© 2013 Gabrielle Anastasia Jones A CROSS-CULTURAL AND CROSS-LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF DEAF READING PRACTICES IN CHINA: CASE STUDIES USING TEACHER INTERVIEWS AND CLASSROOM OBSERVATIONS BY GABRIELLE ANASTASIA JONES DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2013 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Kiel Christianson, Chair Professor Jenny Singleton, Director of Research, Georgia Institute of Technology Professor Jerome Packard Professor Richard C. Anderson Professor Donna Mertens, Gallaudet University Abstract Longstanding beliefs about how children read accentuate the importance of phonological processing in mapping letters to sound. However, when one considers the nature of the script being read, the process can be far more complicated, particularly in the case of an alphabetic script like English (Share, 2008). Cross-cultural reading research reveals alternative modes of processing text that is not entirely phonological. Chinese is known for its non-alphabetic script and its greater reliance upon morphological processing (Anderson & Kuo, 2006), visual skills (Ho & Bryant, 1997; Huang & Hanley, 1995; McBride-Chang & Zhong, 2003), and radical awareness- all argued to be essential skills in deciphering the character-based script. Given the more visual and semantic structure of Chinese, would reading Chinese be easier for deaf students than a sound-based system like English? Deaf readers in China are nevertheless required to learn two very different scripts- one alphabetic (Pinyin) and another non-alphabetic (Simplified Chinese characters). Furthermore, we must consider the relationship between languages in the child’s environment (e.g. a tonal spoken language and a signed language) and the varying scripts (alphabetic and non-alphabetic Chinese). This study investigates how deaf teachers introduce scripts and languages within a bilingual classroom in China. Qualitative data were collected through teacher interviews and classroom observations. The data analysis approach relies upon principles incorporated from Grounded Theory (Bryant & Charmaz, 2007) and suggests the importance of sign language as a visual communicative strategy in teaching reading. By examining deaf children’s reading practices cross-culturally, researchers and practitioners will better understand the sociocultural and sociolinguistic influences that drive and shape reading instruction. Furthermore, ii investigating a context where the script is less sound based allows us to explore just how visual a deaf reader can be. iii To the One who has made me and loved me since the day I was born iv Acknowledgments This doctoral study could not have been completed had it been for the help of the pre- doctoral Fellowship award that I received from Visual Language Visual Learning (VL2), a Science of Learning Center, sponsored by the National Science Foundation grant SBE# (find the number). It has been an honor to work closely with both VL2 researchers and faculty from all over the United States. Their dedication and devotion to the cause in raising awareness regarding visual language and visual learning is contagious. I am also honored to have been part of the VL2 Student Leadership Team during 2008-2010, VL2 seminar and later on served on the Student grant review committee 2011-2012. These experiences with my VL2 colleagues and faculty have been invaluable. I am, first and foremost, forever grateful for the unwavering support and guidance of Dr. Jenny Singleton, currently at Georgia Institute of Technology, who at the time was teaching at University of Illinois. She has not once stopped believing in me. Her incredible patience, wisdom, genuine and valuable feedback and contagious enthusiasm have been phenomenal and pivotal to my research development as well as professional career. She has been an outstanding mentor and excellent role model. I will gladly take on the huge responsibility to carry the torch of her example as a mentor to other emerging Deaf scholars. The work of the PhD Committee has truly been a source of inspiration, intellectual stimulation and academic challenge. I’ve chosen each of these members specifically for their expertise and their vision. I am indebted to Dr. Kiel Christianson for his detailed feedback and for the resourceful “Psychology of Reading” course. Dr. Richard Anderson is one of the reasons why I gave up my teaching career to move to UIUC and learn from the best in the field of Chinese reading acquisition. His course on “Literacy Across Cultures” became my favorite. Dr. v Jerome Packard instantly had a huge impact not only for his scholarly work in Chinese linguistics, but also his smile has been an incredible encouragement. Lastly but not the least, Dr. Donna Mertens’ has instilled a passionate vision for social justice within research through her transformative research model. I am blessed for my many dear Chinese friends both in the US and abroad who helped me navigate my way in this unchartered territory. Special thanks to all the Chinese teachers who taught me so much about the Chinese spoken and sign language and shared their literacy experiences, opening doors to what it means to be d/ Deaf Chinese. Thanks to all of the Chinese typists for allowing me to access the written language in both Pinyin and characters during my three years of learning Chinese. I am also grateful for Christina Lin for her incredible support and love. Thank you for introducing me to your Shandong research team, for helping out with the translations from Chinese Sign Language to Chinese. Caroline and Ariel -- your help from Chinese to English has been valuable. Thanks to my Chinese roommates Xiaolin Wang and Hao Wu for their incredible help and for the fun Chinese dinners…Wei Wang for the many hours of discussion about Chinese education, her thoughtful feedback and especially her technological advice. Jiayi Zhou, for her great company while in Beijing. Yang Hui for her invaluable feedback on the manuscript. Mushi Li for her enthusiasm and her kind spirit. Even before I began the doctoral journey, my colleagues from Kendall Demonstration Elementary School in Washington D.C., have been such a blessing, such as Susan, Cynthia, Maureen, Sara, Jim, Ann Lynn, Sharon, Francisca, and Suzanne. Throughout the academic journey, I’ve cherished precious moments with Dr. Peter Crume, Dr. Shilpa Hanumantha, Dr. Raychelle Harris, Dr. Connie Pucci, (soon to be Dr.) Susan Schatz, who have been such wonderful PhD peers, spurring intellectual discussions, sharing some good humor and laughter! vi Those times are precious especially in such stressful environments. I have held many wonderful memories with Fran Luippold with cups of coffee writing away and (soon to be Dr.) Sarah Fish for her wise advice. Dr. Sarah Wilson for her lovely smile and fun company in the lab. Dr. Gordon Ramsay for his friendship and sense of humor during this stressful time. A special thanks to the Boston University Faculty team; Andrew Bottoms, Bruce Bucci, Todd Czubek, Bob Hoffmeister, and Sarah Fish, for their support during the very last stages of my dissertation. My interpreters Bunny Berg, Stacey Leverich, Jennifer Kaika and Patty Moers- Patterson did an outstanding job during my doctoral defense. Mom and Dad, thank you for giving me a bilingual life and for letting me explore the world at such young age. You instilled in me the faith to keep running towards the heavenly prize. My very dear friends, Dana & Andy Buchanan, thank you for your steadfast love and support throughout the years! I extend many thanks to my various church families from Washington D.C, Urbana, Atlanta and finally Boston for the many prayers and words of encouragements. I am ultimately thankful to God who has given me the strength to pursue this path and thankful for his undying love when I have failed to give him praise. His words of encouragements when feeling low have been sweeter than honey. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” Jeremiah 29:11. vii Table of Contents Preface ........................................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1: Introduction ...............................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework ...........................................................................................31 Chapter 3: Literature Review .....................................................................................................44 Chapter 4: Methodology ..............................................................................................................66 Chapter 5: Results: Part I – Teachers’ Interviews ...................................................................89 Chapter 6: Results: Part II - Classroom Observations ..........................................................115 Chapter 7: Discussion & Future Considerations ....................................................................166 References ...................................................................................................................................190 Appendix A: Interview Questions ............................................................................................208