Exploring Emergent Literacy Behaviors of Filipino Deaf Children

Abstract

This paper is an exploratory, descriptive study of the emergent literacy behaviors of Filipino deaf children. Available research shows that deafness has a profound effect on literacy performance. This study investigates the unique literacy behaviors of oral and signing deaf children and reports these behaviors in three categories: early reading, early writing and book orientation behaviors. Implications on literacy learning are suggested.

Writing in Young Deaf Children

“…Andrews and Gonzales (1992), Ruiz (1995), Williams (1999), and Bustos (2008) all documented children's acquisition of basic conceptualizations about written language (i.e., that print is a representation system that conveys meaning; that there is a relationship between face-to-face language and the text in the encoding process) as well as growth in children's orthographic knowledge as a result of participating in literacy activities that focused on meaning making.…”

“…In a more recent, exploratory, descriptive study, Bustos (2008) examined the emergent writing of 17 preschool Filipino deaf children (ages 4 to 6 years) who had severe to profound hearing losses. The study was grounded in the emergent literacy perspective (Teale & Sulzby, 1989).…”

“…The study was grounded in the emergent literacy perspective (Teale & Sulzby, 1989). Eight of the children attended oral communication schools; however, Bustos (2008) indicated that "none of them responded through the oral-aural channel" (p. 104). Nine of the children attended schools that used signed language.…”

“…Bustos indicated that the deaf children's early writing behaviors paralleled those documented among young hearing Filipino children (Medrano, 1997;Pado, 1990). She argued for the use of visually oriented strategies for literacy instruction, due to deaf children's "visual inclination" (Bustos, 2008).…”

“…Although the children in these seven studies were educated in a variety of settings (e.g., schools for the deaf, self-contained classrooms, general education settings) and used a range of hearing technologies (including cochlear implants) and communication strategies (e.g., ASL, English-based sign, spoken language), reports indicate that despite these differences, all the children developed basic understandings about written text. Andrews and Gonzales (1992), Ruiz (1995), Williams (1999), and Bustos (2008) all documented children's acquisition of basic conceptualizations about written language (i.e., that print is a representation system that conveys meaning; that there is a relationship between face-to-face language and the text in the encoding process) as well as growth in children's orthographic knowledge as a result of participating in literacy activities that focused on meaning making.…”