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Date: | Wed, 22 May 1996 20:59:59 -0700 |
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Larisa Overmier wrote
"I'm wondering how many museums have special tours, docents, or
educational materials designed for school students with disabilities or
language problems, such as hearing impaired or ESL students. Please
respond on the list because I think many museums have been considering
these questions of late."
The museum I work in has specially trained its interpretive guides to
take ESL tours. This training took place with ESL teachers and went
through some of the basics like not using idioms to the less obvious ways
of dealing with other cultures. For instance you have to be culture
sensitive in the way you usher your group to follow you or you could
easily insult someone. Each group states its ASPLR (Australian Second
Language Proficiency Rating) when they book a tour. At the moment the
tours focus on the house museum. For some groups it is simply practice at
hearing the language but for most its a whirlwind introduction to
Australian history. The current person working on interpretive programs
has a special interest in ESL programs. Some new programs are being
developed which I could pass on at a later date if anyone is particularly
interested.
Jennifer
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