THE ROLE OF TEACHERS IN THE ACADEMIC ENGLISH LITERACY ACQUISITION EXPERIENCES OF DEAF COLLEGE STUDENTS

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe deaf college students’ perceptionsof their experiences learning academic English literacy vis à vis their teachers. The study examined thenarrated academic English literacy acquisition experiences and practices of 11 deaf and hard-of-hearingstudents at a hearing university with a large deaf student population. Through paradigmatic analysis ofnarrative data, the study located common themes, which revealed students’ perceptions of academic Englishliteracy acquisition, particularly with regard to their teachers.Methods employed in the study were phenomenological interviewing and recursive analysis. The primarydata sources were participant interviews and a focus group. Analysis was conducted through recursiveinteraction with the data, in which repeated reviews served to first elicit themes and meanings and thenconfirm interpretation of same.The study resulted in the following findings: Participants’ experiences resulted in a preference for instructorswho are highly competent communicators, and these tended to be deaf instructors. Participants encounteredcommunication challenges, including the inability of instructors to sign clearly or to understandwhat their students were saying to them, that restricted their learning. They also perceived instructors tohold expectations that were either too low, unclear, or rigid, which created internal contradictions betweenchallenge and remediation.The study concluded by showing how understanding deaf college students’ perceptions of academicEnglish literacy acquisition may inform and improve teaching practices with this population.