Cognitive Neuroscience Commons^™

Deaf Undergraduate Writing And Cognitive Processes, Elke L. Betz-Schmidt

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

Literacy among deaf and hard of hearing students has always been low. In the Spring of 1991 the English department at Gallaudet University did an assessment of students' abilities and needs. These results confirmed that the students were not ready to perform at the collegiate level despite eventually graduating with their degrees. Recommendations from the survey, however, do not focus on determining the writing process of the students, or a teaching method focused on composition. Thus, this thesis addresses three questions: does focusing a Deaf undergraduate student's attention on the writing process ane associated thought processes lead students to write …