The purpose of this thesis is to show the historical discrepancies in literacy skills of deaf students in the United States and how they correlate to language philosophies and the resulting educational practices. These philosophies are described chronologically beginning with the first formal educational institution, in 1817, followed by the Oralism Movement, the philosophy of Total Communication, and the Bilingual-Bicultural Approach. All three language approaches can be seen today in schools for the deaf across America, but only the bilingual-bicultural approach builds a foundation in a natural L1 (American Sign Language) in an effort to develop an L2 (English).

This study focused on emerging bilingual students in an urban elementary bilingual classroom. Schools and teachers play a fundamental role in emerging bilingual children’s language acquisition and academic preparation. Emerging bilinguals currently enrolled in U.S. schools must learn a new academic language and academic content in a climate marked by standards-based reform and anti-immigrant sentiment. Utilizing case study methodology, this investigation explored the ways in which emerging bilinguals and their teacher co-constructed literacy practices and the connection between literacy practices and identity. Microanalysis of discourse was performed on data collected during literacy practices to examine positionings, the ways people present themselves in a situation. Data included field notes from classroom observations, audio and video recordings, teacher and student interviews, and artifacts in the form of student work and district and curriculum documents. Participants engaged in a wide variety of literacy practices utilizing material resources of the classroom, their teacher, their emerging bilingual abilities, and prior experiences both in and out of the classroom as resources to construct meaning from texts. Literacy practices were characterized by high expectations for student achievement and group membership, the development of students’ linguistic and cultural knowledge, building students’ self-efficacy related to literacy, and affirmation of participants’ bilingual/bicultural identities. Students demonstrated several positionings during literacy practices. Analysis of these positioning suggested that their identities were shaped by their participation in literacy practices and their interactions with other members of this community of practice. The community of practice that participants co-constructed was characterized by a focus on inclusivity, purposeful opening of interactional spaces, expanding repertoires of practice, and caring. Results of this study suggested that teacher and student disposition and affect can be taught, which raised questions about the current focus on only knowledge and skills in teacher education programs rather on teacher disposition and affect. There are also implications for teachers and researchers who have an interest in communities of practice and effectively educating emerging bilingual students. / text

Literature indicates that inclusion of deaf children in mainstream schools is a complex process and that it has eluded many deaf practitioners and education systems for a very long time. New research is, however, pointing to the potential for sign bilingual education as a viable strategy for improving inclusivity of deaf children in mainstream settings. The purpose of the current study was, therefore, to interrogate how sign bilingual education was used as a strategy for inclusion of deaf children in Zimbabwe. The study was premised on Cummins Linguistic Interdependence theory and adopted the mixed methods paradigm which is informed by the philosophy of pragmatism. The sequential explanatory design was utilized and participants were selected using random sampling for the quantitative phase and purposive sampling for the qualitative phase. Questionnaires, face-to-face and focus group interviews (FGIs) were used to elicit data from participants. These data were presented on SPSS generated graphs and analysed using frequency counts, percentages and inferential statistics based on the analysis of Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation Coefficient at 5% level of significance (p=0.005). Consequently, qualitative data were presented as summaries and direct quotes and analysed using thematic and content analyses. The results revealed that the conception, hence the practice of sign bilingual was limited and had challenges, but that it had the greatest potential benefits for inclusion of deaf children in mainstream schools in Zimbabwe. On these bases, the study recommended training of teachers and parents as well as staff development of the teachers and school administrators. The study also recommended adoption of best practices such as early exposure, co-teaching, co-enrolment, multi-stakeholder participation, turning special schools into resource centers for sign bilingual education and inclusion and embracing ICT. A further recommendation pointed to review of policy in line with best practices. Ultimately, the study proposed a framework for sign bilingual education as a strategy for inclusion of deaf children in mainstream schools in Zimbabwe. / Inclusive Education / Ph. D. (Inclusive Education)