Predicting Literacy Development of Orally Trained Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children in Taiwan: A Two-Year Longitudinal Study.

Twenty-eight deaf and hard of hearing Chinese-speaking public school children in Taiwan were tested on literacy achievement tasks at the end of kindergarten (T1), first grade (T2), and second grade (T3) over 2 years. After nonverbal IQ and hearing threshold were controlled for, the results revealed that early oral vocabulary and print awareness tested in kindergarten were related to word recognition in first grade. Moreover, receptive oral vocabulary (T1) was related to reading achievement in first and second grade. Phoneme (onset-rime) blending (T1) was associated with reading achievement in first grade, but not second grade. While onset-rime blending made more unique contributions to picture-book reading comprehension (T2), oral receptive vocabulary contributed uniquely to reading comprehension in T3 more than onset-rime blending. The time (in minutes) per week parents spent in shared book reading with their child was moderately related to reading comprehension at T3.

Articulatory Suppression Effects on Short-term Memory of Signed Digits and Lexical Items in Hearing Bimodal-Bilingual Adults.

We can gain a better understanding of short-term memory processes by studying different language codes and modalities. Three experiments were conducted to investigate: (a) Taiwanese Sign Language (TSL) digit spans in Chinese/TSL hearing bilinguals (n = 32); (b) American Sign Language (ASL) digit spans in English/ASL hearing bilinguals (n = 15); and (c) TSL lexical sign spans in Chinese/TSL hearing bilinguals (n = 22). Articulatory suppression conditions were manipulated to determine if participants would use a speech- or sign-based code to rehearse lists of signed items. Results from all 3 experiments showed that oral suppression significantly reduced spans while manual suppression had no effect, revealing that participants were using speech-based rehearsal to retain lists of signed items in short-term memory. In addition, sub-vocal rehearsal using Chinese facilitated higher digit spans than English even though stimuli were perceived and recalled using signs. This difference was not found for lexical sign spans.

Case Studies of Multilingual/Multicultural Asian Deaf Adults: Strategies for Success.

Case studies of adult d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing Multilingual Learners (DMLs) are few, especially studies of DMLs who learn more than one sign language and read logographic and alphabetic scripts. To reduce this paucity, two descriptive case studies are presented. Written questionnaires, face-to-face interviews, and self-appraisals of language-use rubrics were used to explore (a) the language and literacy histories of two adult Asian DMLs who had learned multiple languages: Chinese (spoken/written), English (written), Chinese Sign Language, and American Sign Language; and (b) how each language was used in different cultural communities with diverse conversational partners. Home literacy environment, family support, visual access to languages, peer and sibling support, role models, encouragement, perseverance, and Deaf identity all played vital roles in the participants' academic success. The findings provide insights into the acquisition of multiple languages and bi-literacy through social communication and academic content.