thesis statement about deaf culture

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

Deaf Culture: Exploring Deaf Communities in the United States

2018, Ear & Hearing

Related Papers

Sign Language Studies

Breda Carty

Carla Barbe

Jacqueline Humphries

The American Deaf community for several decades has been involved in sometimes complicated and often contested ways of defining what it means to be Deaf. It is our thesis that the processes of identity construction and the recent discourse of Deaf identity are not unique phenomena at all but echo the experience of other embedded cultural groups around the world, particularly those that are stressed by the assertion of hegemony over them by others. We turn to 2 particular theorists, Jose Martı ́ and W. E. B. DuBois, to help us un-derstand both the dilemmas that Deaf people face and the possible solutions that they propose. This article argues that identities are constructed not just within Deaf communities but within the social contexts in which Deaf communities are embedded. This article discusses how Deaf people’s identities are

Glenn Anderson

Ross E Mitchell

Corinna Howland , Julie Park

Kim Pudans-Smith

Names are both personal and political, as they relate to identity. Woodward’s 1975 etic article first mentioned a naming convention for D/deaf and prominent scholars have debated the issue since. To evaluate current preferences, the research team used an online questionnaire to gather emic insights and opinions from the community, as well as a more etic perspective from hearing individuals for work with these issues. Data from these three self-identified groups of participants, Deaf, deaf, and hearing, were analyzed. Results found high variability among responses related to the terms, D/deaf, and whether or not certain terms should remain in the lexicon. Results are discussed and presented both to contribute and to further research in the field. It is recommended that the usage of existing term(s) be adhered to and that an individual’s preferred naming conventions be respected and utilized whenever possible.

Bencie Woll

Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf …

Jane K. Fernandes , Shirley Shultz Myers

The focus and concerns establishing Deaf Studies in the 1970s have rigidified into a reactive stance toward changing historical conditions and the variety of deaf lives today. This critique analyzes the theoretical foundation of this stance: a tendency to downplay established research in the field of Deaf Studies and linguistics, the employment of outdated examples of discrimination, an uncritical acceptance of Derrida's phonocentrism, flawed uses of Saussure's linguistic theory, and reliance on the limiting metaphor of colonialism. The purpose of the critique ultimately is to point Deaf Studies in a new direction. Issues with conceptualizing an expanded Deaf Studies are the focus of a companion article (this issue), “Inclusive Deaf Studies: Barriers and Pathways" -- at http://jdsde.oxfordjournals.org/content/15/1/17.full

William Cerf

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

RELATED PAPERS

Laura Mauldin , Tara Fannon

Karen McGibbon

Handbook on Promoting Social Justice in Education

Timothy Reagan

London Journal of Humanities and Social Science

Kate Burrows

Annelies Kusters

Sara Louise WheelernéeEdwards

Journal of deaf studies and deaf education

Trevor A Johnston

Scandinavian journal of public health. Supplement

Angelo Lo Conte

Diffractions

Cristina Gil , Joana M Pereira

chijioke obasi

Flavia Fleischer

Mela Bennett

Jane K. Fernandes

Tove Skutnabb-Kangas

American Annals of the Deaf, 158(5): pp. 428-438

Canadian Journal of Disability Studies

Kristin Snoddon

Sage Publiciations

Michele Friedner

Sites: a journal of social anthropology and cultural studies

Julie Park , Alana Best , Jenny Snapp

L1 Educational Studies in Language and Literature

Debra J Abrams

Barbara LeMaster

RELATED TOPICS

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

Architecture Through the Senses: Navigating a World Without Noise

Original bundle

Collections

A STUDY OF DEAF CULTURE IN AN AMERICAN URBAN DEAF COMMUNITY

The dissertation focuses upon the study of the major cultural characteristics of members of a Deaf Community of a large midwestern American city. Previous studies have examined the psychological, sociological and linguistic aspects of Deaf Communities, but the cultural aspects and sociocultural institutions of Deaf Communities have been explored only rarely. The data were collected in 1979 and 1983. The primary field methodology was participant observation, supplemented with open-ended questionnaire interviews with Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Deafened and Hearing Informants. Manualists and oralists were included in the sample. This research was conducted by a "native" deaf fieldworker who shared Deaf informants' feelings and thoughts and received full cooperation in helping the public understand the cultural phenomena found within the Deaf Community. A central finding of the study shows that sociocultural characteristics of Deaf Culture are qualitatively distinctive for both Deaf and Hearing informants, without focusing on sign language or the other modes of communication utilized by members of the Deaf Community. Particular cultural characteristics identified in this study are: perceptions of cultural "space," special labels to distinguish with self and others, marriage patterns, sex roles and gender divisions, club membership as means of creating and maintaining social relations, and special technological devices as a segmentation of the Deaf Community's visual repertoire. Conclusions explore the meaning of the term "Deaf Community" with the support of theories made by anthropologists and sociologists, the identification of individuals and groups as inherent in the membership of the Deaf Community, and the findings of "Deaf Culture" as evidenced in the field site. This study will help to open the door to more ethnographic studies of different Deaf Communities in the United States, as well as in other Western and non-Western countries, to identification of comparative sociocultural features, and to creation of Deaf "cultural universals.".

Access statement

Usage metrics.

Downloadable Content

The unheard voices in mental health: A deaf experience

• Masters Thesis
• Arias, Gabriela
• Park, Hyun Sun
• Debonis, Judith
• McCarty-Caplan, David
• Social Work
• California State University, Northridge
• deaf community
• Dissertations, Academic -- CSUN -- Social Work.
• deaf individudals
• intimate partner violence
• mental health
• substance abuse
• deaf culture
• http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/222993
• by Gabriela Arias

Items in ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

• Search Menu
• Sign in through your institution
• Advance articles
• Author Guidelines
• Submission Site
• Open Access
• Why Submit?
• About The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education
• Editorial Board
• Advertising and Corporate Services
• Journals Career Network
• Self-Archiving Policy
• Dispatch Dates
• Terms and Conditions
• Journals on Oxford Academic
• Books on Oxford Academic

Article Contents

• < Previous

Why Deaf Culture Matters in Deaf Education

• Article contents
• Figures & tables
• Supplementary Data

Dan Hoffman, Jean F. Andrews, Why Deaf Culture Matters in Deaf Education, The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education , Volume 21, Issue 4, October 2016, Pages 426–427, https://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/enw044

• Permissions Icon Permissions

That Deaf culture matters in deaf education is the idea that most who work closely with Deaf colleagues understand and utilize in their building of practical instructional models as well as in conceptualizing research projects. Deaf culture matters because it represents a strong support mechanism within a hearing society, which is more often not attuned to Deaf persons’ best interests. Deaf culture, with American Sign Language (ASL), and visual (and sometimes auditory) ways of experiencing the world, and its networks of people who share their experiences coping in a hearing world, may not be recognized nor tapped for resources but dismissed as irrelevant particularly in light of modern developments in genetic engineering, auditory technology, access to public education, and a decline in attendance in deaf clubs and enrollment in Deaf center schools. However, the modern day Deaf culture, similar to American hearing culture in general, is evolving and incorporating new ways of communicating, socializing, becoming educated, and working through the use of digital technologies. The Deaf culture of today may be different than the Deaf culture of yesterday, but it is still a vibrant and relevant entity ( Leigh, Andrews, & Harris, 2018 ).

Why wouldn’t parents, teachers, administrators, and policy makers not want to have this important support system available as early as when hearing loss is diagnosed? Horejas examines this very question using a multitude of theoretical frameworks related to social constructions of deafness, identity, culture, and language. He unites these theories using the macro concept of languaculture or the notion that a child’s language and culture cannot be separated because they are intertwined.

Horejas proposes that deaf children can be exposed to both worlds—Deaf and hearing—and both languages—English and ASL—through bilingualism and biculturalism in the school. Languaculture refers to the notion that language and culture are intertwined and are both needed for the Deaf child in forming his Deaf identity. For the author, the languaculture of the oral classroom and the hearing world can be broadened as it happened in his own personal life, and it can become more inclusive and be united with the languaculture of sign bilingualism.

Related to sign bilingualism or ASL-based teaching, for example, in the teaching of literacy and language, there are educational activities such as shared or guided book reading that incorporate Deaf cultural practices as potential tools. These tools include using Deaf mothers and Deaf teachers as ASL storytellers in the classroom. In addition, they can model the using eye gaze, visual, and joint attention as means to regulate the child’s attention to the teacher and to the storybook during the reading lesson. Other Deaf cultural and visual components that can be incorporated into literacy activities include rhythmic movements, exaggerated facial expressions, increased signed space, and exaggerated sign size during the shared book reading ( Leigh, Andrews, & Harris, 2018 ). After reading and signing whole stories, during vocabulary reading activities, teachers can build on the connections between signed meanings of words and the language of written texts enabling comprehension for literacy using techniques such as “chaining” ( Humphries & MacDougall, 1999 ). Even the furniture of the classroom shows how culture is embedded in teaching practices. For example, Horejas mentions that the crescent-shaped table in the ASL classroom allows children to have more face-to-face interactions which increases their socialization, collaboration, and stimulates metacognition and conceptualization. The ASL classroom is also “decorated” differently as it has culturally relevant ASL posters, the ABCs in sign language, books on the shelves with ASL vocabulary, other materials which model the two languages—English and ASL. All of these practices, according to Horejas, enhance Deaf cultural transmission and enhance the teaching of English literacy.

Similarly to Horejas’ ideas, in his work with Deaf adult readers who are balanced bilinguals but who came from different languacultures (some were orally taught and others sign taught), Hoffman (2014) found that languaculture or the intertwining of language and culture was evident in their reading comprehension strategies of college textbooks. He found his five Deaf adult participants to use the skill of translanguaging (input in one language and output in the second language) while reading a text. For example, when reading (signing) English texts aloud, they did not simply translate the text from English to ASL but used spoken English, their knowledge of Deaf culture, ASL expansions, rhetorical questions, their background knowledge, metacognitive strategies, rereading, contextual cues, in order to comprehend the print. In other words, they used their multiple languacultures in making meaning from print.

Horejas recognizes the divisions and conflicts between the languaculture of oral pedagogy and sign pedagogy. However, he calls for “collaborative inquiry” and suggests “that both camps sit at the same table and discuss ways to work together for constructive collaborative inquiry to elevate dialogues on some of the issues within the current state of deaf education” (p. 98). The Common Ground Project (2015) , a joint project between the Conference of Educational Administrators for Schools for the Deaf (CEASD), an organization supporting signing-based pedagogy schools and OPTION Schools, which is an organization of oral-based pedagogy schools, have been meeting since 2013 to do just that—to see if both organizations can identify areas for collaboration to help all infants, children, and youth whether they come from an oral-pedagogy languaculture or a sign-pedagogy languaculture.

Clearly, Horejas has raised the languaculture term as one that can be investigated by both practicing teachers and educational researchers and can help us further the case that Deaf culture matters in Deaf Education. Graduate students and researchers in deaf education, sociology, and psychology will find this book rich in theoretical detail and ideas for future research. Qualitative researchers may find the appendices on his research methods helpful. On the practice side, teachers will find this book full of classroom applications as Horejas provides ideas on how to equip the teacher with bilingual teaching knowledge and techniques, as well as how to set up the classroom stocking it with ASL and English bilingual materials, as well as how to set up the desks and chairs to establish a visual learning environment. Horejas’ classroom architecture is similar to the concept of DeafSpace promoted by Deaf architects at Gallaudet University ( Leigh, Andrews, & Harris, 2018 ). DeafSpace provides a space where children can interact, communicate, and collaborate with each other using both of the languages and not face architectural barriers. DeafSpace is a cultural tradition that recognizes basic elements of an architectural expression unique to deaf experiences. The study of DeafSpace offers valuable insight about the interrelationship between the senses, the ways Deaf persons built environments that reflect their cultural identity ( www.gallaudet.edu/american-sign-language-and-deaf-studies/deafspace-institute.html ; last retrieved June 21, 2016).

Finally, Horejas’ compelling personal story is a major plus to this academic text and will provide interest and inspiration for Deaf readers from different languacultural life scripts.

Common Ground Project (2015, March 3). CEASD and OPTIONS Schools . Retrieved June 21, 2016, from http://www.ceasd.org/child-first/common-ground-project/vision-purpose-goals

Hoffman D. L . ( 2014 ). Investigating phenomenological translanguaging among deaf adult bilinguals engaging in reading tasks ( Unpublished doctoral dissertation ). Lamar University , Beaumont, TX .

Google Scholar

Humphries T. L. , & MacDougall F . ( 1999 ). “Chaining” and other links: Making connections between American Sign Language and English in two school settings . Visual Anthropology Review , 15 , 84 – 94 .

Leigh I. W. Andrews J. F. Harris R. L. ( 2018 ). Deaf culture: Exploring deaf communities in the United States . San Diego, CA : Plural Publishing .

Email alerts

Citing articles via.

• Recommend to your Library

Affiliations

• Online ISSN 1465-7325
• Print ISSN 1081-4159
• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Institutional account management
• Rights and permissions
• Get help with access
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

• < Previous

Home > Honors College > Honors Theses > 787

Honors Theses

Social interaction between deaf and hearing people.

Rebecca C. Hankins , University of Mississippi. Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College

Date of Award

Document type.

Undergraduate Thesis

First Advisor

Karen Christoff

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

This study examined the personal experiences of hearing people in their interactions with Deaf persons and their knowledge about Deaf culture. The research involved questioning hearing people about their perceptions and interactions with Deaf people and Deaf culture in an effort to gain insight as to how the lives of Deaf people can be improved in mainstream culture. It was predicted that a majority of hearing participants would describe a lack of knowledge about Deaf culture, discomfort interacting with a Deaf person, and an agreement that a need exists for better understanding of Deaf culture. A survey was conducted with 582 undergraduates at the University of Mississippi. Of the original six hypotheses, the results supported the predictions that a majority of hearing participants would report a lack of knowledge about Deaf culture and how to interact with a Deaf person and that hearing participants would agree that there is a need for better understanding of Deaf culture. The results indicate positive attitudes about Deaf people and further show the need for improvement of public knowledge about Deaf culture and people, which fits within the existing body of research.

Recommended Citation

Hankins, Rebecca C., "Social Interaction Between Deaf and Hearing People" (2015). Honors Theses . 787. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/787

Accessibility Status

Searchable text

Since September 02, 2019

Included in

Psychology Commons

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately, you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.

• Collections
• Disciplines

Advanced Search

• Notify me via email or RSS

Author Corner

• Submit Thesis

Additional Information

• Request an Accessible Copy

Home | About | FAQ | My Account | Accessibility Statement

Privacy Copyright

• < Previous

Home > UGSCHOLARSHIP > UNDERGRAD_HONORS_THESIS_COLLECTION > UGTHESES > 327

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The link between american deaf culture and dance: assessing nonverbal communication and recognizing the value of deaf dancers..

Chloe Edelstein , Butler University Follow

Date of Award

Degree type, degree name.

Honors Thesis

First Advisor

Cynthia Pratt

As a dancer, it is of the utmost importance to know the history behind the origins of movement with intent. In a collegiate setting, we are immersed in the different styles and origins that have shaped the refinement and adaptations of dance into the genres that it exists today. But, I have recognized a lack of knowledge in one extraordinary facet; dance performed by those who are deaf. With this project, I have educated a group of dancers on the different aspects and struggles of being deaf within America and through the creation of a dance that mimics the rehearsal processes of deaf dancers, I have shown how those who are wrongly considered to be disabled, can still connect with audiences through the use of nonverbal communication and emotionally established movement. This piece will culminate with a live performance during the first week of March. The written portion of my thesis highlights nonverbal communication as the link between American Deaf Culture and Dance. I assess the history of its use in both areas as well as the benefits of implementing performance art within a deaf child’s education and how deaf dancers have emerged within the profession. My thesis fuses the knowledge of nonverbal communication in dance and Deaf Culture and will reveal the importance of dance as a means of bridging the gap between those who can hear and those who cannot.

Recommended Citation

Edelstein, Chloe, "The Link Between American Deaf Culture and Dance: Assessing nonverbal communication and recognizing the value of deaf dancers." (2016). Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection . 327. https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/ugtheses/327

Since August 11, 2016

Included in

Dance Commons , Performance Studies Commons

Advanced Search

Search Help

• Notify me via email or RSS
• Collections
• Conferences & Events
• Disciplines
• SelectedWorks Gallery
• Special Collections

Participate

• How to Participate
• Rights and Responsibilities

Home | About | FAQ | My Account | Accessibility Statement

Privacy Copyright

• Essay Database
• world trade center
• Greek Food and Culture
• The Future Portrayed I…
• Intercultural Communications
• In Heart of Darkness, …
• Things Fall Apart by C…
• In J.M. Coetzee's Wait…
• The Criminals Of Profe…
• Socialization of Children
• The Poet of Nature, Wi…
• Leonhard Euler
• Articles of Confederat…
• About all Sharks
• Vietnam Poetry

Deaf Culture

What is paper-research.

• Custom Writing Service
• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy
• Biographies