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Literacy

Literacy is usually thought of as the ability to read and write, but a meaningful discussion about literacy development that concerns deaf children is not possible without connecting it with the acquisition of knowledge and cognitive skills as well as the cultivation of thinking, comprehension, and communication. Historically, the discourse about literacy development has been narrow, dominated by the idea that learning to read is at best difficult if the child does not know English first. The direction of the current dialogue on literacy, however, is slowly shifting to a more holistic concept of literacy that is compatible with the growing recognition that we need to capitalize on deaf students’ natural preference for learning through the visual mode. Deaf children thrive through their eyes and organize the world largely through their eyes.

Traditional Approach

Research on the literacy development of deaf children has been largely constrained by theories of how hearing children learn to read. Such research is often about how deaf children’s literacy development is negatively impacted by limited access to spoken language. Making assumptions about deaf children’s reading abilities that do not take into account visually based strategies for literacy development and the limited opportunity many deaf children have for accessing these strategies has inadvertently fostered skewed notions about deaf children’s abilities and needs. The conventional assumption that written language follows spoken language does not apply very well to deaf children. How written language skills may be developed independent of spoken language needs to be considered.

The approach of reading instruction in deaf education is dominated by the perspective that the knowledge of spoken English is needed to help the child establish a connection with the printed word. However, a lot of research showing the benefits of phonics is based on children who already know spoken English and have access to the sounds of the language. Research on phonics bolsters a deeply ingrained perception in the field of deaf education that limited access to spoken English is the major obstacle for deaf children’s reading development. At the same time, it is also known that the presumed relationship between phonological awareness and reading does not explain how some deaf children who never had access to spoken English are able to develop high levels of reading skills. Many of these children have access to a rich communicative environment both at home and at school.

New Thinking

The notion of learning reading without knowing English and using it as a process of learning written English is grounded in a sociocultural theory of literacy development. The relationship between American Sign Language (ASL), a visual language, and reading development and the acquisition of written English is rooted in the presence of quality communication during early childhood, which is foundational to the development of various prereading skills. A child does not necessarily learn language through explicit instruction but rather as a result of using it to satisfy social needs. Furthermore, the indigenous practice of Deaf teachers and parents who use ASL to socialize deaf children into becoming readers is not well-known, and as a result very few deaf children are provided with that type of literacy development support.

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