Language and Literacy: Issues and Considerations

Abstract

This article provides background on the major perspectives involving the development of English language and literacy with respect to the evolving demography of d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing children and adolescents. It synthesizes research and controversies on the developmental similarity hypothesis—that is, whether the acquisition of English language and literacy of d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing students is developmentally similar to that of typical language/literacy learners. The outcomes of this discussion have instructional implications and proffer guidelines for teacher preparation programs. The article concludes with directions for further research.

Conclusion: Perspectives on Language, Literacy, and Deafness

“…It has been argued that d/Dhh students follow a developmental learning trajectory that is similar to that of typical literacy learners-albeit some students will proceed at a slower quantitative rate due to a number of variables such as the quality of interventions, effectiveness of early amplification, variability in teacher competency, and so on [7,9,11,19,22]. This phenomenon, coined the Qualitative Similarity Hypothesis (QSH) asserts that, regardless of the degree of hearing acuity, d/Dhh students need to acquire proficiency in the same group of fundamentals associated with code-related, language-related (e.g., English language proficiency), and comprehension-related skills that are necessary for the development of typical literacy skills [8,10,33].…”

“…For example, proponents of this distinction highlight the notion of a "visual phonology" of a signed language, particularly within an American Sign Language (ASL)/English print-sign bilingual program [30]. This view contrasts with those of others [7,9,11], who argue that not only is a sound phonology necessary for early and conventional literacy development, but also that functional hearing is not the major issue in understanding the development of English literacy comprehension. Obviously, a diverse set of attributes of the participants need to be considered, but language proficiency and code-related skills seem to command a substantial amount of attention (e.g., see discussions in [10,31,32]).…”

“…Finally, the validity of the QSH also needs to be further investigated.sections of a country. It should be acknowledged, however, that, in some countries, the relationship between the through-the-air and written forms is complex, due, in part, to the number of dialectical variations of speech or the encroachment of the influences of other languages on the mainstream society's language form [4,5]; also, see the review in [6], for Arabic as an example).Confining our emphasis to English, one of the major challenges for d/Dhh children and adolescents is to develop proficiency in literacy (reading and writing) skills in this majority language of society [7][8][9][10][11][12]. Since the beginning of the 20th century, it has been well documented that many students with severe to profound hearing loss and some with a moderate loss-in the better unaided ear-graduate from high school (after 12-15 years of compulsory education) reading at about a 4 th grade level.…”

“…Then, we argue for the use of a developmental framework as the guiding and comparison barometer for instructional and research endeavors [3,10]. This framework influences our interpretations of some of the assumptions in the works of others in this Issue (e.g., the constructs of fundamentals [7,9,11,22] and modality independence; see [7,16]). Next, we provide a description of English literacy with an eye toward the influence of the through-the-air form of a language and code-related skills (e.g., phonological knowledge, phonemic awareness)-two of the most controversial domains in the discussion of language, literacy, and deafness.…”

“…Confining our emphasis to English, one of the major challenges for d/Dhh children and adolescents is to develop proficiency in literacy (reading and writing) skills in this majority language of society [7][8][9][10][11][12]. Since the beginning of the 20th century, it has been well documented that many students with severe to profound hearing loss and some with a moderate loss-in the better unaided ear-graduate from high school (after 12-15 years of compulsory education) reading at about a 4 th grade level.…”