The concept of total communication is being increasingly incorporated into educational programs for the deaf. Because American Sign Language plays a basic role in the deaf community, it must also be a critical part of education for deaf children. (Author/CL)

A synopsis of research on language, cognition, and communication in deaf students and adults explores basic linguistic processes, evaluates present understanding of sign language as a language, and relates language to ethnicity and biculturalism, concluding that American Sign Language should be the preferred language of instruction. (Author/CL)

A review of problems with using such manual communication systems as cued speech, fingerspelling, Signed or Manual English, American Sign Language, and Pidgin Sign provides a rationale for using a combination of American Sign Language and Pidgin Sign and a few markers from Signed English for a Total Communication system. (CB)

The study of effects of mode (manual only, manual plus oral, and manual plus oral plus aural) and language (Signed English or American Sign Language) on the comprehension of deaf students (mean age 16 years) found no significant treatment effect for mode of presentation; there was an interaction between languages and mode. (Author/DB)

The feasibility of American Sign Language (ASL)/English bilingual education programs for deaf children is explored. After reviewing the linguistic input received by these children, language acquisition strategies and the importance of linguistic input in second language acquisition are reviewed. Implications are drawn for teachers instructing in…