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Read my voice: a documentary
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Content
Read My Voice
A documentary produced by
Chinwai Wong
___________________________________________________
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM)
December 2017
Copyright 2017 Chinwai Wong
Acknowledgement
My sincerest gratitude goes to those who graciously shared their time with me to build
this story. I thank Sarah Yan Zhang, Eva Yee Tong Chan teacher and friends at Vancouver City
College for willing to share their lives on camera. I thank Dr. Carol Chou at UCLA for giving me
insights to a hard of hearing’s prospective. I thank Professor Dan Birman for walking me step by
step through the process of making a long-form visual story. I thank Feifei Chen, my dear
colleague for giving me a hand when I needed help. I’d also like to thank Professor Michael
Parks and Professor Michael Peyser for serving on my thesis committee and reviewing this
project. This story is for all of you.
1
Table of Contents
I. Background and Summary: Sarah’s story 3
II. Purpose of the documentary 6
III. Takeaway of producing the documentary 8
IV. Documentary Script: Read My Voice 10
V. Reference 24
2
I. Background and Summary: Sarah’s story
Sarah Zhang was born with severe hearing loss in China in 1992. She has been living in the
hearing world since she could remember. Sarah taught herself to speak and lip-read in three
languages: Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese and English. Although she says she has no trouble
communicating, she found herself out of place in the hearing world. Sarah made the decision to
leave home to enroll in an American Sign Language program in Vancouver in 2016. She sought
a sense of belonging by learning ASL and meeting people in the deaf community who share
similar experiences. However, because she had never been in a deaf community before, it was
difficult for her to fit into the new environment as well. This left Sarah confused about where she
belongs: deaf or hearing.
Sarah’s mother, Eva, figured out her daughter’s hearing loss when Sarah was at the age of two.
As a baby, Sarah was always happy and energetic. But Eva remembered Sarah sometimes
seemed awfully quiet. She did not pick up language as soon as the other kids. At first, Eva
thought it was just a matter of time. Then she noticed Sarah would often lean towards the speaker
as if she couldn’t hear enough. If Eva tried to turn down the audio volume, Sarah would cry.
Eva and her husband then sent Sarah to an audiologist for testing. It turned out Sarah was born
with 80 percent hearing loss. Back then, special education programs in China were not very well
facilitated. There was lack of awareness and respect for the deaf and hearing-impaired
community. Sarah’s family decided that Sarah would go to hearing schools instead.
3
Sarah says she can only hear loud sounds if she doesn’t wear hearing aids. Hearing aids helped
her to learn pronunciation when she was young. Sarah’s hearing aids now are very old. She said
she does not want a new pair because she says they are too expensive, and she does not rely on
hearing aids when she communicates. She trained herself to read lips over the years, and she has
been communicating primarily through lip-reading. Her mother suspects she can only identify
sounds when she wears hearing aids. However, Sarah insists she can hear everything if she wears
her hearing aids.
Dr. Carol Chou, an audiologist at UCLA, said that sometimes people don’t want to get new
hearing aids because they don’t want to confront their hearing loss progression. Dr. Chou
explained how hearing aids amplify sounds. She also said it is uncommon to see someone who
had never received special education to pick up three languages by lips-reading.
Sarah said she’d like to be independent and challenge herself. She was having a hard time in
China. She was bullied in school and felt helpless. Sarah received a high school education, but
she was not able to receive a diploma because she never passed her High School Entrance Exam.
Her mother paid a lot of money for her to audit high school, and then audit college. Sarah was
stuck after she finished. She does not have diplomas; her job opportunities are very limited.
Sarah decided to go on new adventures on her own.
4
Now, Sarah has settled in Vancouver. Every morning at 8:30, she leaves home, gets on a train
and goes to school. Vancouver City College is a welcoming place. She says she feels respected
there. Her classmates and instructor are either hard of hearing or deaf, and she quickly made
friends. On the weekends, Sarah goes out with her friends as a group. Many of her friends are
photographers, and Sarah is often their model. This is the first time Sarah has engaged with the
sign language culture.
But adapting a new culture is not easy. Unlike verbal language, sign language is visual. It took
her awhile to catch up and adapt. Aastrid Evensen, Sarah’s instructor says Sarah is struggling
and worried. Miscommunications happen when she is at school with her deaf friends. As she is
so used to speaking, she sometimes tries to speak with her classmates, forgetting some of her
classmates have never been able to speak or hear. She realizes her attempt to “talk” may seem
like an insult. Sarah is very frustrated and negative about it. She doesn’t like to explain because
she thinks people will misunderstand her anyway. Sarah becomes confused about her own
identity– throughout her life she has been communicating as a hearing person. She speaks, and
she “listens.” She doesn’t want to give up speaking in order to fit in the new environment.
Evensen says that deaf people are very sensitive. They have a very strong sense of community,
and they don’t like to interfere with the hearing world because they don’t feel comfortable – it’s
like there is a wall. But deaf people are also very strong. Evensen mentioned one common
mistake that people often made when they try to be respectful about the deaf community – they
would describe the community using terms such as hearing impaired or hearing loss. While the
5
community thinks these terms emphasize too much about their medical disability, they do not
want the hearing society to look down on them. That is, it is the position of the deaf and hard of
hearing community that deaf people are fully capable of achieving anything they want to
achieve. They would rather have hearing people just call them deaf or hard of hearing, because
being deaf or hard of hearing is not something to be ashamed of.
Sarah says it is possible for a deaf or a hard of hearing person to feel comfortable in the hearing
world, as long as the person is confident. She wants to be fluent in both English and ASL. Her
mom suggests maybe Sarah can start an educational program in China one day, to teach both
ASL and speaking. Sarah says maybe she can be the connection between the two worlds, and
perhaps that’s her identity.
II. Purpose of the documentary
If a person is born with hearing loss, does it mean he or she can’t feel comfortable in the hearing
world?
I met Sarah when I was only a few months old -- Sarah is my cousin; she is seven months
younger than me. I’d like to call her my sister, as both of us were the only children in the family
when we were little. Growing up, I never thought Sarah was different from others. To me, Sarah
is a caring, sensitive girl, and she is very persistent. We have always been close.
6
Sarah’s speaking is hard to understand sometimes, but naturally, I can fully understand her. I was
the first in the family to discover that she could read lips – at about age of 10. Girls have secrets,
and when I tried to whisper to her, I realized she could “hear” from a long distance! As time
goes, she became an expert in both Mandarin and Cantonese. Her hearing problem became less
noticeable as she never seemed to have too much trouble communicating. We never realized how
hard it was for her to train herself to read lips, and how gifted and capable she is to solve
problems by herself.
I know Sarah was not happy in China. And at first, I voted against her decision to study abroad
because I didn’t think she knew how to take care of herself. It wasn’t until she came to visit me
in L.A. then I knew I was wrong. Her lip-reading skill is impressive. She seems to have no
trouble finding places and communicating with others in a foreign language.
Initially, I decided to make this documentary because I want to understand Sarah better. As I
started to dig into the story and met more deaf or hard of hearing people, I want to make a
documentary that encourages the two communities -- hearing and deaf and hard of hearing
communities to interact with one another. Whatever that means. I would have thought that you
were making a documentary about a girl who is confused about her identity, and this identity is
particularly difficult to nail down because it involves deafness. As hearing people, we don’t
know what it's like to live in silence and noises. So we tend to take sounds for granted. Signing
is the most efficient way the deaf community can communicate among their group, yet most
hearing people don’t know sign language. So there is a communication barrier. Sarah’s ASL
7
instructor Evensen (last name) told me (with the help of an interpreter) that many people in the
deaf and hard of hearing community feel there is a wall between the two worlds. While Sarah
said she does not belong in either hearing or deaf community, she is able to communicate with
both. I hope Sarah’s story can encourage the two worlds to have more interaction.
III. Takeaway of producing the documentary
Producing this documentary was such a learning experience. I learned so much about
documentary filmmaking during the process. I remember the first day I walked into Professor
Birman’s classroom not knowing what to do. My story ideas changed so many times before I
even learned how to hold a camera.
Technically, I learned that there is a process to capturing visuals for a documentary. We learned
an approach that relies on constructing visual sequences that allow the images to be assembled so
that a story can be communicated both with visuals and with sound.
I also learned that I should have more parts of the story planned out before I go on to interviews.
I did not want to use narration and would love to have interview dialogue carry the story. But I
ended up using a few information cards because I didn’t ask enough questions to create clear
transitions between topics. I got too familiar with Sarah and I did not organize the information
that Sarah needed to tell the audience in front of the camera.
8
Another thing I’ve learned is that, the next time I’m on a shooting schedule, I will try to do the
interviews at first. Because I can then listen to what the subject says, take notes, and look for
relative shots when I go shoot.
I did Sarah’s interview almost at the end of my Vancouver trip – I kept pushing it back because I
was afraid to talk to her. It was so hard and I did not know where to start. We grew up together
but I had never tried to fully understand her heart. I was ashamed. After I went back to L.A. and
transcribed her sound bites, I know I’m doing the documentary that I will make myself proud.
And I won’t be afraid to dive deep again.
In terms of storytelling, I learned that a good story usually follows a simple logic. I was
overthinking and overwhelmed when I first try to craft it. I also had fun making my own music
to go with the film, too. Music helps the story to flow better.
IV. Documentary Script: Read My Voice
SOT SARAH ZHANG
Sarah on the underground subway watching the
dark through the window.
NAT SOUND: subway
Soft piano music in the background.
To me, deaf and hearing are two different worlds.
I don’t know how to balance. I’m hard of hearing.
I’m not deaf. I’m not a hearing person.
I don't know how to balance.
9
SOT SARAH
ASL signing
My name is Sarah. Nice to meet you.
MUSIC
Piano music
Fade-In Title Card 1: “Read My Voice”
Fade to Black
Eva Chan
CG: Sarah’s Mother
Establishing shots of San Diego.
Eva: You’re going to be a celebrity on camera.
Sarah: You look better in this hat.
Eva: I’m the mom of a celebrity. Hello.
Sarah: You should wear this hat.
MUSIC
Archival footage: Sarah in kindergarten.
Archival footage “Do-Re-Mi” song in
background.
Video fades after 10s.
Archival footage: Sarah in kindergarten.
MUSIC
Archival footage “Do-Re-Mi” song in
background.
EVA INTERVIEW:
I didn’t realize she has hearing difficulties after
she was two years.
10
Archival photographs from Sarah’s childhood.
With captions.
When she was little, she liked sleeping by the
keyboard speaker. She would turn the volume to
maximum, which we thought was too loud. But
when I turn it down, she would cry. So I didn’t
know she couldn’t hear.
其 实 很 小 , 她 喜 欢 趴 在 电 子 琴 那 里 睡 觉 。 1 岁
多 , 她 会 把 电 子 琴 调 到 最 大 声 , 我 们 听 起 来 是
很 大 声 的 噪 音 了 , 我 要 是 把 喇 叭 声 音 调 小 , 她
就 会 哭 , 所 以 我 根 本 不 知 道 她 听 不 到 。
Archival photographs from Sarah’s childhood.
With captions.
EVA:
We sent her to a deaf and hard of hearing
rehabilitation center. She didn’t want to play with
the other kids. She would hide in the corner and
cry, and sat all day from morning to afternoon
waiting for us. It lasted a few days. We decided to
give up and sent her to a bilingual kindergarten
with other hearing kids.
尝 试 让 她 去 过 聋 人 康 复 中 心 , 她 一 直 都 不 愿 意
跟 别 的 小 朋 友 玩 , 只 是 躲 在 角 落 哭 。 她 在 幼 儿
园 从 早 上 坐 到 下 午 , 等 我 们 来 。 连 续 坚 持 了 几
天 都 是 这 样 。 我 们 就 放 弃 了 。 就 把 她 接 出 来 送
到 一 个 正 常 的 幼 儿 园 。
11
SOT EVA CHAN
Archival photographs from Sarah’s childhood.
I know my daughter can still hear a little bit. She
can speak a little bit. Sarah really wants to speak,
although she can’t pronounce well. She has a
strong sense of pride. We decided not to put her in
a silent world.
我 知 道 我 女 儿 还 有 一 点 点 听 的 神 经 细 胞 , 她 可
以 说 一 点 话 的 。 她 很 想 说 话 , 虽 然 她 发 音 不
准 。 她 的 自 尊 心 很 强 。 所 以 我 们 觉 得 不 应 该 放
她 在 一 个 无 声 、 不 说 话 的 世 界 。
Title Card 2:
Sarah never received special education in
China. She taught herself to speak and lip-read
Mandarin, Cantonese and English.
Title Card 3:
She prefers lip-reading and texting. It is unclear
that how much she hears to communicate.
SOT SARAH
Establishing shots of San Diego
May, 2017
Sarah travelling to California with her family.
Sarah talking to her family.
If I don’t wear the hearing aids, I can hear the
biggest sound.
(If I wear the hearing aids) I can hear everything
in my life.”
Most of the time I always try to talk with my
friends without my hearing aid.
I’m good at lips reading. No one teach me. Only
me. I have to watch your mouth and understand
your mean.
12
SOT EVA CHAN
Eva talking and interacting with Sarah in a
hotel room.
我 觉 得 她 只 有 10-20% 正 常 人 的 听 力 。 我 叫 她 ,
她 能 听 到 , 能 分 辨 是 我 的 声 音 。
她 带 耳 机 只 是 会 听 到 有 声 音 , 她 一 定 是 lips
reading 的 。
I think she can only hear 10%. She has 10% -
20% normal hearing.
Wearing hearing aids can only help her to identify
sound. She is definitely reading lips.
我 一 直 跟 她 说 她 的 耳 机 用 了 四 五 年 了 , 是 时 候
要 换 耳 机 了 。 但 她 说 一 付 耳 机 太 贵 了 , 她 不 舍
得 。
我 家 比 较 特 殊 , 我 要 很 努 力 工 作 才 能 支 撑 家
庭 。 她 是 一 个 很 有 孝 心 的 女 儿 。
I’ve been telling her, your hearing aids are almost
five-years-old. It’s time to get a new pair. But she
said they’re too expensive.
I have a different family situation. I have to work
hard to support the family. I know she
understands and cares about me.
SOT CAROL CHOU
CG:
Carol Chou, AuD
Audiologist at the University of California, Los
Angeles
Sarah’s trip to the death valley.
Establishing shots of death valley.
A lot of the times people stick to their old hearing
aids. One possibility is simply the hearing aids are
not loud enough for her to hear. Another
possibility is that when the sound is presented, her
ears… they don’t really have the ability to
interpret the sound anymore. It is common to see
people not wanting to do something about hearing
loss progression.
13
Sarah at the Death Valley National Park taking
photos with her phone.
Having hearing aids does not restore normal
hearing. You do not hear normally as someone
who has normal hearing. It amplifies sound for
you, but if there’s damage in your inner ear, or
any kind of distortion that caused by the ear cell
damage, you would get that kind of distortion
through hearing aid.
SOT CAROL CHOU
“The fact that she’s been able to pick up three
languages; we don’t see that very often at all.”
Hollywood establishing shots.
SOT SARAH
NAT SOUND
Sarah walking.
Street artist playing ukulele on Hollywood
Blvd.
I’m going to Hollywood sign. But I don’t know
where is the Hollywood sign.
SOT SARAH
Actuality shot in Hollywood.
(Cantonese) I’m lost! Don’t speak to me.
Sunset Blvd. establishing shots.
14
SOT SARAH
Actuality shot in Hollywood
In my dream, Hollywood is an amazing place. But
I arrived here, I thought, Hollywood is a little
poor. A little poor.
SOT SARAH
Hollywood
In China I feel stressful and difficult. In hearing
school, only me is hard of hearing. I have many
bully times. in grade nine, I had to fight with five
male classmates. Only me is woman. No one can
help me.
SOT SARAH
Sarah standing in front of a La La Land poster.
(Cantonese) I don’t fit in. I can’t present clearly.
And I don’t hear well enough to understand
everything. They think I’m stupid or I’m an idiot.
我 不 是 很 会 跟 人 相 处 。 怎 么 说 呢 , 就 是 口 才 不
太 好 。 耳 朵 也 不 灵 。 他 们 觉 得 是 我 傻 的 , 是 个
白 痴 。
SOT SARAH
Sarah walking on Hollywood Blvd.
I can’t find myself. I don’t know what can I do. I
don’t know where is my goal.
Title Cards4:
Last year, with the hope of finding a sense of
belonging, Sarah decided t o move to
Vancouver to study American sign language
(ASL).
MUSIC
Piano music
15
SOT SARAH
Airport sequence.
Sarah walks down the stairs.
(Going to Vancouver is because…) I want to
challenge myself. I want to know how far... 我 的
极 限 在 哪 里 (how far I can go)
SOT SARAH
Sarah checking in.
Deaf and hard of hearing community is very much
a minority in China. We don’t feel respected.
People frequently ask me: “Why can’t you hear?
听 力 不 好 在 中 国 就 是 个 很 特 别 很 陌 生 的 劣 势 群
体 。 我 们 很 少 得 到 尊 重 。 我 从 小 到 大 ( 被 ) 问
得 最 多 的 就 是 “ 你 怎 么 会 听 不 懂 ? ”
SOT SARAH
Sarah walking to the security checkpoint.
(Mandarin) To be honest, my ultimate confusion
was: Why can’t I hear? But as I grow older, I’ve
learned to cope with the reality.
(Cantonese) Surprisingly, those who had bullied
me came to apologize recently. Perhaps we’ve all
grown up.
说 实 话 从 小 到 大 我 最 困 惑 的 是 我 为 什 么 会 得 了
听 力 不 好 的 问 题 。 但 随 着 我 年 纪 越 来 越 大 , 我
反 而 更 淡 然 地 接 受 了 它 。
那 些 小 时 候 欺 负 过 我 的 人 会 莫 名 其 妙 回 来 跟 我
说 对 不 起 , 其 实 如 果 他 们 不 说 , 我 当 然 已 经 不
记 得 了 。
NAT SOUND
Airplane landing Vancouver
MUSIC
16
Vancouver establishing shots.
Sarah home establishing shots.
Sarah getting ready for school sequence.
Vancouver City College establishing shots.
NAT
Sequence:
Sarah learning ASL and interacting with new
classmates.
SOT AASTRID EVENSEN
Students in class.
Title Card:
Aastrid Evensen, Sarah’s ASL Instructor at
VCC
Growing up in China she’s had a lot of probably
frustrating experiences. Feeling not very happy
and perhaps kind of marginalized and depressed.
Sarah signing with her classmate.
I think she’s made a really good strong
relationship with people in the class.
Medium shots and close-up of Sarah’s
classmates.
Here there is quite a variety of different people
here. Some from different countries. Some
students grew up here but never went to school.
So they just worked all their life, developed no
language at all, not even sign language. So really
their communication was very limited. A lot just
gesturing to get through life.
SOT AASTRID EVENSEN (with interpreter)
Sarah signing with Aastrid
For me to see the students becoming successful
being happy being healthy and improving their
situation. You can see the sparkle in their eyes.
SOT AASTRID EVENSEN (with interpreter)
Aastrid interacting with the students.
I’m deaf as well. I also identify with them. And I
feel like we have similarities and we share
identities and being a member of the deaf
community.
17
Sarah intends to sign and speak at the same
time.
What she grew up with is a strong hearing culture.
So talking and listening and no sign language.
When she came here that was a big challenge for
her because she had to learn to use her eyes and
her ear rather than her voice and her ears.
ASL gesture chart.
ASL signing close-up.
With ASL you don’t use your voice. You can’t
talk and sign at the same time because speaking is
English. ASL and language is different structure.
Your brain just can’t handle that.
SOT AASTRID EVENSEN
Sarah looking confused in the class.
For Sarah, we’ve been encouraging her to go with
and culture, to sign and maybe not use her voice.
We had to explain why. To explain deaf culture.
We often get together and it’s visual and it is
communication through visual mean. For her to
just use her voice and not sign in that situation is
kind of an insult to deaf people and their culture.
SOT AASTRID EVENSEN
Students in a group.
If she’s in the hearing community, of course she
can speak and lip-read.
If she wants to be part of the community, then it’s
important that she’s signing when she’s in that
community and not using her voice.
It depends on her life and her choice that she
made.
NAT
Establishing shots of Cherry Blossom Festival
Actuality sequence:
Sarah enjoying music at the cherry blossom
festival.
18
SOT SARAH
I’m used to speaking. I’m used to speaking.
SOT SARAH
Sarah joining her new friends.
I’m in between of deaf and hearing community. I
don’t think I know how to balance.
当 我 游 走 在 两 个 群 体 之 间 , 我 觉 得 我 不 会 平
衡 。
SOT SARAH
Sarah watching her friends signing.
I’m not sure if I identify myself as deaf or hard of
hearing. My classmates and I have similar
conditions, but they have their identities, and they
share a stronger sense of belonging in the deaf
community.
我 对 我 自 己 是 个 聋 人 没 有 太 大 的 认 同 感 。 我 的
同 学 们 他 们 的 情 况 跟 我 差 不 多 , 但 是 他 们 对 自
己 是 个 聋 人 的 认 同 感 比 我 强 烈 。
SOT SARAH
Sarah’s friends taking photographs for her.
But my classmates showed me kindness. They
made the effort to open up their world to me.
有 的 同 学 释 放 出 了 他 们 的 善 意 。 让 我 更 好 的 融
入 他 们 的 世 界 。
They showed me what it's like to be respected. I
realize I devalued myself.
他 们 让 我 感 受 到 了 尊 严 。 有 时 候 我 反 而 觉 得 我
把 自 己 看 得 太 低 了 。
SOT SARAH
But actually, it’s might just be my lack of
confidence. If I can be more confident, I might fit
in better.
说 白 了 很 多 时 候 是 我 对 自 己 不 太 自 信 。 如 果 我
更 勇 敢 的 话 我 应 该 会 处 理 得 更 好 。
19
SOT AASTRID EVENSEN
Cherry blossom festival shots.
Deaf community signing together.
A deaf person usually is not very comfortable
being in a hearing world in general. Ninety
percent is not comfortable in that environment I
would say. Because there is a language barrier.
It’s kind of like a wall to put up. We're trying to
figure out how to take those barriers down, kind
of meeting halfway.
Whether you’re deaf or hard of hearing is not the
point. It’s how you self identify and make
yourself feel good about who you are.
SOT AASTRID EVENSEN
Sarah’s friends at the park.
Deaf and hard of hearing people more have an
identity that they use the word deaf and hard of
hearing as their identity.
SOT AASTRID EVENSEN
Sarah’s friends at the park.
Deaf people call people who can hear “hearing
people”. But in the hearing culture, people who
don’t know anything about the deaf people would
never say “I’m a hearing person.”
SOT AASTRID EVENSEN
Sarah’s friends taking photos for each other
using professional DSLR cameras.
So some label has been made. From a hearing
prospective. They might use the term hearing loss.
But for us as deaf people. We would say the term
“hearing loss” is more from a medical standpoint
as a label rather than an individual label. So It’s
almost like we’re being looked down upon and
being judge.
20
SOT AASTRID EVENSEN
Sarah’s friends taking photos for each other
using professional DSLR cameras.
But things like hearing impaired… Vocabularily,
in general, public people think, “Oh of course
we’re being politically correct so we’re going to
say hearing impaired rather than deaf. We feel
like the word ‘deaf’ is … we don’t want to use
that term and it seems offensive. But actually it’s
quite the opposite.
SOT AASTRID EVENSEN
Sarah’s friends at the park taking group
pictures.
So the deaf people in deaf community say No we
are deaf, that’s how we identify, we use that term,
that’s it. So instead of having that feeling like
hearing people are trying to fix us.
We know we have been labeled as having a
disability because we can’t hear. But we are fully
able to do anyone else can do.
NAT
Vancouver city views.
MUSIC
Piano music in the background
SOT SARAH
Sarah riding a bus looking out of the window.
I think it’s the most important to recognize
ourselves.
我 觉 得 做 人 最 重 要 的 就 是 认 同 自 己 。
Many people told me, they feel like a wall
with hearing person. I think it’s not a serious
problem. It depends on yourself. If you give
enough confidence to yourself, I think nothing
is impossible.
21
SOT SARAH
Sarah walking on the street at night.
I’m fine on my own.. Although sometimes I do
feel lonely. But I have to go on. For this path I
chose. I have to go on.
一 个 人 生 活 很 好 。 虽 然 很 多 时 候 晚 上 我 确 实 感
到 非 常 孤 独 。 但 是 我 必 须 坚 持 下 去 , 因 为 这 条
路 是 我 选 择 的 , 我 跪 着 也 要 走 完 。
MUSIC
Piano music
Title Card5:
Sarah is hard of hearing in the hearing world,
yet she is also hearing in the deaf and hard of
hearing world. She is still trying to find her
balance.
6: Sarah wishes to become fluent in ASL and
get better on speaking and lip-reading English.
7: She hopes to start an educational
organization in China one day to encourage
both sign language and oral communication.
MUSIC
Sarah’s home establishing shots.
Sarah celebrating her birthday.
Fade to black.
22
MUSIC
Graphic:
A special thanks to:
Sarah Yan Zhang
Eva Yeetong Chan
Dr. Carol Chou
Aastrid Evensen
Vancouver Community College
Michael Wright
David Wright
Mary Ann De Castro
Yayoi Takeuchi
Jesse Haixu Liu
Vincent Teng II
Carlo Castillo
Henry Wang Hai
Ferdie San Andres
Jorrelle Faytaren-San Andres
MUSIC
Graphic:
Documentary & Original Music Produced by
Chinwai Christy Wong
Music and graphic fade to black.
23
V. Reference
Interview with Chou, Carol (AuD) on February 27, 2017.
Interview with Zhang, Yan Sarah on March 14, 2017.
Interview with Giadino, Kristine on March 15, 2017.
Interview with Evensen, Aastrid on March 13, 2017.
Interview with Chan, Yee-Tong Eva on May 13, 2017.
24
Abstract (if available)
Abstract
Sarah Zhang was born with severe hearing loss in China in 1992. She has been living in the hearing world since she could remember. Sarah taught herself to speak and lip-read in three languages: Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese and English. Although she says she has no trouble communicating, she found herself out of place in the hearing world. Sarah made the decision to leave home to enroll in an American Sign Language program in Vancouver in 2016. She sought a sense of belonging by learning ASL and meeting people in the deaf community who share similar experiences. However, because she had never been in a deaf community before, it was difficult for her to fit into the new environment as well. This left Sarah confused about where she belongs: deaf or hearing.
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Wong, Chinwai
(author)
Core Title
Read my voice: a documentary
School
Annenberg School for Communication
Degree
Master of Arts
Degree Program
Specialized Journalism
Publication Date
11/14/2017
Defense Date
11/11/2017
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
Balance,Confusion,Courage,deaf,Disability,experience,hearing,hearing loss,OAI-PMH Harvest,Sign language,Vancouver,Woman
Language
Chinese
,
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Birman, Dan (
committee chair
), Parks, Michael (
committee member
), Peyser, Michael (
committee member
)
Creator Email
chinwai@usc.edu,chinwaiw@hotmail.com
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-455019
Unique identifier
UC11265678
Identifier
etd-WongChinwa-5897.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-455019 (legacy record id)
Legacy Identifier
etd-WongChinwa-5897-0.pdf
Dmrecord
455019
Document Type
Thesis
Rights
Wong, Chinwai
Type
texts
Source
University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
Access Conditions
The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...
Repository Name
University of Southern California Digital Library
Repository Location
USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA
Tags
deaf
hearing loss