Graduate Research

ABSTRACT

Noreen’s graduate research explores the hypothesis that Deaf and hard of hearing students should not be treated as having a disability, but instead should be counted as a linguistic minority. Therefore, they should be considered emergent learners of English due to the fact that most Deaf and hard of hearing students have not had exposure to spoken language in the same way that their hearing peers have had. After providing a brief history of American Sign Language and Deaf culture in the United States, their research attempts to lay out the case for a bilingual and bicultural approach to teaching Deaf and hard of hearing students, and the role of TESOL professionals in bringing our training and research to preparing Deaf and hard of hearing students for academic success.

View Noreen’s presentation here: