Thesis (BA Communication Arts) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, May 2016

This multiple case study aimed to have an understanding on the communication dynamics of the deaf and non-deaf community. The study outlined the flow of communication and the complexity of communication between the deaf and non-deaf community from three different cases, namely: ASL-ASL case which is observed in a classroom-setting, AL-Non-ASL case which is observed in a social group interaction. American Sign Language (ASL) is the widely used sign language amongst deaf community. The Deaf Ministries International Inc. is the chosen setting for observation for the classroom-setting. Overt and non-intrusive observations are conducted in order to see how deaf and non-deaf communicate or interact with each other in their natural setting. A focus group discussion is conducted for the ASL-ASL case in order to verify the observations from the overt and non-intrusive observation. For the ASL-Non-ASL case and the Non-ASL-Non-ASL case, in depth interviews are conducted to verify the observations. The study revealed that for the cases observed, each message sent goes through a long process until the receiver comes to an understanding. Same things goes when sending a message, it goes through a process of translation until it is sent as a non-verbal message through signs. The study also found out that for the cases where there is no shared sign for a word, they prefer to write the word in order to come to an understanding.