Learning To Write: Social Interaction Among Preschool Auditory/Oral & Total Communication Children

Abstract

The nature of the social interaction of young hearing-impaired children was studied as they participated in free-choice writing events in their preschool classrooms. The eleven children, six children from a Preschool I, auditory/oral class and five children from a Preschool II, total communication class, were videotaped and observed as they and adults participated at the writing table. Samples of the children’s written products accompanied the videotaped data. Analysis revealed that the Preschool I auditory/oral children interacted infrequently with one another as they participated at the writing table, but the Preschool II, total communication children interacted freely and frequently among themselves. Both groups of children interacted socially with adults who joined them in the writing events. The study demonstrates the need for further research on the impact of communication modalities and instructional contexts for young hearing-impaired children’s literacy development.