Hearing-Impaired Children: Learning to Read a Second Language

The paper discusses the poor reading achievement of hearing-impaired children. It identifies the two-way communication involved in the reading process and examines the linguistic competence of hearing-impaired children by tracing the language development of those born to deaf and hearing parents. It builds a case for defining and accepting American Sign Language as a separate and complete language from English. Implications for reading instruction are made based on research in bilingual education.