Oralism is a philosophy and method of educating deaf and hard of hearing students that emphasizes teaching them to communicate through speech, lipreading, and the use of residual hearing, historically to the exclusion of sign language in the classroom. It became the dominant approach in deaf education across much of Europe and North America following the 1880 Milan Conference of educators of the deaf, which formally endorsed oral methods over manual, sign-based instruction. Oralism remains a contested legacy in deaf education today, criticized by many in the Deaf community and by bilingual-bicultural educators for suppressing sign language and delaying language acquisition, while some oral education programs continue to operate, often now alongside rather than strictly against sign language use. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Partially Attested
Origin YearThe 1880 Milan congress established the solely oralist classroom; earlier oral teaching methods existed Core ClaimEducation of deaf students through oral language using lip reading and speech 1 FAQs
What did the 1880 Milan congress decide about teaching deaf students?
The 1880 Milan congress created the solely oralist classroom and kept sign language out of it.
The International Congress on the Education of the Deaf met again in Milan in 1880, with 164 educators attending and only one of them deaf. The meeting created the solely oralist classroom, which prevented any form of sign language from being used, and deaf teachers were widely disallowed from teaching deaf children. Afterward the Deaf community called this period the dark ages for deaf education in America.
Connections
Sources
1. Oralism (Wikipedia)
History section, Milan congress paragraph
The ICED met again in 1880, in Milan with 164 educators attending with one of them being deaf.
Lead section
Oralism, also known as the German method, is the education of deaf students through oral language by using lip reading, speech, and mimicking the mouth shapes and breathing patterns of speech.
View the SourceOralism (Wikipedia)
Lead sectionQuote, Lead section
Oralism, also known as the German method, is the education of deaf students through oral language by using lip reading, speech, and mimicking the mouth shapes and breathing patterns of speech.
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