Through individual interviews and focus groups, teachers, support staff, parents, deaf students and administrators participated in a training needs assessment (TNA). The focus was on actual teacher signing skills, the optimal performance desired, and possible solutions. TNA proved to be an effective staff development planning tool. (Author/DB)

A survey instrument for determining the competence that educational interpreters are perceived to need in 3 areas (skill, knowledge, attitude) was administered to 71 participants from the Alabama Registry of Interpreters for the deaf, students completing a training program, and classroom teachers who use interpreters. Differences among the groups…

This observational study examined the development and use of communication in a pair of deaf and hearing monozygotic twins from 13 to 36 months of age. Both children were enrolled in a total communication preschool program. In contrast to the hearing twin, the deaf twin used imitative (rather than responsive) signs and gestures. (Author/DB)

Suggestions are offered for teaching young children with hearing impairments to read and write. The strategies emphasize the importance of making the sign-to-print relationship explicit, helping children understand that there is not always perfect sign-to-word correlation, increasing students' metalinguistic knowledge, and building comprehension.…

Longitudinal research has demonstrated that English abilities of deaf children remain below that of hearing children. Vygotsky's perspective on language and cognition is used to support an alternative approach for the study of English. (15 references) (LB)

Discusses a study of differences in nonliteral language use among deaf women, women who could hear, and women who could hear and who used sign language. Subjects told stories orally and in sign to children of 4 and 10 years. Deaf mothers' nonliteral content was higher, whereas hearing mothers' stories were longer. (Author/GH)

Briefly describes a program that sought to improve the written English skills of deaf adolescents' whose first language was American Sign Language, focusing on first-language skills, metalinguistic skills, translating skills, lexical matching across languages, translation of syntactical structures, and recognition of the importance of the…

Fifty-seven college students enrolled in their first week of introductory manual communication classes demonstrated limited ability to assess their own communication skills. A discussion of sign systems, interpreter skills, and ethics aided some students in putting their skills into perspective, but 41% continued to overestimate their abilities at…

The families of 325 adolescents with deafness were surveyed to assess the relationship between the communication modes used by families and family cohesion. The mother's use of sign language predicted family cohesion, and the child's degree of hearing loss and mode of communication predicted the mother's use of sign language. (Author/JDD)

Because the relationship of gesticulation to sign language has not received much research attention, this study considers gesture and sign among users of signed and oral languages. Results suggest that gestures produced by deaf individuals can be distinguished from the sign language in which they are embedded, including their semantic and…

Describes the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and discusses its implications for both public and private libraries. The term "disability" is defined; sources of federal regulations that pertain to libraries are cited; the need for sign language interpreters is discussed; Braille materials are considered; and staff requirements are…

This article raises concerns about current trends toward increasing bilingual, bicultural education for deaf children. It notes that such programs often discourage the use of voice and spoken language by the deaf child and those in his environment, delay the child's introduction to English, and unreasonably expect hearing persons to use American…

This reprinted article discusses the intrinsic value and indispensable necessity of the use of natural signs in the education of students with deafness. The benefits of sign language over oral language, the use of sign language to teach moral development, and the need for a common language is discussed. (CR)

This reprinted article discusses the overemphasis of sign language, which contributes to their isolation, in teaching students with deafness. Teachers are urged to avoid signing in the classroom when spelling on fingers or using written language will convey the same information. (CR)

This reprinted article from 1899 argues against the abolition of sign language in the classrooms of students with deafness. It also discusses the benefits of sign language and the ability of sign language to explain words and to convey information. (CR)