A qualitative study of emergent literacy of preschool hearing-impaired children was conducted to discover how the children learned about literacy within a school setting. Seven preschool hearing-impaired children participated in the study. Descriptive and interpretive field notes from ongoing observations of the children constituted a primary data source. Additional data sources included drawing and writing samples from the children and interviews with the teacher and parents. Grounded theory principles were used to analyze the data. The major finding was that the children, through literacy, found a way to learn about the hearing world and, more importantly, to be a part of it.Over the past decade and a half, a large body of research has focused on how young children develop concepts of written language. This research has provided key insights into the process of literacy acquisition for hearing children. Only recently, however, have researchers studied literacy development of hearingimpaired children. From these few prior studies on emergent literacy of hearingimpaired children, it appears that they learn literacy in ways similar to those for hearing children (

Second language learners face two simultaneous problems in content area classrooms: first, acquiring general communicative facility, and second, acquiring the specialized concepts and vocabulary found in content area subjects. The adapted Guided Writing Procedure ( GWP ) is uniquely suited to both the cognitive and linguistic needs of these learners because it capitalizes on the rich social, linguistic, and cognitive environment of the content area classroom. The GWP provides instruction and practice in basic communication skills by using oral language as a bridge to reading and writing. Further, it activates students' prior knowledge to furnish a framework for the acquisition of new concepts. Most importantly, the GWP and its step-by-step sequence offer second language learners an opportunity for meaningful practice of the target language as part of the learning of content area concepts.Recent discussions of second language programs have begun to emphasize the value of an integrated model of language instruction (Dubin and Olshtain 1980, Elsasser andJohn-Steiner 1977). This emerging view suggests that listening, speaking, reading, and writing may be taught and practiced by second language learners simultaneously as interdependent tools of communication. They are viewed as communication tools which enable students to achieve literacy and tools which should be taught using contextually based methods. Further, if literacy instruction is based on an integrated model, the resulting improvement in communicative ability may be greater than that possible where listening, speaking, reading, and writing are viewed as independent language processes and separate curricular subjects. Goodman, Goodman, and Flores summarize their experiences with second language learners:In our experience we've found that if bilingual speakers are literate in another language, their development of literacy in English will be easier than for people not literate in any language; and further, their control of English will be speeded as a result of their rapid progress in becoming literate in English. All this assumes that oral and written English are equally needed and functional and that the opportunity to use both is present. There are people who learn Mr.

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“The First‐Grade Studies” have had a lasting impact on literacy research and practice. The author highlights several areas in which this can be demonstrated, and draws on Bond and Dykstra's original research questions to demonstrate the work's continuing influence. Topics highlighted include the role of the teacher and classroom characteristics, movement away from comparison studies, the challenge to reading readiness as the gatekeeper to early instruction, and the importance of instruction in phonics.

Data from a qualitative study on the literacy development of preschool hard-of-hearing and deaf children were analyzed to discover how the children learned to read, write, and spell or fingerspell their names. The research was conducted for 9 months in two preschool classes for hard-of-hearing and deaf children. Four hard-of-hearing and three deaf children participated. Data sources included extensive descriptive and interpretive field notes on classroom observations of the children, and drawing and writing samples from the children. Analysis revealed that the children learned that names are powerful expressions of identity through teacher demonstrations, immersion in a literacy-rich environment, and numerous opportunities to explore written language.