The problem of English language-processing by 30 prelingually deaf high school students is examined from a contextualist perspective. The influence of language mode (print or sign) and syntax--English or American Sign Language (ASL) on recall, preference, and comprehension was approached through the processing of meaningful and coherent passages of similar content, length, and syntactic complexity. It was hypothesized that the four language contexts (signed ASL, signed English, print ASL, print English) would produce differential effects on the encoding and retrieval of the propositions embedded within the passages. Results showed greater propositional recall from ASL than from English for all language contexts. The study demonstrates both that the syntax component of language context plays a major role in facilitating access to meaning, and that implications exist for a bilingual approach to language acquisition with ASL as the primary vehicle for the development of English proficiency. (Author/CL)