The transmission of Latino culture, language and literacy development from hearing parents to their deaf children.

摘要

The purpose of this study was to provide a description of how two Latino families transmit and maintain their Latino culture, language and literacy values to their deaf children. Two families who lived in the south-east and south-central part of the United States and who immigrated from Mexico and had a young deaf child were recruited for this study. A qualitative cross-case study design was used. I used open-ended, semi-structured interviews, observations and collected pictures of home artifacts. Data collected, transcribed into English, then coded for themes. The themes revealed that the two Latino Mexico-American families had many of the traditional values found in Mexican-American homes where they blended both the Mexican and American cultures, languages and literacy practices. The traditional Mexican themes included: Cultural appreciation and respect, Latino etiquette, Appreciation of Latino cuisine, Religious beliefs, Familism and cultural tradition. Themes unique to deaf children include the multilinguistic and multicultural environment, the use of mentors and tutors, encourage children to use technology resources like e-books, and the reinforcement that Latino parents made in the Spanish language, and the use of parental resources like attending groups for parents of the other deaf children. There was no evidence found that parents of deaf children know about deaf Latino culture. Implications are made for future research and practice.