Discusses the potential of sign language as a tool in teaching reading to normal hearing children and the success of this method with individuals who have various communication disorders. (EJS)

Shows that 17 kindergarten children receiving sign language instruction tested significantly higher on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test than 17 kindergartners receiving no such instruction. The study's findings confirm that simultaneously presenting words visually, kinesthetically, and orally offers an advantage to young learners. (23…

Applies principles of whole-language instruction to the teaching of sign language skills. Emphasis is on the holistic use of sign language in natural communicative situations. Some materials for this approach to sign language instruction are suggested. (DB)

The editor of a treatise encouraging the use of American Sign Language for both school and home instruction and communication with the deaf discusses the instructional trends leading to the theory, differences between the suggested instructional methods and previously used methods, and responses to the treatise. (10 references) (CB)

The study examined the effectiveness of using sign language (Signing Exact English) to facilitate reading in students classified as trainable mentally handicapped. Results indicated that subjects learning to read words with an accompanying sign identified and retained significantly more vocabulary than did students learning to read in a…

This article focuses on the complex dynamics and the practical demands of teaching English to deaf children for whom British Sign Language (BSL) is a preferred/dominant language. A model focusing on the relationship between English and BSL is presented, and implications for curriculum and teaching methods are drawn. (DB)

Describes a residential school classroom for deaf third graders. A critical school skill, the ability to engage in literacy activities, grows from the ability to exploit American Sign Language-based (ASL) literacy practices, which are indigenous to the culture of signing deaf people and critical for literacy learning when ASL is the medium of…

Describes a multisensory reading program for teaching beginning reading to general education students. The program's main feature is that students learn to read by seeing, hearing, saying, and signing words. Pretesting and posttesting of participating kindergartners indicated that signing greatly enhanced the ability of hearing students to retain…

For more than a century, educators have recognized the low academic achievement of deaf children in America. Teacher training programs in deaf education historically have emphasized medical-pathological views of deaf people and deaf education rather than appropriate pedagogies that draw upon and build on deaf students' linguistic and cultural …

In 1966, when the United Kingdom officially adopted a decimal monetary system to replace the old, duodecimal one, the Decimal Currency Board was charged with educating the public and facilitating the transition from the old system to the new. Due to the large number of persons to be informed, the Board relied upon mass media, i.e., the press,…

Reports on the 1974 visit of the Linguistics Delegation to the People's Republic of China, specifically to two schools for the deaf. Outlines the role, goals, methods and curriculum of education for the deaf in that country. (CLK)

The following articles are presented in the section of the Northeast Conference Report on less frequently taught languages: (1) "American Sign Language," by M. Conwell and A. Nelson; (2) "Chinese," by D. Gidman; (3) "Japanese," by J. P. Berwald and T. Phipps; (4) "Latin," by M. Cleary; (5) "Portuguese," by R. Pedro Carvalho; and (6) "Russian," by…

The goal of the Manual/Simultaneous Communication Department (M/SCD) at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) is to assist deaf students in developing communication skills. (Author)

The effectiveness and efficiency of two instructional prompting procedures, progressive time delay and the system of least prompts, in teaching manual signs was evaluated with three moderately or severely retarded adolescents with additional handicaps. Results indicated both procedures were effective though the time delay method appeared to be…

This paper discusses factors that influence deaf and hard of hearing children's spoken English development. It addresses philosophical and practical issues related to maximizing these children's communication with the hearing majority within an educational environment that capitalizes on American Sign Language as a fully accessible language for…