Becoming Literate in a Preschool Class: Literacy Development of Hearing-Impaired Children

Abstract

A qualitative study of emergent literacy of preschool hearing-impaired children was conducted to discover how the children learned about literacy within a school setting. Seven preschool hearing-impaired children participated in the study. Descriptive and interpretive field notes from ongoing observations of the children constituted a primary data source. Additional data sources included drawing and writing samples from the children and interviews with the teacher and parents. Grounded theory principles were used to analyze the data. The major finding was that the children, through literacy, found a way to learn about the hearing world and, more importantly, to be a part of it.