Abstract
The issue of deaf children's difficulties in acquiring literacy is reframed as a problem faced by most hearing teachers in knowing how best to construct conversational interactions around text. Adults vary markedly in their ability to engage with children reading. Comparisons are made between hearing teachers from different school settings and deaf adults in their strategies for sustaining deaf children's active remakings of text. It is concluded that hearing teachers build discourse frames which are high in management and control, whilst literate deaf adults are more responsive to the child's attention focus, gestures and communicative intentions. The study yields information on the nature of the language input as children read with contrasting partners and how the quality of interaction impacts on children's meaning-making.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have