The use of repetition in the deafs’ writing

Abstract

Writing is an important means of communication for the deaf with his/her peers, as well as with the non-deaf as a result of their difficulty in developing oral language. Considering that oral cues are directly related to text cohesion, this study aimed to investigate the use of repetition in the writing of the deaf. Fifteen oralized deaf speakers, fifteen non-oralized deaf speakers and fifteen hearing speakers answered to a questionnaire which underwent both quantitative and qualitative analysis as related to occurrence, typology, form, position and function of repetition. Results showed that the three groups of participants used repetition in writing. The two groups of deaf speakers showed, mainly, low frequency, integral and adjacent repetitions in writing. The oralized speakers showed more repetitions with comprehension function while the non-oralized used repetition especially with topic continuity function. The conclusion of this research is that similar to hearers the relation between orality and writing is present in the deaf, even without natural access to orality.