Before I begin I must make note that I am in no way or form attempting to ridicule anyone with physical or mental deformities, conditions, or genetic predispositions.
I am enrolled in Oral Communication or simply Speech Class. Every few weeks or so we have to stand before the class and deliver a speech. When we write the outline for our speech we must take into account that it must intrigue and captivate our audience, the class. We also have to submit our outline typed in the correct format, not a manuscript.
So, there is this lady from China that has a very thick accent. She is also in one of those motorized wheel chairs ( I don't know what you call it). The 1st speech we had to deliver to the class, she spoke about her coming to the United States for surgery on her back. It was very hard to understand her but I grasped the idea of her speech.
I glanced at the paper she turned into the professor and it was just manuscript. We weren't supposed to do that. Since she didn't turn in the outline and didn't follow the format her speech was incorrect! After every individual speech we constructively criticize the performance. No one said anything negative to her and as I expected, neither did the professor. He said, "Your speech was very clear, you have a great speaking voice and you used great vocabulary." He failed to mention that she didn't follow the format, she spoke too low, and know one knew what the hell she was talking about. Fast forward to Yesterday.
We had more speeches to deliver and its the Chinese lady's turn to deliver her speech. Once again, she turned in a manuscript. She announced that her topic was about the Economy in China. That was the last understandable thing she said for about 5 minutes. I look around the class and I see students laughing, texting, closing their eyes, the professor was fiddling with his watch and I couldn't help but wonder when this was going to be over.
When she finished, it was time for us to critique the speech. No one wanted to say anything. The professor was very sweet to her saying that it was a very complex speech and this time he did mention her format but that was it. So, on the train ride home, I thought how is this teacher going to possibly give this girl a bad grade? He already treats her differently than the other students. There is an apparent miscommunication because she obviously cant follow directions and no one knows what she is saying majority of the time.
But, my problem is that if she had the mental capacity to get into college and obviously pass grade school why can't she be treated like the other students. There are other students that are capable of the work that also are not from the United States with thick accents, but they follow the format and deliver interesting and great speeches. I know it's none of my business if the professor gives her a passing grade or not but she is just like the rest of us and she should be treated as such.
I understand exactly what you’re saying. I think people are so caught up in making sure that they don’t "treat" or discrimination against anyone based on sex, race, origin, or disability, that they don’t see that they are continuing to "handicap" her. She might not understand that she isn’t talking clear or her paper is in the incorrect format. But since your teacher is overlooking that, and when she goes on to the next class if that teacher does the same, she isn’t really receiving her full education. That would also be handicapping her. She should be treated equally, and graded equally. Even if the teacher doesn’t want to do that in front of entire class, he could wait until after class.
ReplyDeleteThank you! They are holding her hand. You said what I wanted to say better than me.. :*
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