UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Literacies, Mobilities and Agencies of Deaf Youth in Turkey: Constraints and Opportunities in the 21st Century A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication by Deniz İlkbaşaran Committee in charge: Professor Carol A. Padden, Chair Professor Michael Davidson Professor Tom Humphries Professor Rachel Mayberry Professor Chandra Mukerji 2015 COPYRIGHT BY Deniz İlkbaşaran 2015 All Rights Reserved This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/ The Dissertation of Deniz İlkbaşaran is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2015 iii Table of Contents Signature Page ................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iv List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................... ix List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... x List of Tables .................................................................................................................... xii List of Graphs .................................................................................................................. xiii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... xiv Vita ................................................................................................................................... xix Abstract of the Dissertation .............................................................................................. xx Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: A Historical Account of Literacies and Agency ........................................ 11 1.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 11 1.2. The Social and Political Implications of Reading versus Writing ............................. 13 1.3. Traditional views of literacy and its acquisition ....................................................... 22 1.4. New Wave of Literacy Studies: Multiliteracies and Literacy Practices .................... 28 iv 1.4.1. On the Modality of Literacy: The Primacy of the Visual ........................... 33 1.4.2. On the Medium of Literacy: Technological Mediation .............................. 39 1.4.3. On the Function and Content of Literacy ................................................... 42 1.5. Literacies, Multiliteracy and Transliteracies .............................................................. 46 1.6. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 53 Chapter 2: Situating Deaf People In Turkey And Turkish Sign Language .............. 57 2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 57 2.2. Deaf Population in Turkey ......................................................................................... 58 2.3. Deaf Education in Turkey .......................................................................................... 62 2.4. History and Status of Turkish Sign Language ........................................................... 66 2.5. State Initiatives and Deaf people’s Access to Services ............................................. 72 2.5.1. Employment ................................................................................................ 72 2.5.2. Access to Communication .......................................................................... 74 2.6. The Problem of Literacy ............................................................................................ 76 2.6.1. The Gender Divide ...................................................................................... 78 2.6.2. The Digital Divide ...................................................................................... 79 v 2.7. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 81 Chapter 3: Literacies of Deaf Youth in Turkey ........................................................... 84 3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 86 3.2. Deaf People, Language and Literacy ......................................................................... 89 3.3. Linguistic Literacies of Deaf People .......................................................................... 98 3.4.1. Linguistic literacies of Deaf Youth in Turkey .......................................... 100 3.4.1.1. Comprehension in Turkish and Turkish Sign Language (TID) .... 102 3.4.1.2 Production in Turkish and Turkish Sign Language (TID) ............ 111 3.4.2. Linguistic Literacy Narratives of Deaf youth in Turkey .......................... 117 3.4.3. Everyday textual practices, Literacies and Transliteracies of Deaf youth in Turkey ................................................................................................................. 123 3.4.3.1. Sponsors of Literacy and Transliteracies as Social Capital .......... 123 3.4.3.2. Mediated Textual Communication, Smart Technologies and Emerging Literacies ................................................................................... 127 3.4.3.3. Literacies around Gaming ............................................................. 133 3.5. Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 140 Chapter 4: Mobilities and Social Networks of Deaf Youth in Turkey ..................... 145 vi 4.1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 147 4.2. Review of Literature ................................................................................................ 152 4.2.1. Research on the Mobilities and Geographies of Deaf People ................... 152 4.2.2. Research on the Sociolinguistics of Deaf People’s Mobilities ................. 158 4.3. Institutional Factors around the Mobilities of Deaf Youth in Turkey ..................... 161 4.3.1. Mobilities and Fixities around Educational Institutions for the Deaf ....... 163 4.3.1.1. The Schools for the Deaf as a System of Mobilities ...................... 163 4.3.1.2. Mobilities and Moorings of Dorm Life .......................................... 169 4.3.2. Deaf-run organizations and the mediated mobilities around them ........... 173 4.3.3. Mediated social practices and intersectional mobilities of Turkish Deaf Youth ................................................................................................................... 179 4.4. Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 199 Chapter 5: New Faces of Access, Authorship and Community Building ................ 205 5.1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 206 5.2. Language and domination ........................................................................................ 210 5.2.1. Sign language and new lines for Deaf authorship .................................... 212 vii 5.2.2. Sign language contact and the agencies of deaf people ............................ 220 5.3. Contemporary Agencies of Deaf Youth in Turkey .................................................. 224 5.3.1. Literacies, Social Networks and Employment Opportunities for Deaf Youth ............................................................................................................................. 224 5.3.2. Sign Language Interpreting and Negotiating Agency .............................. 227 5.3.3. State Services and Agencies of Civic Participation .................................. 230 5.3.4. Games and Agencies of Social Participation ............................................ 235 5.3.5. New Faces of Turkish Deaf Authorship on Facebook .............................. 237 5.3.5.1. Emergence of deaf channels and deaf leaders on Facebook .......... 239 5.3.5.2. Content of videos and domains of social life addressed ................ 242 5.3.5.3. Language choice (TID vs. IS) and intended audience .................... 248 5.4. Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 252 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................