Research Question:

"How do deaf children become literate after only communicating manually?"

Foundation Questions :

1.How do hearing children become literate?

2. Is there a delay in the acquisition of literacy skills (spelling/reading/writing) in deaf children, as compared to hearing children?

3. If so (to #2), when do deaf children eventually “catch up,” if at all?

4. What techniques are used to teach spelling, reading and writing?

5. What is the hardest thing about becoming literate, according to a deaf person who only communicated manually before?

6. How do the teacher and SLP in this situation collaborate?

7. What is the outcome for the social and vocational aspects of deaf children’s lives if they are illiterate

8. What can parents do to help?

My Point :

The point I plan to make is that for deaf children to become literate and thrive in a world that is literacy-dependent, they must become literate and that process is more complicated than that of a hearing child.

Genres:

I plan to use the genres of Webliography, Power Point, a poem, a referral letter, a journal entry, a pamphlet and an email exchange.

I’m not sure what voice the Webliography and Power Point presentation will be in, but that is one of my genres because it’s required….maybe more about this later.

The poem will be written in the voice of the client/deaf person. Hopefully this will shed light on the creativity a deaf person is capable of, although he or she may not have the full and extensive knowledge of words of a hearing person (this will be “as translated by the child’s interpreter”).

The referral letter will be written in the voice of an SLP, to show exactly how impaired a deaf child's language can be.

The journal entries will be in the voice of the client. The idea here is to show the frustration that comes with trying to learn written language when all you know is how to sign.

The pamphlet will be in the voice of a clinician. The hope here is to give information to those who have questions about deaf literacy like I do.

The email exchange will be between the client and a parent, to show how the parent feels about having a deaf child and what their concerns will be. Also, it is meant to show how important it is for parents to follow their suspicions about their child's communicative well-being.

How the project will be cohesive :

Hopefully, the emails will incorporate almost all of the other genres, as they will be regarding the same client over time, and the process of determining if the child has a communication disorder or not.

Tenative References

Kuntze, M. (August 1998). Literacy and deaf children: the language question. Topics in Language Disorders, 18 . Issue 4, p. 1. Retrieved from EBSCOHost Academic Search Elite on September 27, 2002.

Rottenberg, C. (July 2001). A deaf child learns to read. American Annals of the Deaf, 146 . Issue 3, p. 270. Retrieved from EBSCOHost Academic Search Elite on September 27, 2002.

Schein, J. (Winter 1999/2000). Reading, writing and rehabilitation. American Rehabilitation, 22. Issue 3, p. 32. Retrieved from EBSCOHost Academic Search Elite on September 27, 2002.

Tosciano, R.M., McKee, B., Lepoutre, D. (March 2002). Success with academic English: reflections of deaf college students. American Annals of the Deaf, 147 . Issue 1, p. 5. Retrieved from EBSCOHost Academic Search Elite on September 27, 2002.

Nakamura, K. (1995). About American Sign Language. Retrieved on October 9, 2002 from
www.deaflibrary.org