Preschool deaf and hard of hearing students' interactions during ASL and English storytelling.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the quality and quantity of interaction by deaf and hard of hearing children during stories told in different language conditions. Twelve stories were told to preschool children in three conditions, using pure ASL, using pure SEE II, and using SEE II with ASL features and ASL structures. All interactions of four profoundly deaf and hard of hearing children, ages 4;7 to 5;1 were coded. All children had been in a preschool program that used SEE II but had regular storytelling in ASL. The results indicate that children participated more and initiated more interactions during story conditions that were either pure ASL or contained ASL signing. In addition, children referred to the book more often during the ASL condition. In general, the data indicates that children might find stories told using ASL more interesting or engaging.