In America, English exists as the standard language. For this reason, it is understood that children will learn this language as their primary language. However, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders website, “about two to three in 1,000 children are born deaf or hard of hearing” (Quick Statistics [NIDCD Health Information]). Additionally, an article by Karen Kalivoda points out that “depending on the age of onset and severity of hearing loss, an individual's spoken language development can be radically impaired.” Children learn to speak by parroting the sounds around them; however, a deaf child does not hear these noises and, therefore, the child does not “develop his or her language skills” (Kalivoda). These children are known as having “prelingual hearing loss” (Kalivoda) and cannot learn “English as a spoken language” (Kalivoda). For this group of children, the primary source of communication is through American Sign Language, or ASL, instead of spoken English. Without basic understanding of the English language, both spoken and written, deaf students face an immensely difficult battle with the English grammatical system. These children tend to have “a smaller vocabulary, grammatical errors in verbal and verbal agreement, and errors in word usage” (Kalivoda). Another website titled “Deaf Literacy: Research Highlights” from the Elementary and Middle School Technical Assistance Center, EMSTAC, provides information on several issues that deaf students experience when learning the fundamentals of the English language. For example, “students' lack of exposure to spoken language makes teaching traditional sound letter correspondence difficult” and “deaf students whose first…half of the paper…decreases the amount of errors.” “American Sign Language” August 21, 2008. Nidcd.nih.gov Web. February 24, 2010. “American Sign Language (ASL) Syntax” Web Lifeprint.com. 01 March 2010. “Brochure” Web. 22 February 2010. Austincc.edu Web. 22 February 2010. "Literacy of the Deaf: Research Highlights" Web Emstac.org. February 24, 2010.Izzard, Sylvia. Interview by Miranda Harrison. “Sign language interpreter”. February 24, 2010. Kalivoda, Karen S. et al. “Teaching students with hearing impairments.” Journal of Development Education 20.3 (1997): 10-16 ERIC. EBSCO. Network. 1 March 2010. Morenberg, Max. Making grammar. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. “Quick Stats [NIDC Health Information].” Nidcd.nih.gov August 4, 2008. Web. February 22, 2010"Why is English difficult for deaf students?" Accd.edu 8 July 2008. Web. 24 February 2010