This much-anticipated scholarly volume promises to be an essential/must-have resource for anyone who is interested in natural language acquisition, the development of reading, and academic achievement of deaf and hard of hearing children. It is a compilation of research and practical applications of cued speech and cued language, authored by 39 authors from nine different fields of study (speech science, hearing science, linguistics, psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, cognition, transliteration, computer science, and deaf education) in four countries. This theoretically and empirically based volume is a vital source of information to any advocate, professional, or parent of a deaf child. It promises to be a required book in graduate courses in deaf education programs as well as libraries of schools serving deaf children across the country. Readers of this book will learn that cueing has moved far beyond Cornett's 1966 invention of Cued Speech.This is true in terms of its use (by whom, how, and for what purposes); its status as a means of first-order language transmission; and cross-disciplinary contributions to numerous other fields of study, including: linguistics, psycholinguistics, cognition, speech science, hearing science, reading, and deaf education.
Our understanding of visual language and communication has been enhanced by the inclusion of Cued Speech in academic dialogues by highlighting the similarities and differences among spoken, signed, and cued language. Readers will learn of the latest computer-generated aids to communication, which are either being developed for use with Cued Speech or were conceived because of Cued Speech. Readers will also learn of the expanding role of Cued Speech in the lives of hearing and deaf individuals (e.g., developmental, social, academic). Finally, readers of this book will understand how the case of Cued Speech lends further support to the notion that children, regardless of hearing status, have an irrepressible predisposition to acquire language, whether signed, spoken, or cued, whether alphabetic or tonal.
Author Biography:
Carol LaSasso, PhD Dr. LaSasso is a Professor in the Department of Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences at Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. Kelly Lamar Crain, PhD Kelly Lamar Crain, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Aural Habilitation: Deaf Education at the University of South Florida, Tampa. Dr. Crain earned a bachelor's degree in Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Southern Mississippi, and master's and doctoral degrees in Deaf Education from Gallaudet University. He became interested in Cued Speech while studying at Gallaudet and completed his doctoral dissertation on the effects of cueing on deaf readers' phonological awareness. Dr. Crain is also a licensed and certified teacher of students who are deaf and hard of hearing, a qualified educational interpreter, and a certified Cued Speech instructor. Jacqueline Leybaert, PhD Jacqueline Leybaert, PhD, is a Professor of Psychology at the Universite libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. She teaches courses on language acquisition, cognitive development, sensory deficits and neural plasticity, and dyscalculia. Her dissertation examined phonological codes used by deaf children in reading, spelling, and short term serial memory. Since then, her research interests have focused on the effect of Cued Speech on "the three R's." More recently, she directed research related to audio-visual integration and speech perception in noise in children with cochlear implants. She has co-edited two books in French about linguistic and cognitive development in deaf children and has written numerous articles and book chapters about these topics.
