This article summarizes a paper by Robert E. Johnson et al., "Unlocking the Curriculum: Principles for Achieving Access in Deaf Education." The paper examines the failure of total communication practices to educate deaf children and recommends that deaf children learn American Sign Language first and learn English as a second language. (JDD)

Basing a manual communication system on written forms of English has two problems: (1) conventional forms of manual communication are based on the wrong modality; and (2) they do not represent English on any level. This causes an imbalance in the word-to-sign ratio in the classroom. (PJM)

A literature-based rationale for teaching American Sign Language (ASL) as the primary language system for deaf children elaborates on the following points: Sign languages are visual-manual; spoken languages are oral-aural. Competency in a first language tremendously increases a person's ability to learn a second language. Deaf children have not…

Points out that the prelingually deaf, whose first language is American Sign, need to learn English as a second language (ESL). The teaching methods of ESL have been successful when applied to deaf education, and there is a need for improved coorporation between teachers of the deaf and ESL teachers. (Author/SED)

Explores the use of American Sign Language (ASL) in the bilingual instruction of English as a Second Language for deaf students. Issues addressed include dominant languages, language minorities, legislative and cultural recognition of ASL as an official language, and limited English proficiency. (CB) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy…

The following articles are presented in the section of the Northeast Conference Report on less frequently taught languages: (1) "American Sign Language," by M. Conwell and A. Nelson; (2) "Chinese," by D. Gidman; (3) "Japanese," by J. P. Berwald and T. Phipps; (4) "Latin," by M. Cleary; (5) "Portuguese," by R. Pedro Carvalho; and (6) "Russian," by…

American higher education must extend its notion of pluralistic recognition and inquiry to the language and culture of the deaf community and appreciate the individual gifts that this cultural group brings to the whole society. (CB)

Suggests that certain teaching methods are successful in teaching both English to the deaf and English as a second language (ESL) to remote-language-base students. Presents characteristics of American Sign Language and guidelines for managing deaf students in an ESL classroom. (SED)

Panelists involved in deaf education teaching, research, and administration discuss the application of English-as-a-Second-Language methods for teaching English to deaf students, focusing on educational theories, use of American Sign Language, teacher education needs, and sociocultural factors. (CB)

An anthropological study of the American Deaf Culture points out that its members do not merely constitute a subculture and that study of American Sign Language, like many other foreign languages, offers knowledge of not only a natural language but also the culture in which it is used. (CB)

Academic acceptance of American Sign Language (ASL) and its speakers can be achieved if higher education institutions make affirmative action training and employment commitments to deaf individuals. (CB)

The proceedings of the conference include the opening address (Francoise Cestac) and these papers: "False Friendship in International Language Planning" (Joseph L. Malone); "Guidelines for Terminology Standardization at the United Nations" (Marie-Josee Jastrab); "Language Policy at the Agence de Cooperation Culturelle et…

Outlines the procedures used to identify, analyze, and organize components of an American Sign Language curriculum, based on processes used to develop second-language curricula. Students are encouraged to develop communicative competence and cultural awareness in a classroom environment, allowing for natural language learning. (CB)

Examines the educational purposes of foreign-language requirements and asserts that the study of American Sign Language meets these goals in ways in which other "languages" (English dialects, computer languages) do not. (CB)

When evaluating the work of congenitally deaf students whose native language is spatial and semiotic, composition teachers must avoid being what Marjorie Siegel calls "verbocentric," since congenitally deaf students are, in effect, learning to write in a language completely foreign to them in structure, syntax, and grammar. The…