Does deafness spell disaster? An analysis of the written English levels of deaf children in the Nelson Mandela Metropole, South Africa
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Date
2014
Authors
Weir, Carolyn
Ayliff, Diana
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Faculty of Education, University of the Free State
Abstract
This article presents the findings of an empirical comparative study in the Nelson
Mandela Metropole investigating the difference between the written English of deaf
children and the written English of hearing children and makes recommendations
on how to improve the writing of deaf children. The psycholinguistic approach was
used for the theoretical framework. Within the framework of psycholinguistics,
the acquisition and development of language and writing are discussed from the
perspective of (1) emergent literacy and (2) the critical period hypothesis. The
findings of this research indicate a significant difference between the writing of the
deaf and hearing children who participated in this study. In order for deaf children in
South Africa to develop their writing, immediate government assistance is necessary
in order to implement newborn screening country wide followed by medical and/or
language-based intervention to minimise the impact of deafness on the language and
writing abilities of deaf children. This is an essential foundation on which parents and
teachers can build in helping deaf children reach age-appropriate levels of written
English.
Description
Keywords
Deaf, Children, English, Writing, Emergent literacy, T-units, South Africa, Nelson Mandela Metropole
Citation
Weir, C., & Ayliff, D. (2014). Does deafness spell disaster? An analysis of the written English levels of deaf children in the Nelson Mandela metropole, South Africa. Perspectives in Education, 32(4), 134-148.