Written Language Outcomes of Deaf Elementary Students Engaged in Authentic Writing

Developing expressive language skills of deaf students through specialized writing instruction

Writing is an essential element of literacy development, and language plays a central role in the composing process, including developing, organizing, and refining ideas. Language and writing are interconnected, making it paramount for educators to attend to the development of deaf students' language skills. In this quasi-experimental study, we examined the impact of strategic and interactive pedagogical approaches, namely Strategic and Interactive Writing Instruction, implemented with deaf students in grades 3-6 to develop genre-specific traits in their expressive language (spoken or signed) and writing. In this study, a total of 16 teachers and their 69 students participated in the treatment and comparison groups. Expressive language and writing samples were collected at the beginning and end of the year for three different genres. Students in the treatment group showed statistically significant gains in their expressive and written language for recount and information genres when compared to students in the comparison group. There was not a significant treatment effect on persuasive expressive language or writing. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between expressive language and writing at both time points across all three genres. This study provides evidence on the importance of attending to language skills during literacy instruction.

Literacy and signing deaf students: a multi-national scoping review

Many literature reviews or other types of reviews (e.g., meta-analyses, scoping reviews) in deaf education research are focused upon primarily or exclusively research that is performed in U.S. contexts or English-speaking contexts only. However, research that is conducted in non-English-speaking, non-U.S. settings that may be more likely to be multilingual, has value for our understanding of how deaf students using multiple languages may develop literacy skills. The objective of this review was to explore the literature on literacy development with deaf learners conducted outside of English-speaking contexts that has been published in English, Portuguese, or Spanish. We identified 13 English-language articles, 9 Portuguese-language articles, and 0 Spanish articles that met inclusion criteria. From these articles, we glean important insights into the reading process, including the teaching of subskills of reading, writing instruction, early literacy experiences, and the potential relationship between signed languages and literacy. We also note the need for multiple, converging sources of evidence and the value of an asset-driven approach to understanding deaf learners.

Writing instruction with grade-level/college-bound secondary deaf students

In the current study, we used a sequential explanatory design to examine secondary writing instruction for deaf students in various school settings. An examination of secondary writing instruction was carried out in two cycles using a survey and subsequent focus group discussions. The first cycle (n = 222) presented an overview of secondary writing instruction for deaf students with diverse skill levels. The second cycle (n = 18) focused on writing instruction specific to grade-level or college-bound deaf students. We compared results from both cycles to investigate the similarities and differences in instructional practices and research needs between the two groups. We found that teachers are generally more prepared to instruct deaf students who are at grade level due to widely available curricula aligned with grade-level benchmarks. This contrasts with the challenges teachers face with creating or adapting materials for those who have experienced language deprivation. According to teachers, grade-level students receive 1.5 hr more weekly in writing instruction compared to the full sample. This study also indicates the importance of training teachers to teach skills in crafting arguments through writing, given its applicability to deaf students' future academic and personal goals.

Writing knowledge, practices, efficacy, interests, attitudes, and beliefs of deaf education teachers: a randomized controlled trial

Writing teachers play an extraordinarily important role in their students' writing development. Teachers' motivational beliefs, such as attitudes toward writing, perceptions of their efficacy to teach writing, or preparation to use evidence-based instructional practices, impact their writing instruction, which directly affects the advancement of students' writing skills. Deaf writers are a subpopulation of writers who may face discriminatory beliefs toward their writing development stemming from ableism, audism, or linguicism. Deaf education teachers may doubt their abilities to teach bilingual/multilingual students or teach deaf students experiencing language deprivation. The current study investigates whether deaf education teachers' beliefs can be fostered through an intensive one-year professional development (PD) program designed specifically for deaf education teachers. In this randomized controlled trial, we examine the extent to which the participation of deaf education teachers in specialized PD and subsequent writing instruction implementation (n = 26) impacts their pedagogical content knowledge, use of evidence-based practices for teaching writing, interest, attitudes, efficacy in teaching writing, and epistemological beliefs about writing compared to teachers in a business as usual condition (n = 24). Pre-post regression analyses indicate statistically significant group differences (with the treatment group scoring higher) on all variables except attitude and some epistemological beliefs. We speculate that specialized, sustained PD paired with supported implementation of writing instruction and ongoing teacher reflection are contributing factors to changes in teachers' motivational beliefs.