American Sign Language and Early Literacy
A Model Parent-Child Program
Publication Year: 2012
Published by: Gallaudet University Press
Cover
Title Page, Copyright
Contents
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pp. viii-
Acknowledgments
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pp. ix-
My involvement with the field of ASL and early literacy is due largely to the support and inspiration provided by Joanne Cripps and Anita Small. The staff and board members of the Ontario Association of the Deaf have also provided me with myriad forms of support. I wish to convey special thanks...
1. Introduction
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pp. 1-7
This book is about an American Sign Language (ASL) literacy program for Deaf and hearing parents and young children in Ontario, Canada. Underlying this subject are several different lines of inquiry. First, this book describes the present-day context of infant hearing screening and early intervention services for Deaf children...
2. ASL and Early Intervention
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pp. 8-27
In hearing children, the development of English literacy is preceded by language skills including metalinguistic and phonological awareness, and by a broad first-language vocabulary and opportunities for verbal interaction (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). Developing minority-language children’s...
3. Discourse and Counterdiscourse
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pp. 28-36
As a system of being, a discourse concerns itself with particular matters and promotes certain ideas, perspectives, and values at the expense of others. In doing so, a given discourse will marginalize perspectives and values that are central to other discourses. Or, as Foucault (1972) argues, “Discourses . . . systematically...
4. Research as Praxis
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pp. 37-46
As I planned my participatory action research study of the ASL Parent-Child Mother Goose Program, I considered several factors. One of these factors was the pervasiveness of systemic barriers to young Deaf children and their families’ learning of ASL in an Ontario early intervention context. This issue overshadowed my study’s planning...
5. ASL as Resource
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pp. 47-65
The issue of public resources for supporting the learning of ASL by Deaf children is central to this book. Every aspect of our program—its hosting, duration, participants, and setting—was affected by the lack of financial and institutional support from governments and public bodies for teaching and learning...
6. A Deaf Cultural Space
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pp. 66-83
To argue that our program environment and activities provided a Deaf cultural presence, it must be clear what Deaf culture is and how it was manifest in this setting. Carol Padden and Tom Humphries note that they have “used a definition of culture that focused on beliefs and practices, particularly the central role of sign language...
7. Facilitating Emergent ASL Literacy
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pp. 84-115
In the Deaf cultural space of our program, the role and contributions of Deaf and hearing parents became central issues. In addition to my observations of the program, several conversations and interviews with Jonathan allowed me to further study his role and goals as a program...
8. Conclusion
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pp. 116-119
The Deaf mother participants’ and program leader’s use of ASL rhymes and ASL literacy activities in the ASL Parent-Child Mother Goose program work toward a definition of emergent ASL literacy in very young children. Two central parts of this definition are visual attentiveness and response...
Bibliography
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pp. 121-131
Author’s Note
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pp. 133-
Index
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pp. 135-142
E-ISBN-13: 9781563685286
E-ISBN-10: 1563685280
Print-ISBN-13: 9781563685279
Print-ISBN-10: 1563685272
Page Count: 144
Illustrations: 1 table
Publication Year: 2012
