International Journal of Bilingual Education and

Bilingualism

ISSN: 1367-0050 (Print) 1747-7522 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rbeb20

Issues in second language literacy education with

learners who are deaf

Connie Mayer

To cite this article: Connie Mayer (2009) Issues in second language literacy education with
learners who are deaf, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 12:3,
325-334, DOI: 10.1080/13670050802153368

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13670050802153368

Published online: 08 Jul 2009.

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International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism
Vol. 12, No. 3, May 2009, 325
334

Issues in second language literacy education with learners who are deaf
Connie Mayer*

Faculty of Education, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

Deaf learners whose first language is American Sign Language face particular
challenges and constraints in developing literacy in English as a second language.
These constraints are interrogated and discussed in terms of their relationship to
issues of language proficiency in both L1 and L2, and to models of second
language literacy education. Suggestions are proposed as to ways in which these
constraints might be addressed in designing future bilingual programs for deaf
learners.
Keywords: deaf learners; challenges; literacy development; English as a second
language

A fundamental shift in the education of deaf students since the late 1980s has been
the application of principles of bilingual education, and the incorporation of the view
that deaf students are second language learners. In this conceptualization, a natural
sign language is regarded as the first language of deaf children, with the majority
language of the hearing community being taught as the L2, often according to the
principles of teaching English as a second language (ESL) (Johnson, Liddell, and
Erting 1989; Lane, Hoffmeister, and Bahan 1996). In the context of Canada or the
USA, this L1 is usually presumed to be American Sign Language (ASL) with written
English serving as the L2.
Before going further, it is necessary to acknowledge that there are some concerns
with deeming English to be the target for second language literacy education for all
learners who are deaf. By definition, such an assertion presupposes that some prior
literacy exists in a first language, and on this basis, it is problematic on a number of
levels. A significant number of deaf learners come to school without any fully
developed L1 and rely on some bimodal system of gestures and speech for
communication. For these students, it is not accurate to categorize English as an
L2 when there is no identifiable L1. And in any case it could be further argued that,
even though they have not acquired the language, for many of these learners English
may indeed represent the L1 as this is the language to which they were first exposed.
This situation becomes even more complicated for those deaf children whose parents
first language is neither English nor ASL, as these learners do not have access to
either language before entering school. And for at least some subset of children who
are deaf, for whom English is made accessible through some combination of
amplification, speech reading, listening, signing and print, it is accurate to claim that

*Email: cmayer@edu.yorku.ca

ISSN 1367-0050 print/ISSN 1747-7522 online

# 2009 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/13670050802153368
http://www.informaworld.com
326 C. Mayer

English is truly the L1 as it is the language that these children have naturally
acquired, and they are relatively proficient in its use.
Given the complexity of these situations, it becomes clear that simply referring to
English as an L2 for most deaf learners does not take into account the range of
unique language learning situations that exist. Therefore in characterizing deaf
students as learners of English as a second language, it is important to be clear that
we are referring to those students who have acquired ASL as an L1 and are now
learning to read and write English as an L2.
The focus of this paper will be on examining the ways in which these students,
whose L1 is ASL, face issues which differ from hearing learners of English as a
second language, and on thinking about the pedagogical implications and ramifica-
tions of this claim. More particularly, in what ways are these learners distinct from
hearing L2 learners, and what are the issues that they face in developing text-based
literacy?

The current situation

The stated goal of a bilingual approach to the education of deaf students is well-
educated children, bilingual in ASL and English (Johnson, Liddell, and Erting 1989).
However, the situation for the deaf learner differs from that of hearing L2 learners in
that being bilingual refers only to proficiency in the written form of the L2:
proficiency in the oral form is not a stated goal. In other words competence in
English is determined primarily by the learners ability to read and write, not by the
ability to hear, speak, or speech-read English. What makes the situation even more
particular is the claim that this second language literacy can be achieved by using
ASL to explain aspects of English, and by limiting the use of the L2 to its print form
(Mayer and Akamatsu, 1999). In other words, the premise is that the secondary print
form of the language can be learned without manipulating the language in its
primary, face-to-face form (see Paul 1998, for a detailed discussion of this point).
However, it is the case that after more than a decade of bilingual programming
for deaf learners, there is no research evidence to support the claim that students in
bilingual programs are achieving levels of English literacy commensurate with
hearing age peers (Mayer and Akamatsu 2003). This is significant in that one of the
stated goals of bilingual programs is to achieve literacy levels commensurate with
that of hearing age peers (Grushkin 1998; Nelson 1998; Wilbur 2000). This would be
a considerable accomplishment given that one of the most robust research findings in
the field is that deaf students do not read as well as their hearing peers, with an
annual gain of only 0.3 grade level per year (Allen 1986) and with the typical 18
19-
year-old student reading at a level commensurate with an average hearing eight-nine-
year-old (Marschark and Spencer 2003; Paul 1998; Traxler 2000).
This does not mirror the situation of hearing second language learners. While
there are issues with respect to differences in the length of time required to develop
conversational versus academic fluency in the L2 (see Bialystok 2001; Cummins
2000, for discussions of this point), the evidence does not indicate that most hearing
ESL learners struggle to achieve age-appropriate literacy levels in the same way as
their deaf counterparts do.
The current reality is that deaf learners continue to have significant problems
developing English literacy. The following are examples of questions posed by
 International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 327

instructors of deaf students at the college level which serve to illustrate the ongoing
concerns:
I have on average over 20 deaf students that take classes at the community college. At
least half of them, if not more, do not have college level reading and writing skills
because of their deafness and ASL being their first language. Placing them in our regular
remedial English and reading classes are marginal in terms of success and leaves me
wondering if ESL classes are a realistic option to consider.
This question is in regard to strengthening and improving the English and reading skills
of the deaf students whose first language is ASL. For years, we have had the ASSET
testing to determine the placement of deaf ASL students in remedial classes but I
question if this is really helping the student
as opposed to placement in ESL courses.
What is the experience for those of you that have had this concern? How do we best help
deaf students improve reading and writing skills?

To think about how we can best address these concerns, it is necessary to first
consider the singular constraints that deaf learners face in developing second
language literacy.

Issues of language
The issues with respect to the development of L2 literacy for deaf learners have much
to do with the level and nature of the proficiencies that have been achieved in both
the first and second language. These proficiencies (or lack thereof) provide some
explanation for the generally poor literacy levels attained by deaf learners in bilingual
settings.

Proficiency in L2
For the purposes of this discussion, it is expedient to refer to the distinction
Cummins (1979, 1981a) makes between the development of basic interpersonal
communication skills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP)
in the learning of the L2. In keeping with Cummins (2000) characterization of these
distinctions, the terms conversational and academic proficiency will be used
interchangeably with the terms BICS and CALP throughout this text. In using these
terms, it must be acknowledged that there are criticisms with respect to making this
conversational/academic distinction (see Cummins 2000, 86
111, for a review of these
critiques). However, for the purposes of the argument being made here, these
distinctions do provide a viable framework for discussing the relationship between
language proficiency and academic achievement, in a bilingual situation where access
to the different registers of language in both L1 and L2 is uniquely problematic.
For hearing L2 learners it is the BICS that are most readily achieved, often within
the space of two years, while upwards of five years may be required to achieve native-
like CALP (Collier 1987; Cummins, 1981b; Klesmer 1994). Mastery of BICS implies
conversational fluency and this ability affords L2 learners the means to carry on
conversations in familiar face-to-face situations and known contexts. BICS are
qualified by high-frequency words and core grammatical structures, and signal a level
of proficiency that native speakers usually realize by age five. The development of
BICS does not generally pose any consequential problem for most L2 learners, and
while it is not a guarantee of future academic success, these basic language
328 C. Mayer

competencies provide a foundation for the subsequent development of CALP. Can

the same case be made for learners who are deaf ?
Although deaf students who have ASL as their L1 are designated as ESL learners,
exposure to English in some form would have occurred simultaneously with the
exposure to ASL, usually from an early age. At the very least, these students would
have had extensive and systematic exposure to English in educational settings. But
despite this continued exposure, these deaf learners do not develop conversational
proficiency in English in a primary face-to-face form in either speech or sign. By
virtue of their hearing loss, deaf L2 learners do not have ready access to BICS in
English as these are encountered initially and primarily via an oral mode
an avenue
that does not afford comprehensible input for a deaf learner. This would not be an
issue for most hearing learners. With similar exposure to the L2, most would have
acquired at least the BICS level of English (and probably much more) by the time
they reached college age.
Thus the fundamental and critical distinction between hearing and deaf L2
literacy learners rests on the differing levels of L2 conversational proficiency that
have been acquired before they are required to use the L2 in more cognitively and
linguistically demanding situations. Deaf learners are attempting to develop the
secondary ability of literacy in an L2 when they have not yet acquired a basic
conversational knowledge of its lexicon, morphology, and syntax. In contrast,
hearing ESL students have acquired this knowledge by using English in its spoken
form before we require them to make extensive use of L2 print in academic settings.

Proficiency in L1
To accrue optimal benefits from a bilingual education, it is important that L2
learners are encouraged to continue to develop proficiency in the L1 (Cummins and
Schecter 2003). Typically, this would be a focus on academic proficiency as the
conversational abilities would have developed first and would already be quite secure.
There would be an emphasis on understanding complex oral and written language in
the L1 making use of more low frequency words, more complex syntax, and those
abstract expressions rarely used in everyday conversations. There would also be a
heavy stress on developing text-based literacy in L1 as there is much evidence to
support a positive linguistic interdependence between reading and writing in L1 and
the subsequent development of these abilities in the L2 (Cummins 1991; Hornberger
1989).
For deaf learners whose L1 is ASL, two related points are relevant to a discussion
of developing CALP in the L1. The first is that ASL does not have any widely
accepted print form. Because students cannot learn to read and write in their L1,
there are none of these text-based literate proficiencies available for transfer from the
L1 to the L2.
The second point follows from the first. Because CALP is so often framed in
terms of its relationship to text, there may be questions as to the nature of what
constitutes academic proficiencies in a language such as ASL which has no written
form. This is not to suggest that ASL cannot be used to take up conceptually
challenging material, but rather to propose that deaf learners are often not
challenged to use ASL in this way. This has much to do with the fact that the
majority of deaf children in bilingual programs have hearing parents who are not
highly skilled users of ASL, and are often not able to engage readily in discourse of
 International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 329

any sort, let alone the sorts of discourse which promote critical and reflective
thinking. As well, educators in bilingual settings are usually not native users of ASL
and they may lack a strong command of the academic register of the language that
would be most effective for schooling.
Therefore, with respect to issues of language proficiency, the explanation for the
weak English literacy abilities of deaf students in bilingual programs rests on more
than the fact ASL is a visual
gestural language with no print form. While these issues
of modality are relevant, they must be interrogated in ways that allow us to consider
how they impinge on the deaf learners ability to develop BICS in L2 and CALP in
L1.

Issues of pedagogy
There are pedagogical implications that flow from the arguments made with respect
to language proficiency in the previous section, and these can serve to inform our
understandings of what constitutes effective L2 literacy education for deaf learners.
They also help to explain why some educational approaches are inappropriate or
inadequate to meet the needs of deaf L2 learners. In the following section, two
particular pedagogical questions will be considered: Are ESL teaching strategies
appropriate for students who are deaf ? And are current models of literacy education
adequate in meeting the needs of deaf learners of English?

Deaf students as ESL learners

Well designed ESL programs
although, it should be noted that many are still
grammar translation
provide opportunities for beginning students to use oral
English in meaningful situations in order to address the dual goals of developing
communicative competence, and acquiring linguistic knowledge of the L2. Hearing
ESL students are then able to capitalize on their growing competence in the spoken
form of the L2 as the foundation for developing L2 literacy. Within a few years, they
usually have a fairly solid ability to use oral English (its lexicon, morphology, and
syntax) for conversational purposes, and the challenge is one of building on this base
to develop higher levels of text-based literacy. The deaf ESL learner lacks access to a
primary form of the L2, and therefore the design of typical ESL programs, with their
initial emphasis on conversational English, is not appropriate. Deaf students require
programs which address the fact that they often lack basic aspects of English which
other ESL students have picked up via their ever-expanding knowledge of its spoken
form. For many deaf students this means that a much more systematic approach is
taken to the development of signed and/or spoken English (Leutke-Stahlman 1998).
It is also important to acknowledge that for many ESL students the development
of L2 literacy is buttressed by their literacy abilities in L1, and to some extent ASL
proficiency can provide this same support for deaf learners. Despite the controversies
about the roles L1 and L2 play in a bilingual setting, there should be no controversy
over the fact that primary language instruction in a natural sign language (such as
ASL) can confer cognitive and academic benefits and lead to primary language
maintenance without blocking L2 literacy learning (Mayer and Akamatsu 2003,
144). But the process of becoming literate in English cannot be accomplished solely
through a reliance on this L2 knowledge and in order to develop conversational and
330 C. Mayer

academic L2 skills, learners must be exposed to sufficient L2 comprehensible input

(Cummins 1988, 157).
This is the conundrum that educators encounter in planning programs for deaf
L2 learners. How can this condition for access to a sufficient quantity and quality of
comprehensible L2 input be met? Thus, while it may be appropriate to import
pedagogical principles from ESL programs designed for hearing learners into
program for deaf learners, these strategies will not be a very useful fit if concerns
with respect to comprehensible input are not taken into account.

Deaf students and models of literacy instruction

Cummins (2000) makes the argument that with L2 learners we tend to focus on
discrete language skills at the expense of activities which focus on CALP, and he
suggests that this provides at least some explanation for why these students remain
behind academically. He defines discrete skills as those which have to do with specific
phonological, literacy, and grammatical knowledge and which can be acquired via
direct instruction or engagement. Knowledge of letters, the sounds represented by
letters, and the decoding of written words into sounds would be some of the discrete
skills that could be acquired early in a school career. Others like knowledge of
punctuation, spelling conventions, and grammatical rules are acquired on an ongoing
basis. Typically, L2 learners acquire many of these discrete skills early in their
development, and it is worthwhile to note that there is a place for this knowledge in
developing literate proficiencies in the second language.
However, what is often lacking is the emphasis on using the L2 to engage with
linguistically and conceptually complex material
the kind of material which
requires learners to engage in extensive reading of text and then incorporate this
information into their writing. Part of the explanation for why this use of L2 is not
emphasized is that it is not as amenable to direct instruction as is the teaching of
discrete language skills. In other words, it is relatively easier to teach and drill the use
of capital letters than it is to teach students how to support a claim with evidence.
Similar observations could be made with respect to deaf learners of English in
bilingual programs. Because the students are not able to readily and easily engage in
academic discourse, the pedagogical focus often tends toward the learning of discrete
language skills, the teaching of isolated bits of information, and the completion of
worksheets (Mayer, Akamatsu, and Stewart 2002). However there is a qualitative
difference between the two situations. Not only are deaf students focusing on discrete
skills which may not position them well for future academic success, but they are also
working on these skills in the absence of well-developed BICS in the L2. In other
words, learners are being introduced to discrete bits of linguistic information about
the L2, but they do not have enough spontaneous knowledge of the second language
in order to make sense of what has been taught. While the benefits of the direct
instruction of discrete language skills are limited for all ESL learners, they are doubly
limited in their efficacy for deaf learners who typically do not use the L2 for face-to-
face communication, except in print form via technologies such as text pagers and e-
mail. Use of these technologies has been shown to afford deaf individuals enhanced
opportunities for communication and independence, but to date there is no research
to demonstrate that the use of these technologies has a significant impact on the
development of English.
 International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 331

Given that deaf learners in bilingual settings do not use the L2 for engaging in
classroom discourse, there is no point in making the argument that the oral form of
the L2 be used in literate ways in the classroom. With respect to using the L2 in more
linguistically and conceptually challenging situations, the deaf learner is expected to
rely on the written mode of the L2 for engaging academic activities. Yet this becomes
a circular discussion in that most deaf learners in bilingual situations do not read and
write well, and thus begs the question as to how they will use reading and writing as
the means to engage in literate discourse.
The argument is also made that literate discourse in L1 can stand in for literate
discourse in L2. But making this claim does not take into account that it is exposure
to the vocabulary and syntax of the L2 as it is realized in its academic, synoptic genre
that is fundamental to the development of this register of language use in the first
place (Mayer and Wells 1996). Even highly efficient reading and writing ability in an
L1 do not make up altogether for lack of knowledge of L2 (Hornberger 1989), and
there is no reason to think that deaf learners can bypass this L2 knowledge, and rely
exclusively on L1, as they aim to achieve literacy in L2.
This lack of knowledge of the L2 has further pedagogical implications,
specifically with respect to the teaching of reading. Whole language versus phonics
debates aside, what is beyond dispute is the crucial role that phonological awareness
plays in learning to read an alphabetic script (Bialystok 2001, 168). It is beyond the
scope of this paper to go into depth on this point, but it is important to recognize
that all L2 learners of English must establish some phonological awareness of the
second language, and sort out how this phonological information relates to the
written code (Mayer 2007). As Olson (1994) would suggest, literacy learners must
come to see and understand their oral language in terms of the text, and there is no
theoretical or research basis to suggest that deaf learners of English are exempt from
this requirement.
It is also telling that one exception in the repertoire of discrete skills which are
typically taught to deaf learners is that of sound
symbol relationships. This is hardly
surprising given that these learners are deaf, but it still leaves educators with the
pedagogical problem of how to establish this necessary sense of phonological
awareness in the absence of hearing. Hearing ESL learners do not face this problem
as they do have access to the sound stream of English, and some may even be
advantaged by being able to use phonological awareness skills developed in the L1 as
they learn to read in L2 (Bialystok 2001). In contrast, deaf children are taught letter
names and can recite the alphabet, but they typically lack the ability to make explicit
speech
print relationships. Yet the explicit teaching of how to make these relation-
ships is not generally the focus of much pedagogical attention.

Overcoming the constraints

Before exploring what might be done to address the constraints facing deaf L2
learners, there is a need to acknowledge that some of the issues described here are
simply a case of what is. It is the case that deaf learners, in bilingual programs or
not, have hearing losses. This shapes the reality of their language learning situation
and the impact is considerable when the target L2 is an auditory
oral language such
as English. This makes acquisition of conversational proficiency in the L2
challenging, and creates subsequent challenges with regard to developing academic
proficiency and text-based literacy in the L2.
332 C. Mayer

Acknowledging these constraints is the necessary first step. That being said, the
challenge is to think about ways in which these constraints can be overcome, or at
least managed, so that deaf learners will experience higher levels of success in
developing L2 literacy. To this end, the following thoughts are put forward to prompt
further debate.
We cannot ignore the fact that L2 conversational proficiency undergirds L2
literacy learning. Attempting to learn to read and write in a second language, without
the lexical, grammatical, and syntactic knowledge that conversational proficiency
affords, is to operate in a linguistic vacuum. Therefore, we need to find ways to
engage deaf learners in meaningful face-to-face interactions in the L2. As these BICS
cannot be acquired effectively via print, alternate avenues must be explored in order
to make the L2 comprehensible and accessible for deaf learners. Possibilities include
the use of amplification (including cochlear implants), some form of manually coded
English, combinations of speech and sign, or contact language. While none of these
would afford the deaf L2 learner, the same access to BICS in L2 that the hearing
student has, they would serve to provide some access
access that is necessary to
developing a language base in the L2.
Because we know that academic proficiencies in L1 support the development of
like abilities in the L2, it would be important to better understand what constitutes
these academic proficiencies in ASL, and how they can be used to support L2 literacy
learning. For instance, how will educators deal with the fact that there are often not
distinct ASL signs for the vocabulary items that typify the academic register of
English (Corson 1997)? This vocabulary knowledge is central to the development of
CALP and text-based literacy in the L2.
Related to these first two points is the issue of engaging learners in literate
discourse in both L1 and L2. A fundamental principle of effective classroom practice
is that it is through dialogue that children learn to make meaning and sense of the
world around them, to think, and to question and share ideas (Wells 2000). But it is
often difficult to involve deaf learners in this sort of discourse in either L1 or L2,
given the constraints they face in using either language as a tool for making meaning
and constructing knowledge (Mayer, Akamatsu, and Stewart 2002).
Research has indicated that developing phonological awareness via systematic
phonics instruction should be implemented as part of literacy programs to teach
beginning reading as well as to prevent and remediate reading difficulties (Ehri et al.
2001, 393). While there is certainly more to a balanced reading program than phonics
instruction, it is an area that cannot be overlooked simply because the learner is deaf.
Ehri et al. (2001) suggest that there is currently much interest in whether systematic
phonics instruction is effective for children who are learning English as a second
language (433). It would be equally interesting to investigate this question with L2
literacy learners who are deaf, particularly since the preponderance of the evidence
reveals that deaf students who use a phonological code in working memory tend to be
better readers than deaf students who do not (Paul 2003). Accepting that it is
necessary, how can phonics instruction be realized in teaching reading to deaf L2
learners?
Given the fundamental differences between hearing and deaf ESL learners that
have already been described, it would be worth considering whether ESL programs
are appropriate placements for deaf L2 learners. It is interesting to note that at the
elementary and secondary school levels, deaf learners are designated as special
education students and teachers are required to write individual education plans for
 International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 333

them. Yet at the college and university level, deaf students who lag behind in L2
literacy are often placed in ESL classes for the purposes of upgrading their English

even though these students may have already spent many years of schooling in
programs where English was one of the languages of instruction. This raises the
question as to what kinds of programs would best address the needs of deaf L2
learners at all levels, and challenges the notion that pedagogical approaches that are
effective for hearing learners can be applied to deaf education without carefully
considered modifications.
Finally, to what extent are teachers of deaf students being familiarized with the
knowledge base that exists in both the field of bilingual education and of deaf
education, and with the strategies that have proven to be successful in certain
contexts? The implementation of any fundamental change rests with the practitioners
in the classroom and it is critical that they have a solid understanding of what they
are doing and why they are doing it. Only in this way can they effectively confront the
challenges that are inherent in teaching deaf students how to read and write in a
second language.
And ultimately, it must be acknowledged that characterizing deaf L2 learners as
just like other learners except that they cant hear, is facile and does little to inform
theory or practice in the field. The impact of hearing loss on the ability to develop
text-based literacy is profound and should not be underestimated. But a fuller
understanding of the challenges and constraints that these learners face will assist all
concerned to take on these challenges, but not be overwhelmed by them.

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