Describes strategies used in a demonstration project monitoring teachers' use of Manually Coded English, American Sign Language, and pidgin signing in communicating with deaf students. Factors considered to influence teacher behavior included student characteristics, teacher training and certification, and support systems. (Author/CB)

Discusses trends and future issues in the bilingual education of deaf children, including teacher learning and use of American Sign Language (ASL), the total communication approach, deaf teachers' use of ASL, the coding of English in signs, and signed English and ASL as complementary communication systems. (five references) (CB)

This paper discusses the role of American Sign Language (ASL) in educating deaf children, based on the history of using manually coded English (MCE). The paper concludes that use of ASL should not be the ultimate goal of bilingual bicultural programs, and, in some classrooms, the optimal program will be complementary use of ASL and MCE. (JDD)

This literature review examines selected variables that may influence teachers' ability to read books to preschool and elementary deaf children in total communication programs. The paper explores the role of signs in reading stories and factors influencing the signability of stories, including reading rate, length of sentences, length of text used…

The paper addresses problems teachers of the severely hearing impaired have in being bimodal (speech plus signs) English role models as well as in using American Sign Language. The project described in this paper centers around inservice training and in-class demonstrations of the use of a modified form of Signed English to provide a visual…

This paper proposes new policies which stress making explicit the roles of sign communication and speech in total communication programs for students with hearing impairments. A review of the literature supports the need to redefine total communication, provide improved preservice and in-service training of teachers in effective communication…

A 4-year demonstration Total Communication Project was implemented at three schools (an elementary, a middle, and a high school) serving hearing impaired students. The goal of the project was for the six participating teachers to become consistent in their role modeling of English and American Sign Language (ASL), through weekly inservice on ASL…