DEAFNESS, COMMUNICATION, AND SOCIAL IDENTITY: AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF INTERACTION AMONG PARENTS, TEACHERS, AND DEAF CHILDREN IN A PRESCHOOL

This study uses data derived from participant-observation in a preschool for deaf children, in-depth interviews of Deaf and hearing parents and a hearing teacher, and videotaped interaction between adults and preschool deaf children to investigate the complex relationships among expressed language attitudes, communication behavior, and social identity when deafness is a variable. It systematically documents parents' and educators' expressed attitudes about language and deafness together with the observed communication behavior of eight of these adults with three preschool deaf children. Socio-political variables operating within the school are identified and social processes and symbols analyzed when the Deaf parents form a special interest group. Analysis suggest that variables related to the socio-political context, the individual social actor, and the interactional spheres in which those actors participate combine in complex ways to give shape to the social life within the school. Deaf people who recognize themselves as socially and culturally Deaf and use sign language constitute a social group similar to an ethnic group. Establishing a basic social identity with respect to membership in such a Deaf group is a complex process for deaf children, however, since parents and teachers are usually not deaf but have normal hearing. Schools for deaf children are complex linguistic and social environments with interaction among parents, teachers and children shaped, in part, by tensions between two competing social identities, "Deaf" and "hearing," which are symbolized, in part, by two competing languages, American Sign Language (ASL) and manually encoded English (MCE). Analysis of the videotapes focused on the use of targeted features of MCE and ASL by the participants. The adults and children differed in theoretically important ways with respect to their linguistic experiences, skills, and preferences; however, analysis showed that all of the participants used code-mixing in their communication. Data from the videotapes, interviews, and participant-observation together suggest how an individual's choice of language and his or her expressed language attitudes serve to indicate, construct, and maintain Deaf or hearing social identity during social interaction with others. The resultant implications for parents, teachers, and schools are discussed.