American Annals of the Deaf

Abstract:

The authors discuss Pinyin, a phonetic system based on the Latin alphabet, as an auxiliary pedagogical tool in literacy instruction in China. They provide a brief history of Pinyin and its educational purposes, then describe how it is used in its spoken/auditory, written, and signed forms by teachers with students who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH). Classroom transcripts demonstrate how Pinyin is taught via visual and tactile/kinesthetic tools such as pictures, sign language, and the Chinese Manual Alphabet for purposes of making the phonological information visible to DHH learners. The authors further discuss the different functions of Pinyin for students who are hearing versus students who are DHH and present new insights that may lead to future empirical studies on Pinyin use in early literacy interventions.