ASL : Access , Benefits , and Quality
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by Mayberry , del Giudice , and Lieberman ( 2011 ) found 57 studies that experimentally tested phonological coding and awareness ( PCA ) skills in thousands of deaf participants . Half of the studies found statistically significant evidence for PCA skills in deaf students . However , only 11 % of the variance in reading proficiency of deaf participants was predicted by PCA skills . Instead , language ability affected 35 % of the variance in reading proficiency . Thus , based on the study , reading achievement in deaf individuals was not based on PCA skills . Language ability had a greater influence on reading ability .
Additionally , Williams ( 1999 ) found that deaf children use sign language as they read and write in order to engage in representational , directive , interactional , personal , and heuristic use of language to support their writing endeavors with English . This is not surprising as ASL is deaf children ’ s native and accessible language . Wilbur ( 2000 ) implored that learning ASL will not affect or interfere with the development of English literacy skills ; instead , it can contribute to higher literacy and cognitive skills . It is at the cognitive-semantic level , rather than the linguistic level , that deaf child users of ASL bridge into English as their second language .
Other studies point to significant positive correlations between ASL usage and English language skills . Prinz and Strong ( 1998 ; 2000 ), and Ausbrooks ( 2007 ) studied language interdependence between ASL and English within the context of reading comprehension skills . They found a statistically significant relationship between ASL morphology and semantics and English reading comprehension , reading vocabulary , and overall English language skills . Hoffmeister ( 2000 ) found that students with intensive ASL exposure scored significantly higher on all ASL measures , the SAT Reading Comprehension subtest , and on the Rhode Island Test of Language Structure than those with more limited exposure . Kuntze ( 2004 ) investigated the ASL and English skills of deaf students , and found that the skill levels of ASL in their rendition of reading passages in printed English significantly predicted their comprehension of the passages . Smith ( 2007 ) found that students with higher English reading comprehension scores also scored statistically significantly better on ASL phonology , morphology , syntax , semantic , and pragmatic tasks on the Test of American Sign Language Abilities — Receptive . These studies show that the language ability of the students in using and comprehending ASL has the potential to carry over as language ability in comprehending English-printed reading .
Padden and Ramsey ( 1998 ), De Garcia ( 2003 ), and Padden ( 2006 ) pointed out that merely knowing a sign language does not support the development of English literacy , but that tying specific elements of it to English print supports reading and writing in deaf signing individuals . Hoffmeister , Philip , Costello , and Grass ( 1997 ) found that students ’ manipulation of certain linguistic elements of ASL ( e . g . classifiers , plurals , and verbs of motion and location ) were directly transferred to understanding of specific syntactical elements of English . The researchers argued that continued development of both languages generated cognitive and linguistic benefits , and that linguistic proficiencies in one language can be transferred to another language . For this to occur , proficiency in one language , say ASL , is needed to facilitate second language learning , such as in English . For the researchers , it was important that deaf children possess metalinguistic knowledge of the languages so that they can transfer literacy skills across the languages .
When ASL is used in classrooms with deaf students , it serves as an intervention agent in the cognitive and language performance of the students ( Saif , 1985 ). ASL intervention refers to the processes by which an intervention agent such as a teacher , specialist or parent uses the sign language in interactions with deaf students to facilitate their communication and comprehension skills . It requires that the students attend to and analyze a set of syntactic structures that is different from English . However , it is beyond the scope of this article to discuss studies on deaf children ’ s
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