In this Book
- American Sign Language and Early Literacy: A Model Parent-Child Program
- Book
- 2012
- Published by: Gallaudet University Press
summary
The usual definition of the term “literacy”generally corresponds with mastering the reading and writing of a spoken language. This narrow scope often engenders unsubstantiated claims that print literacy alone leads to, among other so-called higher-order thinking skills, logical and rational thinking and the abstract use of language. Thus, the importance of literacy for deaf children in American Sign Language (ASL) is marginalized, asserts author Kristin Snoddon in her new book American Sign Language and Early Literacy: A Model Parent-Child Program. As a contrast, Snoddon describes conducting an ethnographic, action study of the ASL Parent-Child Mother Goose program, provided by a Deaf service agency in Ontario, Canada to teach ASL literacy to deaf children.
According to current scholarship, literacy is achieved through primary discourse shared with parents and other intimates, which establishes a child’s initial sense of identity, culture, and vernacular language. Secondary discourse derives from outside agents and interaction, such as expanding an individual’s literacy to other languages. Snoddon writes that the focus of the ASL Parent-Child Mother Goose program is on teaching ASL through rhymes and stories and some facets of the culture of Deaf ASL users. This focus enabled hearing parents to impart first-language acquisition and socialization to their deaf children in a more natural primary discourse as if the parents were Deaf themselves. At the same time, hearing parents experienced secondary discourses through their exposure to ASL and Deaf culture.
Snoddon also comments on current infant hearing screening and early intervention and the gaps in these services. She discusses gatekeeper individuals and institutions that restrict access to ASL for young Deaf children and their families. Finally, she reports on public resources for supporting ASL literacy and the implications of her findings regarding the benefits of early ASL literacy programming for Deaf children and their families.
Table of Contents
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- Title Page, Copyright
- pp. 2-7
- Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-11
- 1. Introduction
- pp. 1-7
- 2. ASL and Early Intervention
- pp. 8-27
- 3. Discourse and Counterdiscourse
- pp. 28-36
- 4. Research as Praxis
- pp. 37-46
- 5. ASL as Resource
- pp. 47-65
- 6. A Deaf Cultural Space
- pp. 66-83
- 7. Facilitating Emergent ASL Literacy
- pp. 84-115
- 8. Conclusion
- pp. 116-119
- Bibliography
- pp. 121-131
- Author’s Note
- pp. 133-145
Additional Information
ISBN
9781563685286
Related ISBN(s)
9781563685279
MARC Record
OCLC
851153616
Pages
144
Launched on MUSE
2013-05-20
Language
English
Open Access
No