From the beginnings of deaf education, there was a struggle over the best way to instruct the deaf. Should teachers try to teach the deaf by forcing them to speak and speechread? Or should teachers use sign language to educate them?

The first group of people, who think that deaf people should learn through spoken languages, were called Oralists. The second group of people, who believed that teachers should use sign language, were called Manualists.

Manualists won a number of early victories, and their educational methods spread throughout the United States. When Edward Miner Gallaudet established the first deaf college in the world, it fully embraced the Manualist method.

By the end of the 19th Century, Manualism became unpopular and Oralism became more widely accepted, especially through the advocacy of notable public figures, such as Alexander Graham Bell.

Manualists argued that Oralists spent too much time and energy focusing on developing a child's ability to speak and lipread, while ignoring the child's social and educational needs. Oralism generally worked best with students who lost their hearing at a later age. The many deaf children who became deaf at an early age would finish school with poor speaking and speechreading skills, have difficulty integrating with hearing society, and have lower education levels.

When Orally-trained deaf people meet, it is difficult for them to communicate with each other without sign language. Furthermore, Oralism meant that the vast majority of deaf people would be unable to be teachers.

Oralists argued that sign language creates barriers between deaf people and hearing family and communities. Deaf people who can't speak or hear will have greater difficulties finding a job and succeeding in a hearing society. Oralists argue that new technologies will make it easier to teach the deaf to speak better, with less time and effort than older methods.

This debate, once very fierce, has mostly gone quiet among professionals in deaf education. Many educators recognize the need for some kind of sign language with students who have limited or no hearing, as shown in the move toward Total Communication.

Major arguments have arisen in the question of which sign language system should be used in the classroom (ASL/KSL, Signed English, Signed Exact English) and the role of technology and medical technology in restoring various levels of hearing to certain deaf individuals.