Spoken/sign language as a criterion for school readiness among deaf pre-schoolers

English: In this pilot study the plight of deaf education was highlighted. As the oral/manual controversy continues to play a pivotal role in deaf education, the medium of instruction for the deaf pre-school child was addressed as a possible criteria for determining school readiness skills and ultimately academic success translating into the acquisition of literacy skills. Presently the literacy level of the deaf school leaver is equivalent to a grade three or four level. Curriculum 2005 was discussed and the school readiness skills needed to ensure academic success with this curriculum were investigated The Group Test for School Readiness aimed at assisting the class teacher in differentiating between children with appropriate and inappropriate school readiness skills was deemed an appropriate test for assessing deaf preschoolers receiving their education in a spoken language and deaf preschoolers receiving their education in a signed language as the Group Test for School Readiness can be utilised to obtain a reliable profile of the childs cognitive, perceptual, language, numerical and motoric abilities. The Group Test was administered by the class teacher to eliminate possible discrepancies resulting from communication problems between the subjects and the researcher. With the exception of their performance on three subtests, the deaf preschoolers receiving their pre-school education in a spoken language faired consistently better than the Deaf pre-schoolers receiving their pre-school education in a signed language. Apart from the contrasting medium of education implemented, additional reasons for the difference in performance between the two groups was investigated. The average chronological age of the pre-schoolers receiving their preschool education in a spoken language appears to be 7 months older than the pre-schoolers receiving their pre-school education in a signed language. The majority of the subjects in the former group having already turned 7 years of age in 2003 would have received exemption from entering grade 1 in 2003 and are consequently repeating their pre-school year. In addittion the average age at which deafnes was diagnosed in the deaf pre-school subjects receiving their pre-school education in a spoken language was 9 months earlier than the deaf pre-school subjects receiving their pre-school education in a signed language. The quality of the language the subjects in group B were exposed to in both the home and school environment was identified as possibly contributing to this groups weaker performance.