Signing systems that attempted to represent spoken language via manual signs -- some invented, and some borrowed from natural sign languages -- have historically been used in classrooms with deaf children. However, despite decades of research and use of these systems in the classroom, there is little evidence supporting their educational…

Communication is an innate behavior people engage in to convey one's thoughts, needs, and interests to others (Knapp, Hall, & Horgan, 2014). Recommended Practices from the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (DEC, 2014) encourage teachers to partner with families to implement strategies that support…

Recently, the authors' district reconfigured the program for deaf and hard of hearing students, combining the Total Communication (TC) and Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) programs for elementary students and relocating students and staff into a single school. This prompted staff to reflect on and discuss the pedagogy unique to each program.…

Due to the fact that the outcomes of education for most school leavers who are deaf in Northern Ireland are weak literacy skills and below average reading ages, a study was undertaken to investigate this situation. The views and experiences of teachers of children who are deaf, and of young people who are deaf in Northern Ireland, where oral and…

The word identification directives developed by the Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction (ECRI) were modified for use in a Total Communication integrated classroom with seven hearing impaired third graders. Pilot tests showed that the hearing impaired students substantially increased their reading and spelling vocabularies. (Author)

An elementary school class that learned sign language also benefited from several positive side effects. As the students developed a new means of communication, they also become more aware of deaf individuals and their needs. (DF)

Suggestions are offered to help hearing teachers use effective nonverbal techniques in conjunction with signing when communicating information to hearing impaired students. Topics discussed include use of discourse markers, ways of maintaining eye contact, gaining/maintaining student attention, and effective turn-taking. (JW)

Six research areas in manual/simultaneous communication (M/SC) for hearing-impaired individuals are discussed. (Author)

Originally given as an exhibit of National Technical Institute for the Deaf materials and procedures, the article consists of three sections: Manual/Simultaneous Communication Department (M/SCD) materials and procedures, M/SCD organization, and M/SCD responsibilities. (PHR)

The article discusses principles in use at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in planning and implementing Manual/Simultaneous Communication instruction for hearing impaired and deaf individuals. (PHR)

Simultaneous communication used by four teachers in formal lessons was investigated, to determine the extent to which signs and speech matched and to delineate factors predicting communication behavior. Simultaneous communication was found to be sign-driven or speech-driven depending on factors such as student comprehension, teacher's expertise,…

Eight focus groups of teachers of students who are deaf/hard of hearing identified language instructional practices associated with either oral communication or total communication. This generated a set of 79 statements of practices that were then verified by program supervisors using a Likert-type scale. Teachers' identified practices differed…

This paper argues that current practices in total communication classrooms have basically assigned the responsibility of communication to hearing-impaired students who must adapt to the variation in communication behaviors displayed by each of their teachers. The paper advocates use of a model communication and language policy designed to…

A school district established a Total Communication Project to improve consistency in teachers' role modeling of English with deaf students, which was the primary language of the classroom, and American Sign Language (ASL), which was used as an intervention tool. This paper describes the program, its theoretical framework, and procedures for…

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…