User:BatArieh/Language acquisition by deaf children

Scope
In this article, I will focus on the subtopic "Reading", found in the Language acquisition by deaf children article under content section 6: Relationship between language acquisition and other domains of development > 6.3 Academic development > 6.3.1 Reading.

I plan to:


 * improve the neutrality of this section
 * add more content based on peer-reviewed articles
 * add references

Original Text "Reading" Subsection
According to research from Goldin-Meadow & Mayberry, reading requires two essential abilities: familiarity with a language and understanding the mapping between that language and the written word. However, reading is possible if deaf children learn ASL. Once they have acquired ASL, deaf children learn how to map between sign language and print so that they can learn English. Several techniques are used to help bridge the gap between ASL and spoken language or the "translation process" such as sandwiching and chaining.

Sandwiching consists of alternating between saying the word and signing it. Chaining consists of finger spelling a word, pointing to the spoken language version of the word and using pictorial support. Although chaining is not widely used, it creates an understanding between the visual spelling of a word and the sign language spelling of the word. This helps the child become bilingual in both ASL and spoken language.

The deaf child's social context is crucial for nurturing his or her capacity to read. Research shows that deaf children born to deaf parents are usually better readers than deaf children born to hearing parents. This is because deaf parents provide a strong social and emotional network and may immediately have access to the necessary resources for their child. Deaf parents already anticipate the needs of their child, having been through the same experience, as opposed to a hearing parent.

Draft Article
(This paragraph needs to be edited into the article earlier on to give context to the edits of the "Reading" subsection).

Because hearing loss exists along a spectrum and because families address the development of their children in a variety of ways, children who are deaf or hard of hearing proceed along a variety of paths toward acquiring their first language. Most deaf children are born into families where spoken language is the primary or only language used in the home. A small percentage of these families learn sign language to varying levels and their children have access to a visual language at varying levels of fluency. For the many deaf children who receive cochlear implants, these devices take time and rehabilitation to become useful in the acquisition of spoken language. Because the success rate of these devices varies, deaf children with cochlear implants or hearing aids may acquire varying levels of access to auditory language with some children acquiring full access to spoken language and about. For the small percentage of deaf children born into families that use a sign language with proficiency, they will have full access to visual language from birth and should acquire language on time alongside hearing peers.

Reading
Whereas a first language is acquired through socialization and access to the language modality being used in the home (spoken, visual, or tactile language), reading is a skill that must be taught. Most models describing reading skills are based on studies of children with typical hearing. One such widely applied model, the simple view of reading, identifies decoding (matching text to speech sounds) and fluency in a first language (its vocabulary and syntax) as being foundational for fluent reading. Because individuals experience deafness along a spectrum of hearing abilities, their ability to hear the phonetic components of spoken language will likewise vary. Similarly, deaf children's language skills vary depending upon how and when they acquired a first language (early vs. late, visual vs. spoken, from fluent users or new users of the language). This mix of access to phonetic and linguistic information will shape the journey a deaf child takes to literacy.

Studies have compared the eye and brain activity in equally skilled readers who are deaf and who have typical hearing. These studies show that the neurological and physiological processes involved in reading are nearly identical for both groups. Reading begins with the eyes scanning text during which readers who are deaf take in information from the 18 letters following the word that the eye is looking at, versus about 14 to 15 letters for hearing readers. The textual information received by the eyes then travels by electrical impulses to the occipital lobe where the brain recognizes text in the visual word form area. This information is then sent to the parietal lobe which helps in reading words in the correct order horizontally and vertically. This region is relied upon more strongly by skilled readers who are deaf than those who have typical hearing. Signals then pass to the language center of the temporal lobe. Similar to fluent readers of the logographic writing system of Chinese, fluent readers who are deaf use an area in front of the visual word form area when making decisions about the meanings of words. The few differences observed in how the brains of skilled readers who are deaf process written information are likely the result of differing levels of dependence on visual information and are not themselves differences that would cause difficulties in reading.

According to the ability to read fluently requires two essential abilities: decoding (matching . Once they have acquired a signed or spoken language, deaf children learn how to map between their exisiting vocabulary of signed/spoken words and printed words.[citation needed]

Several techniques are used to help bridge the gap between ASL and spoken language or the "translation process" such as sandwiching and chaining. Some sign languages, including ASL, make use of fingerspelling in everyday signing. Children who have acquired this type of sign language associate fingerspelling of words from the local spoken language with reading and writing in that same language. Methods such as sandwiching and chaining have been shown to assist students in mapping signs and fingerspelled words onto written words. Sandwiching consists of alternating between fingerspelling a word and signing it. Chaining consists of fingerspelling a word, pointing to the spoken language version of the word and using pictorial support. Although chaining is not widely used, it creates an understanding between the visual spelling of a word and the sign language spelling of the word. This helps the child become bilingual in both ASL and spoken language.

The deaf child's social context is crucial for nurturing his or her capacity to read. Research shows that deaf children born to deaf parents are usually better readers than deaf children born to hearing parents.

Reading
According to research from Goldin-Meadow & Mayberry, reading requires two essential abilities: familiarity with a language and understanding the mapping between that language and the written word.


 * citation used: (Goldin‐Meadow, Susan; Mayberry, Rachel I. (2001). "How Do Profoundly Deaf Children Learn to Read?". Learning Disabilities Research & Practice. 16 (4): 222–229. doi:10.1111/0938-8982.00022. ISSN 1540-5826)
 * This primary-source information could possibly be replaced with a secondary source defining the abilities required to read. Would need to:
 * Find where Goldwin-Meadow & Mayberry got their definition or if it was their own creation.
 * If needed, do some reading to find a matching but secondary source
 * Upon looking at the source, this idea came straight from Goldin-Meadow & Mayberry's (2001) abstract, which itself references two articles to make this point. The older article uses the term "decoding" rather than "mapping".  I guess Goldin-Meadow & Mayberry are stitching together ideas from the two articles.
 * "understanding the mapping" - Even most adult readers cannot be described as understanding mapping. It is an automatic process.  I suggest:
 * "and map that language with the written word."

However, reading is possible if deaf children learn ASL.


 * [citation needed]
 * I believe this sentence may be deleted as this topic will be addressed in the following sentence.

If a deaf child has access to spoken language through the use of technology (such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, bone anchored hearing aids), they can be taught to use their access to sounds to match with

Deaf children become readers following various tracks depending on their access to the phonological code of spoken or signed languages. If a child has some usable access to speech sounds, they will use this to develop a phonological code against onto which they can map letter sounds. However, most deaf children will struggle to create a complete

Once they have acquired ASL, deaf children learn how to map between sign language and print so that they can learn English.


 * "learn how to map between sign language and print" - This could be written in a more precise manner or explained in a little more detail.
 * "so that they can learn English" - The structure of this sentence makes it appear that deaf children first learn how to map between sign language and written language and THEN use this mapping tool to learn the written language. It is likely a concurrent process.  Citation needed.
 * "ASL/English" - Here, and probably throughout the article, we should examine substituting "ASL" with "sign language" and "English" with spoken/written language.
 * Suggest:
 * "Deaf children who have acquired a signed language can then use this language to map semantical meaning from signs onto written words."

Several techniques are used to help bridge the gap between ASL and spoken language or the "translation process" such as sandwiching and chaining.


 * See note above regarding specific language names vs. general labels.
 * "spoken language" - Should be "written language".
 * This may need to be a new paragraph, or deleted as the next paragraph takes up this topic.

Sandwiching consists of alternating between saying the word and signing it.


 * Is this method used for teaching reading? It seems more like mapping spoken words with signs.
 * Sentence may not belong in this paragraph.
 * Or perhaps the original writer meant, "Sandwiching consists of alternating between fingerspelling the word and signing the word." (citation needed. Can use the following reference:

Chaining consists of finger spelling a word, pointing to the spoken language version of the word and using pictorial support.


 * "finger spelling" - Inconsistency throughout article. "finger spelling" and "finger-spelling" should all be replaced with the accepted verb/gerund "fingerspelling"
 * "pointing to the spoken language version of the word" - Should be "pointing to the written form of the word."
 * Chaining can also include signing the equivalent sign to make the association clearer, especially if the child already knows the sign.
 * The same citation suggested above can be used here.

Although chaining is not widely used, it creates an understanding between the visual spelling of a word and the sign language spelling of the word.


 * "Although chaining is not widely used" - according to whom?
 * "it creates an understanding between the visual spelling of a word and the sign language spelling of the word." - I suggest:
 * "it helps students to map the meaning of a sign onto the printed word."

This helps the child become bilingual in both ASL and spoken language.


 * "This" - I suggest replacing "this" with a noun or noun phrase.
 * See note regarding use of language names.

The deaf child's social context is crucial for nurturing his or her capacity to read. Research shows that deaf children born to deaf parents are usually better readers than deaf children born to hearing parents. This is because deaf parents provide a strong social and emotional network and may immediately have access to the necessary resources for their child. Deaf parents already anticipate the needs of their child, having been through the same experience, as opposed to a hearing parent.[citation needed]


 * This entire final paragraph should be deleted as it is full of undocumented assumptions. Yes, deaf parents likely have an edge in raising their deaf children.  However, having deaf parents does not guarantee sign language is used int the home.  It is living in a signing environment that creates the great benefit experienced by deaf children of signing Deaf parents.
 * There is research to this end.