TITLE:
Examining Prelingually Deaf and Hard of Hearing College Students on Self Identity and Acculturation
AUTHORS:
Kathy J. Weldon
KEYWORDS:
Deaf, Acculturation, College, K-12, Communication Styles
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.8 No.14,
December
19,
2017
ABSTRACT: Acculturation as an experience tends to refer to
immigrants. The study used this theory to look at how deaf individuals’ become
acculturated into either hearing culture or Deaf culture. The Deaf
Acculturation Scale (DAS) was used to examine four acculturation styles,
including Hearing Acculturated, Bicultural Acculturated, Deaf Acculturated, and Marginal Acculturated. The focus of the
project was to investigate the impact of the type of K-12 school experience, either
in a mainstream program or a school for the Deaf, had on this acculturation
style. Results of the study showed a statistically significant difference in
college students’ acculturation scores based on their K-12 school experience.
Results are discussed with regards to the impact of early life experiences on
later identity and acculturation into the dominant hearing culture or the
minority Deaf culture.