Partners in Education: Issues and Trends from the 21st International Congress on the Education of the Deaf

A Perspective on Language and Literacy Issues

51 Strand2:LanguageandLiteracy APerspectiveonLanguage andLiteracyIssues Peter V. Paul Let’s begin by considering this passage written by a superintendent of a school for children and adolescents who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing: But what are these fundamentals? One and only one! Language, and then language—spoken (or sign), spelled, or written—and the power to read and the power to understand what is read. Other requirements will then follow more easily and with greater results than now attained. (Johnson, 1916, p. 95; emphasis added) There are several interpretations, perhaps rich ones, of the preceding passage: • It is important to acquire a bona fide language at as early an age as possible. • There is a reciprocal relationship between proficiency in a particular language and the ability to read and write in that language. • Adequate reading and writing skills contribute to an understanding of academic content areas expressed in printed or electronic materials. Despite the wisdom of the foregoing passage, many children and adolescentswhoared /Deaforhardofhearinghavedifficultydevelopingproficiency in the use of language and literacy skills associated with the mainstream or 52 Peter V. Paul majority culture of a society (e.g., Luckner et al., 2005/2006; Schirmer & McGough, 2005;Trezek, Wang, & Paul, 2010). This situation contributes to the challenge of developing conceptual understanding in content areas such as science, social studies, or mathematics, especially when these students are required to access textbooks in these disciplines. The low achievement levels in language and literacy are purported to be due to a number of variables, for example, an inadequate understanding of the nature and relationships of language and literacy, the challenges of students’ attempting to learn a language and to read and write in it simultaneously, and the inadequate university-level preparation of teachers. Given the complexity of topics such as language and literacy, I can paint only a general picture of the current situation based on my interpretations of the earlier passage by Johnson (1916). I focus on a few selected factors within three broad categories: the English sign systems, American Sign Language– English transfer, and English literacy development. Although my interest is in the development of English, several of the points I express here can apply to any language that has a written form. English Sign Systems In the United States, a sign system refers to the representation of the grammatical structure of English via the use of signs and sign markers (e.g., signs for aspects of English morphology) (Moores, 2001; Paul, 2009). There are several sign systems with names such as Signed English, Signing Exact English, and Seeing Essential English. However, the most prevalent form of signing in the schools does not have a specific label, albeit it is commonly referred to as simultaneous communication, total communication, or, in some cases, English signing. Regardless of the name, the two principles common to all sign systems are these: 1. The formation of the signs is based on the morphological rules of English. 2. Signing is used in conjunction with speech (i.e., the teacher or educator is speaking and signing simultaneously in an English word order). Despite nearly 40 years of use and limited success with some students, there is no unequivocal evidence of the benefits of simultaneous communication for Language and Literacy Issues 53 the development of English language proficiency and literacy skills in most or all children and adolescents who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing. The reasons for this finding include an inadequate representation of English , the cumbersome nature of speaking and signing simultaneously by practitioners , the learnability of the sign systems or even simultaneous communication by students who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing, and limited research designs that undermine the complexity of learning either the language of English or its representation in print (e.g., Paul, 2009). Each of these factors is extremely complex. Only one major factor is briefly highlighted here: the representation of English, especially the challenge of representing the phonology of English, which currently seems to be a controversial issue in our field. Representation of English As mentioned previously, the goal of the English sign systems is to represent the grammatical structure of English visually. If this goal is to be considered viable, then there should be an attempt to represent adequately all of the structural components of English, specifically phonology, morphology, and syntax. Let’s set aside the complex issues of semantics (content) and pragmatics (use), which are critical...