Principles and practices of literacy development for deaf learners: a historical overview

Since the very beginning of formal approaches to deaf education, the development of literacy has been a priority issue. The history of educational initiatives in this area is entwined with the history of prevailing attitudes and practices toward the impact of deafness on the development of deaf children more generally. In particular, arguments about whether a visual input (reading) can take the place of a diminished auditory input and whether educators should accommodate or seek to ameliorate the effects of the special linguistic characteristics of deaf learner-readers have resulted in a wide variety of practices and perspectives. These varied practices and perspectives continue to have impacts on current educational debate and practice. This article provides a brief historical overview of these educational endeavors, noting the enduring questions and issues that remain for the field to address.     

Beliefs and practices of itinerant teachers of deaf and hard of hearing children concerning literacy development

A qualitative case study examined beliefs and practices of itinerant teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students concerning literacy development, the match between these teachers' beliefs and practices, and the impact of itinerant settings. Five itinerant teachers and 15 students participated. Hearing losses were mild to profound. The research addressed 5 areas: sociocultural aspects of literacy development; effects of hearing loss on literacy development; beliefs about teaching and literacy development; practices used to develop literacy; the impact of itinerant settings on literacy development of deaf and hard of hearing learners. Five themes emerged from the data: Itinerant teachers used a variety of practices to develop literacy; itinerant teachers played a supporting role in developing literacy; most of the teachers' beliefs about literacy development were matched in their practices; the itinerant teachers were lifelong learners; the impact of itinerant settings on literacy development took many forms.     

Policy and practice in deaf education: views and experiences of teachers,and of young people who are deaf in Northern Ireland and Sweden

Due to the fact that the outcomes of education for most school leavers who are deaf in Northern Ireland are weak literacy skills and below average reading ages, a study was undertaken to investigate this situation. The views and experiences of teachers of children who are deaf, and of young people who are deaf in Northern Ireland, where oral and total communication forms of instruction are employed in their education were compared with those of Sweden where a sign bilingual is used in education, in the context of current policy and practice. The aim of the study was to find out if there are elements of Swedish policy and practice that could help resolve the situation for Northern Irish learners who are deaf. A qualitative approach was adopted via interviews with teachers of deaf and young people who were deaf in both countries. Findings are reported in relation to policy and practice in education, attitudes to deafness, status of sign language and other factors.     

What really matters in the early literacy development of deaf children

With much earlier identification of hearing loss come expectations that increasing numbers of deaf children will develop literacy abilities comparable to their hearing age peers. To date, despite claims in the literature for parallel development between hearing and deaf learners with respect to early literacy learning, it remains the case that many deaf children do not go on to develop age-appropriate reading and writing abilities. Using written language examples from both deaf and hearing children and drawing on the developmental models of E. Ferreiro (1990) and D. Olson (1994), the discussion focuses on the ways in which deaf children draw apart from hearing children in the third stage of early literacy development, in the critical move from emergent to conventional literacy. Reasons for, and the significance of, this deviation are explored, with an eye to proposing implications for pedagogy and research, as we reconsider what really matters in the early literacy development of deaf children.     

A tale of two schools: educating Catholic female deaf children in Ireland, 1846–1946

This paper discusses the contributions of the Dominican Sisters and Sisters of Mercy in running schools for female deaf children in Ireland during the period 1846 to 1946. The schools were established as part of an attempt to educate Catholics in the Catholic faith and provide literacy to female deaf children. In assuming the challenge of educating deaf girls, the sisters adopted a method of teaching and learning through signed language of which they had little prior knowledge. While the history of the schools is contextualised as a central narrative of this paper, the religious orders’ attempt to educate deaf children effectively is examined in the context of teacher role models and sign language pedagogy. This paper argues that the work of the Mercy and Dominican sisters should be recognised for its contribution to the education of female deaf children, whose needs would otherwise have been neglected.     

Using research to improve literacy practice and practice to improve literacy research

The disconnection between research and practice is not a new phenomenon, but as researchers and educators look toward the future of deaf education, it seems crucial to look back at the reasons behind this disconnection with the goal of creating a professional milieu in which we use research to improve literacy practice and practice to improve literacy research with deaf students. This article examines the issues underlying the relatively insignificant impact of research on literacy practice from the perspectives of the fields of literacy, special education, and deaf education.     

Relations Among Maternal Literacy Beliefs, Home Literacy Practices, and the Emergent Literacy Skills of Preschoolers With Specific Language Impairment

Self-reported maternal literacy beliefs and home literacy practices were compared for families of children with typicially developing language skills (TL, n = 52) and specific language impairment (SLI, n = 56). Additionally, the present work examined whether maternal beliefs and practices predicted children's print-related knowledge. Mothers filled out 2 questionnaires asking about their literacy beliefs and practices while children's print-related knowledge was assessed directly. Results indicated that mothers of children with SLI held somewhat less positive beliefs about literacy and reported engaging in fewer literacy practices compared to mothers of children with TL. For the entire sample, maternal literacy practices and beliefs predicted children's print-related knowledge, although much of this association was accounted for by maternal education. Subgroup analyses focused specifically on children with SLI showed there to be no relation between maternal literacy beliefs and practices and children's print-related knowledge. The present findings suggest that the home literacy experiences of children with SLI, and the way that these experiences impact print-related knowledge, may differ in important ways from typical peers.     

A study of the relationship between American sign language and English literacy

This article presents the findings of a study of the relationship between American Sign Language (ASL) skills and English literacy among 160 deaf children. Using a specially designed test of ASL to determine three levels of ASL ability, we found that deaf children who attained the higher two levels significantly outperformed children in the lowest ASL ability level in English literacy, regardless of age and IQ. Furthermore, although deaf children with deaf mothers outperformed deaf children of hearing mothers in both ASL and English literacy, when ASL level was held constant, there was no difference between these two groups, except in the lowest level of ASL ability. The implication of this research is straightforward and powerful: Deaf children's learning of English appears to benefit from the acquisition of even a moderate fluency in ASL.     

Views from the field: program directors' perceptions of teacher education and the education of students who are deaf or hard of hearing

Arandom sample of directors of programs for the deaf in North America were surveyed to get their views about the skills that teacher education programs need to be teaching future teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. The directors were queried about literacy practices, classroom management strategies, and communication strategies used in their programs, and were encouraged to comment freely on the questionnaire items presented to them. Program directors predicted a need for more itinerant and resource teachers. The survey also revealed that programs for the deaf are highly behaviorist (i.e., You do this and you'll get that) in the way they induce students to learn and in how they manage student behavior.     

The Curious Case of the Deaf and Contested Landscapes of Bilingual Education

In this article, the authors examine deaf education as a “curious case” to prompt thinking about issues of language inequities. The authors argue that tying the fortunes of deaf students to those of other language minority students provides opportunities for new insights into policies and practices of deaf education as well the education of other language minorities in American schools. The authors provide a case example of successful deaf bilingual education that challenges the equation of deaf communicative difference with academic failure. They conclude with a discussion of American bilingual education history and how a consideration of the “curious case” of deaf education opens up possibilities for expanding understandings of more general issues of language difference in education.     

Faculty needs, doctoral preparation, and the future of teacher preparation programs in the education of deaf and hard of hearing students

The purposes of the study were to obtain and analyze data on the need for, and desired characteristics of, faculty in deaf education at American institutions of higher education (IHEs), and to assess the present and projected status of doctoral-level teacher preparation programs in deaf education at American IHEs. Program directors and coordinators provided information on current and projected faculty openings, the number of active doctoral students, faculty research interests, program strengths, and needs in the field. Results indicated a pending shortage due to faculty retirements and a paucity of doctoral-level graduates. Most faculty listed literacy and language as a primary research interest as well as a program strength. The ability to generate new knowledge through research was found to be less desirable for future faculty than teaching ability. Suggestions for improving doctoral preparation and moving the field to evidence-based practices are provided.     

Concurrent correlates and predictors of reading and spelling achievement in deaf and hearing school children

Seven- and eight-year-old deaf children and hearing children of equivalent reading age were presented with a number of tasks designed to assess reading, spelling, productive vocabulary, speechreading, phonological awareness, short-term memory, and nonverbal intelligence. The two groups were compared for similarities and differences in the levels of performance and in the predictors of literacy. Multiple regressions showed that both productive vocabulary and speechreading were significant predictors of reading for the deaf children after hearing loss and nonverbal intelligence had been accounted for. However, spelling ability was not associated with any of the other measures apart from reading. For hearing children, age was the main determinant of reading and spelling ability (due to selection criterion). Possible explanations for the role of speechreading and productive vocabulary in deaf children's reading and the differences between the correlates of literacy for deaf and hearing children are discussed.     

Disadvantaged preschool children from rural areas: the importance of home practices and nursery attendance in the development of early literacy skills / Niños preescolares vulnerables de sectores rurales: importancia de las prácticas del hogar y la asistencia a jardín infantil en el desarrollo de habilidades de alfabetización temprana

Abstract

This research analyses the impact of home practices, sociodemographic variables (family income and parents’ education) and attendance at a formal education programme prior to the development of early literacy skills of 240 children (four years old) from rural and urban disadvantaged families starting nursery school in Chile. The results show that the development of literacy skills was higher in urban children. In rural areas, family practices (words games) and family income had the most predictive weight on the performance of children and no differences were found between those who attended a prior educational programme and those who remained at home; while in urban areas, programme attendance had the highest impact, so that children who remained at home attained a lower developmental level, similar to those of rural areas. The implications of these findings for educational practice and policy are discussed.     

Reading against all odds: a pilot study of two deaf students with dyslexia

Learning to read and write is a challenge for most deaf children due to their limited experiences with, and access to, spoken language. In the case of deaf students who have difficulty processing visual print, literacy becomes an even greater challenge. The study piloted an intervention procedure that incorporated the principles of automaticity, repetition, functional vocabulary, and a positive teacher-student relationship as recommended in programs for struggling readers and adapted them to the needs of two deaf high school students with dyslexia in an American Sign Language-English bilingual program. The findings reveal gains in reading ability on the formal measures, though not more than would be expected over a 6-month period simply due to development. The real improvements were noted in the students' attitudes toward literacy, improved social interaction, and increased self-confidence.     

An examination of twenty literacy, science, and mathematics practices used to educate students who are deaf or hard of hearing

The results of a multistep process to begin identifying best practices in deaf education are presented. To identify current practices, a survey was conducted of the literature, the Web sites of professional organizations, and states' education Web sites, which yielded a number of commonly discussed practices. Ten of the more highly cited practices in literacy instruction and 10 of the more highly cited practices in science and mathematics instruction were identified for additional scrutiny. Hundreds of articles were examined to identify research support for the 20 identified practices. Some practices had adequate research support; others had minimal support. The authors identify each of the 20 practices, describe the practice, present a summary of the literature that was examined, and rate the usefulness of the knowledge base relative to a "best practice" designation.     

Hmong immigrants' views on the education of their deaf and hard of hearing children

The study investigated the attitudes, perceptions, and feelings of parents of 7 Hmong families that included a deaf or hard of hearing child attending a U.S. public school. The findings indicate that many Hmong parents value education and want to be involved in their deaf or hard of hearing child's learning. However, the parents in the study did not know how to become involved, and needed the support of the school. Although they accepted their deaf or hard of hearing children unconditionally, they had lower academic expectations of that child than of their hearing children. Most of the parents reported limited knowledge of the policies, procedures, practices, and organizational structures of special education, and all cited communication barriers as impediments to involvement in their child's education. Most of the parents expressed strong satisfaction with their child's educational program. The findings suggest several areas for further research.     

Multimedia literacy practices in beginning classrooms and at home: the differences in practices and beliefs

Multimedia literacy practices in the homes of young children are changing rapidly, but the use of them in the early years of education is moving slowly. This research was aimed to find out what teachers of 5‐year‐olds, in their first 6 months of compulsory schooling, think about the children's literacy practices at home, including the perceived use of digital media at home. We also wanted to find out what the teachers did in their classrooms that was similar or different to the students' experiences of literacy practices across several media. Parents of 76 children, and their teachers, from 10 classrooms in mid‐high and mid‐low socio‐economic areas completed surveys. The parents' survey asked about the literacy‐related experiences their children are involved in. The teachers' survey asked for their beliefs about the literacy‐related experiences the children in their classrooms engaged in, on average, including the use of digital media. The teachers were also asked about the literacy practices in their classroom and their use of media. This paper describes the teachers' beliefs and the similarities and differences in practices between home and school, including literacy practices using digital technology.     

Home Literacy and Chinese Reading in Hong Kong Children

Measures of Chinese character recognition, vocabulary, and interest in reading were administered to 92 second grade children in Hong Kong, while questionnaires on parental literacy practices were administered to their parents. In a hierarchical regression equation, maternal education, children's age and vocabulary skill predicted 18% of the variance in reading, while home literacy practices and children's literacy self-efficacy predicted an additional unique 19% of the variance in Chinese reading skill. Results underscore the importance of some early home literacy practices for reading achievement, even among children who are already receiving formal literacy instruction.     

Beyond Mother Education: Maternal Practices as Predictors of Early Literacy Development in Chilean Children from Low-SES Households

Research Findings: To extend findings that are mainly based on North American studies with English speakers, we studied 989 Chilean mothers from households of low socioeconomic status and their prekindergarten children, posing 2 questions: (a) Do mothers’ self-reported practices about literacy development predict early literacy outcomes over and above child characteristics and maternal education? (b) Do these maternal practices mediate the relation between maternal education and these child outcomes? Confirming previous studies, exposure to texts and non-present talk predicted vocabulary, and teaching practices predicted child code-related skills. Contrary to previous studies, exposure to texts also predicted child code-related skills. We also found that maternal practices partially mediated the relation between maternal education and early literacy skills. Practice or Policy: Findings suggest the need to target children before prekindergarten with interventions that increase the studied maternal practices and to do so in family, day care, and health care settings with special emphasis on families with incomplete elementary education. The broad effect of exposure to texts on early literacy outcomes and the low social value on reading in Chilean culture suggest that teacher preparation programs need to include ways to engage children in literature as a frequent experience.     

Professionalism and coordination: allies or enemies?

Professionalism arose concurrently with coordination policies among service providers and between parents and service providers in deaf education practices. The author examines the effects of professionalism on coordination among service providers from different disciplines (deaf education, speech-language pathology, elementary education, secondary education, audiology, otolaryngology, and pediatrics), as well as coordination between parents and these service providers in multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary teams in the light of her own experience as a teacher of children who are deaf and hard of hearing in Cyprus. The author concludes that professionalism and coordination can coexist, and that the key issue in this relationship is the personal attitudes of those involved.