Foundation of Writing Skills

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An individual’s literacy is dependent on his or her development of language. How could one expect a person who does not have a full understanding of his or her own language to write a comprehensible piece? A child begins to learn language very early on; this is why hearing tests and early intervention are stressed at an extremely young age. Children with more interaction and a better understanding of their language tend to transition into writing easier than others (Mayer). Hearing impaired children with knowledge in American Sign Language (ASL) tend to have better chances when it comes to literacy, but many hearing impaired people do not have definite knowledge or experience with ASL. Therefore, if a person is hearing impaired, has limited to no experience with ASL, and has difficulties with his or her spoken language, then the person has little understanding of any language and will have great trouble with writing. No matter the age level or degree of hearing loss, hearing impaired individuals are “mapping a written system onto a reduced set of understandings of the language” (Marschark and Spencer). The understanding of language sets a large precedent for the development of writing.