In today’s global village, more and more deaf students are taking foreign language courses successfully. Navigating accessibility and course requirements for foreign language courses is not always as straightforward as they may be in other courses.

Institutions should evaluate accommodations for these classes on a case-by-case basis. Effective collaboration and flexibility plays a major role in implementing accommodations including a “trial and error” approach to configuring accommodations.

Creating Access: Foreign Language Classes offers suggestions with substituting or modifying specific assignments and activities to allow a deaf student to demonstrate their mastery of a language.

Speaking is Not Essential to Learn a Foreign Language

One challenge is the common belief that listening and speaking the foreign language is an essential component of the course requirements. Implying that a student needs to be able to “speak” or “listen” to a language in order to meet the course requirements may be frowned upon by the Office for Civil Rights because it can be seen as excluding certain groups from partaking in an institution’s program. However, when institutions have taken creative approaches to accommodate deaf students, the students often thrive in learning other languages. One example is Tory’s Story and her journey in learning Arabic