A review of literature addresses two main issues: (1) how the acquisition of English by deaf signing children has been understood as an instance of second language learning; and (2) how deaf children learn to read English, given this understanding. The first chapter chronicles the history of language use in deaf education and reviews research on…

Designed to be integrated into a regular language arts curriculum in grades 1-3, the program begins with a review of the recent history of elementary second language programs in the United States and a discussion of the direction the movement might take in the 1980s. Research done on nonintensive, nonbilingual second language programs in the past…

Discourse analysis has provided a methodology for the study of conversational interactions between language learner and native speaker. This study examines the verbal and nonverbal strategies that native speakers use when communicating with second language learners in natural, non-academic, "survival type" settings. The areas discussed include:…

A review of literature on the learning processes and potential of adult students of English as a Second Language, not literate in their native language, looks at research in the following areas: (1) the differences between children and adults in language learning; (2) the effects of previous formal education on second language learning; (3) the…