Literacy and deaf children: The language question

The pedagogical assumption that prior knowledge of English is necessary for reading instruction of deaf students may be problematic since spoken English or Manual English fail to provide quality and unambiguous input. Furthermore, the assumption may have the undesirable effect of marginalizing American Sign Language (ASL). This article argues that ASL may be valuable for quality communication interaction between the adult and the child. Thus an alternative route of English acquisition for deaf children may lie in the process of literacy development facilitated by ASL through which the meaning of English in print may be mediated.