Does Deafness Spell Disaster? An Analysis of the Written English Levels of Deaf Children in the Nelson Mandela Metropole, South Africa

Autor/inn/en	Weir, Carolyn; Aylif, Diana
Titel	Does Deafness Spell Disaster? An Analysis of the Written English Levels of Deaf Children in the Nelson Mandela Metropole, South Africa
Quelle	In: Perspectives in Education, 32 (2014) 4, S.134-148 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0258-2236
Schlagwörter	Deafness; English; Written Language; Emergent Literacy; Writing Skills; Intervention; Writing Instruction; Foreign Countries; Special Needs Students; Interlanguage; Sign Language; Comparative Analysis; Statistical Analysis; Hearing Impairments; Elementary School Students; Grade 4; Grade 5; Grade 7; Grade 6; South Africa + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Gehörlosigkeit; Taubstummheit; English language; Englisch; Geschriebene Sprache; Frühleseunterricht; Writing skill; Schreibfertigkeit; Schreibunterricht; Ausland; Sonderpädagogischer Förderbedarf; Zielsprache; Gebärdensprache; Statistische Analyse; Hearing impairment; Hörbehinderung; School year 04; 4. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 04; School year 05; 5. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 05; School year 07; 7. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 07; School year 06; 6. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 06; Südafrika; Süd-Afrika; Republik Südafrika; Südafrikanische Republik
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. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Perspectives in Education. Faculty of Education, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein 9301, South Africa. Fax: +27-51-401-7044; e-mail: pie@ufs.ac.za; Web site: http://search.sabinet.co.za/pie
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01