Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience

The perspective that deaf people should be regarded as a cultural and language minority group rather than individuals with an audiological disability is gathering support among educators, linguists, and researchers involved in the education of deaf people across America. This book explores the notion that deaf people are members of a bilingual-bicultural minority group, whose experiences often overlap with the those of hearing minority group members, but at other times are unique. Contributors to this book include prominent deaf and hearing researchers, educators, and deaf community members. The three sections review research on bilingualism and biculturalism, the impact of cultural and language diversity on the deaf experience, and offer rich experiential evidence from deaf community members which highlights the emotional impact of living in the deaf and hearing worlds.

Table of Contents:
Part I. Cultural and Language Diversity: An Overview: 1. On interpreting the deaf experience within the context of cultural and language diverstiy Ila Parasnis; 2. Living with two languages and two cultures Francois Grosjean; 3. Perspectives from the history and the politics of bilingualism and bilingual education in the United States Kenji Hakuta and Elizabeth Feldman Mostafapour; 4. Cognitive and language development of bilingual children Josiane F. Hamers; Part II. Cultural and Language Diversity: Impact on the Deaf Experience: 5. From the cultural to the bicultural: the modern deaf community Carol A. Padden; 6. Early bilingual lives of deaf children Carol A. Padden; 7. Communication experiences of deaf people: an ethnographic account Susan Foster; 8. Marginality, biculturalism and social identity of deaf people R. Greg Emerton; 9. Attitudes of the deaf community toward political activism Gerry C. Bateman; 10. Cultural and language diversity in the curriculum: toward reflective practice Bonnie Meath-Lang; 11. Minority empowerment and the education of deaf people Joan B. Stone; 12. Social assimilation of deaf High School students: the role of school environment Thomas K. Holcomb; Part III. Cultural and Language Diversity: Reflections on the Deaf Experience: 13. Growing up deaf in deaf families: two different experiences Susan C. Searls and David Johnston; 14. Another new birth: reflections of a deaf native singer Patrick Graybill; 15. Raising deaf children in a hearing society: struggles and challenges for deaf signers Gary E. Mowl; 16. In search of self: experiences of a post-lingually deaf African-American Dianne K. Brooks; 17. Living in a bilingual-bicultural family Lynn Finton; 18. On being both hearing and deaf: my bilingual-bicultural Patricia Mudgett-DeCaro.

Review :
"Parasnis' 'Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience' will be a valuable addition to the library of professionals who provide services to Deaf people. It will also be of considerable interest to researchers, instructors, and professionals in minority education and bilingualism. All will be informed by the varied perspectives of the impact of language and culture on the experience of membership in a minority group." Contemporary Psychology "Nonspecialists will find that this book provides an intriguing and provocative introduction to Deaf culture, and specialists in deafness-related professions will appreciate this volume for its broad coverage of socioculture issues that impact the lives of Deaf children and adults." Janet R. Jamieson, Contemporary Psychology "The book, Culture, Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience, is an elegant and comprehensive exposition of one side of this long-standing debate in deaf education -- the side which portrays deaf people as comprising a bilingual and bicultural minority group whose native language is a signed rather than a spoken language (ASL/LSQ). In three well-organized sections, the editor...assembles readable articles...drawing from a wide variety of experts with both academic and personal experience in the field of deafness. The articles are the ultimate product of colloquia on the same topic that were held earlier at the National Technical Institute of the Deaf." McGill Journal of Education "...the section with personal essays makes the book especially attractive for a wider audience. This innovative and interdisciplinary volume is highly recommended for all interested in linguistic and cultural diversity: linguists, psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists, sign language interpreters, researchers and educators involved in the education of the Deaf, and last, but not least, all those who deal with the experience of living in the Deaf and Hearing worlds on a daily basis." SocioLinguistics