The study compared comprehension of American Sign Language (ASL) between 12 deaf subjects in a program using Signing Exact English (SEE-2) and 14 deaf subjects in a residential program using Signed English, Pidgin Signed English, and ASL. Students exposed to SEE-2 could comprehend ASL as well as residential school peers. (Author/DB)

A four-year study explored face-to-face English competence of five students (ages 7-12) with deafness participating in a study of teachers' use of English-based signing. Grammatical forms similar in English and American Sign Language were initially more readily produced when tested for in English and students showed consistently higher attainment…

Responses of 162 deaf adults to an interview survey indicated findings including that sign language should be learned at an early age, before speech; that language should be acquired bilingually; and that American Sign Language and English signs should form the basis of the two languages. (Author)

A "Signability Index" is presented for sign language interpretation of children's books. The index is based on such variables as reading rate, sentence length, quantity of text used to express thoughts, word imagery, and complexity and concreteness of passages. Suggested books for classroom reading are listed, categorized by six levels of…

Metalinguistic abilities of 20 hearing-impaired children, aged 4-10, were assessed by asking them to judge synonymy of sentence pairs presented in Signed English, Pidgin Sign English, and American Sign Language. None of the children had developed metalinguistic abilities in any of the sign language systems. (Author/JDD)

This study examined the possible sources of variability in sign language mastery in two deaf children of hearing parents. The study considered the interaction of environmental and innate factors within the framework of the "Nativization" hypothesis, which suggests that all language learners initially construct a linguistic system which…

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…

Examined geometric understanding and misconceptions among a deaf teacher and (n=5) deaf students. Students seemed to treat the sign for triangle as a picture of a triangle and not as a symbol representing the broad class of triangles. (MKR)

Seven deaf elementary school students read fables in printed English that had previously been summarized in American Sign Language (ASL) and read other fables without the intervention. The ASL summary technique increased the quantity and quality of students'"retelling scores"; it also improved readers' comprehension of the moral lessons of the…

A study involving three elementary students attending a bilingual-bicultural program for students with deafness found that successful strategies, such as using American Sign Language as the language of instruction, balancing direct and indirect teaching, making translation conceptual rather than literal, and using multimodal information,…

The article surveys literature and research about deaf children's acquisition of American Sign Language, especially as it compares to language acquisition of their hearing peers. The development of manual articulation as well as vocabulary, morphology, syntax, and fingerspelling acquisition are discussed. (JL)

Considers how learning to read can be difficult for Deaf students, but the task is even harder for Deaf minority students. Explores strategies to inspire an interest in reading and multicultural acceptance for Deaf and hearing students alike. (SG)

Describes a residential school classroom for deaf third graders. A critical school skill, the ability to engage in literacy activities, grows from the ability to exploit American Sign Language-based (ASL) literacy practices, which are indigenous to the culture of signing deaf people and critical for literacy learning when ASL is the medium of…

The study compared scores of 2 groups of hearing-impaired students ages 5 to 12 years on a literacy battery. Subjects (n=73) were receiving instruction which either completely encoded spoken English or incompletely encoded spoken English. Those receiving completely encoded English instruction tended to score higher on achievement tests especially…

A hearing teacher for whom American Sign Language is a second language identifies nine strategies developed for reading and telling stories to deaf children. These include: ask obvious questions related to the story, portray written dialog as conversation, emphasize points by saying the same thing with different signs, and adapt the story to…