The purpose of this dissertation is to describe, analyze and explain the experiences of deaf college students who are using English in college as means to gain a deeper of understanding of what it means for them to be literate citizens. In this dissertation I argue that in some contexts, especially college, affirmation of literate competence often means mastering English (Schmitz, 2008). For deaf and other marginalized people who experience unique challenges when it comes to writing in English, this view of literate competence and the way that it is accounted for in the academy suggests that deaf people are less literate than hearing people, and because of this they are, in essence, denied access to literate citizenship (Schmitz, 2008).;Two theoretical frameworks guided this study: critical literacy theory and critical disability studies. Critical literacy helped guide my understanding of how deaf students construct, question, and negotiate who they are in an academic climate through writing, and ultimately how this bears weight on their use of English as literate citizens. Critical disability studies offered a way in which to conceptualize how deaf students' citizenship is valued in an academic context.;This study used in-depth phenomenological interviews to describe and analyze the experiences of deaf students using English in college. Audiotapes and transcriptions from individual interviews with deaf students were used as data sources, along with analytic memos.;Data was analyzed using grounded theory and narrative analysis. Grounded theory was used as a way for me to stay close to my data while narrative analysis was used to ascertain the meaning of a specific event for the persons who experienced it. Both analytic frameworks offered opportunities for discovering the meaning deaf students make of their experiences using English in higher education and how this relates to their literate citizenship.
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