Attitudes Toward Sign Communication Mode: A Survey of Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Educators of the Deaf

Two hundred twenty-two hearing-impaired and hearing educators of the deaf responded to a national survey of their attitudes toward sign communication modes: English-like or American Sign Language (ASL). The respondents also estimated their signing skills and their comprehension of their students' sign communications at the start of their careers and at the time of the survey. The results indicated that there is support for sign communication and development of a sign competency measure in teacher certification. There was a tendency for the educators to prefer an English-like sign mode overall. The hearing-impaired educators split almost evenly in their preferences for English-like or ASL sign mode. This support of sign contrasted with the reported poor levels of sign performance by the educators and a substantial inability to comprehend the sign communications of their students.