and it is a very popular tool because they are able to see what they have to write— and in what order—to create a clear, simple sentence.

We have one sentence map near an old fire alarm on the wall. We “wired” the first verb on the map to the old alarm. Students enjoy pointing this out to visitors, and warning of the perils of bypassing that “red” word! Mastery of the structures within the map gives students an excellent foundation for building more complex sentence structures.

Shape Variants

In the three years we have been developing and applying MVL, we have found that the shapes alone, although useful, cannot convey all the information our students need. For instance, the shapes are not sufficient to show the different forms that verbs, nouns, adjectives, and pronouns can take.

We found that working with the menu of five basic shapes was something like ordering a vegetable in a restaurant. It narrows the options (and is preferable to simply asking for food), but the chef will need more information than just“vegetable.” What kind of vegetable? How do you want it cooked? The challenge is much the same with, for instance, the red “verb” circle. As a way of classifying a particular word, it is a great start. But a young student who is learning to write needs to know more. That is why we developed variants within and around the “master” shapes. The red circle means verb; the graphics we have added to the red circle give a definition of the verb’s exact meaning. We can clearly convey tenses, as well as different forms of the auxiliary verbs to be, to have, and to do. Students can see what verb tenses look like and, significantly, they can see what they mean. Different noun forms (names, things, places, possessives); auxiliary verbs; and subject, object, and possessive pronouns are likewise clearly and strongly defined within their “master” shape by these variants.

Many older students are unsure of the word order when they have to use two or three adjectives in the same phrase or sentence. For example, is it old wooden chair or wooden old chair? We designed nine different symbols, one for each of nine categories of adjectives, with a symbol within the blue triangle. Once students have this sequence memorized, they can use two or more adjectives in a sentence with greater confidence.

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MVL and Reading

While MVL is a powerful tool for helping students with writing, we also use it in reading activities. In one exercise, students use the symbols and their variants to analyze and symbolize sentences or blocks of text. Using colored pencils, they seek out a particular structure and mark above the words appropriately. Students say they enjoy this exercise in code breaking because it helps them imprint basic structures into their memories, further reinforcing patterns in English they never get to hear.

Sometimes when we are working with a projected text in a group reading exercise, our students encounter an unknown word. We can use MVL to help narrow the options. Take, for example, the sentence Jane registered the car. If a student does not know what registered means, we can set up the magnetized shapes for Jane, the, and car. It is a real moment of triumph if a student puts a symbol for a past tense verb over registered. It is possible to make a game out of this. As with cloze procedure, you can block out a word on the projected text and give students a point for choosing the right MVL shape and a bonus point for providing the right word.

Tradition was Not Enough

We developed MVL in reaction to traditional ways of teaching English grammar, which almost always entail presentation through text. There is a place for this approach, but it needs to be supplemented because, quite simply, using words to explain words can be a baffling approach if words are themselves the problem! Many deaf adults have only bad memories of this kind of text-only approach. MVL lets students see how the basic parts of English grammar work together—literally, it lets them get their hands on grammar.

At first sight, a teacher might find the many symbols in MVL daunting and worry that students will find them even more so. But as any Windows-era computer program shows, most people today are visual learners—whether deaf or hearing, old or young, but especially the young. Computer programs display a large quantity of visual symbols, or icons, on screen. For example, we counted at least 60 such symbols around the screen for the word processing program we used to type this paper: Paste is a little brush, cut is a pair of scissors, etc. After a few “touches” on each symbol, it all starts to seem intuitive. In a somewhat similar manner, MVL presents students with a system of symbols whose logic quickly becomes evident because the system is so visual and tactile.

We recommend using MVL in the elementary grades in order to establish a strong grammar foundation, but we find that it is entirely appropriate for middle school, high school, and even adult students struggling with English. Though the colorful forms can seem “young” at first to these students, their excitement is evident when they finally grasp a grammatical concept for the first time. “It takes a few weeks to pick up the concepts with the shapes,” says one adult learner. “But,” she adds, “without them it would take years.”