To What Extent Does Learning a Sign Language Orthography (SLO) Support Deaf Children’s Bi-literacy Development? An Investigation into the Relationship Between SLO Acquisition and British Sign Language and English Development.

This doctoral dissertation examines the extent to which learning Sign Language Orthography (SLO), through an original intervention based on BSLwrite, enhances the development of biliteracy in deaf children in both British Sign Language (BSL) and English. This study aimed to investigate the connection between the acquisition of SLO, the improvement of language skills and the engagement and the development of deaf identity in deaf students using Design-Based Research (DBR) methodology. The study recruited five deaf participants with varied communication needs aged between 13-16 years old. Their language skills and proficiency ranged from English to BSL as a first or second language. This study included a native sign language user, a bimodal bilingual, and others new to BSL. This study was conducted over six weeks in the classroom environment as an intervention, while the assessments focused on BSL and English. The DBR framework comprised design, test, and evaluation stages. This method involved two iterations to refine or modify the design to promote success in BSLwrite in the classroom. The process of data collection included BSL and English assessments, semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, a reflective journal, and other artefacts such as lesson plans, images, and videos that were captured and interpreted into themes. The objective was to answer three research study questions to ascertain whether BSLwrite is an effective tool to support language development and proficiency in English and BSL for the study participants. The findings revealed that learning BSLwrite increased learner engagement and confidence in deaf identity, and participants' responses to BSL receptive skills and English reading competence were mixed. Further, the data showed that BSLwrite enables participants to be active in their learning, contributing to the development of positive deaf identity. This analysis emphasises the complex theoretical implications of using BSLwrite in the classroom to contribute to metalinguistic awareness, metacognition and understanding of varying grammar structures. This study shows that integrating BSLwrite in schools critically impacts deaf students by improving their bilingual literacy, fostering the development of their deaf identity, and reviving a written language explicitly designed for contemporary needs. These findings advocate for the innovative research of BSLwrite to be incorporated into the school’s curriculum to improve the overall language and cognitive development of deaf children.<p></p>

Author dc:creator

• Matt Jenkins (21041678)

• Sign Language Orthography
• SLO
• British Sign Language
• BSL

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Identifier

10779/exe.32620293.v1

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:figshare.com:article/32620293