Scott, Dostal, and Lane-Outlaw challenge findings and conclusions from a literature review by Mayer and Trezek [EJ1269623] regarding the literacy achievement of deaf children who are educated in schools and programs that espouse bilingual ASL/English instruction. Mayer and Trezek's article appeared in the Winter 2020 "American Annals of the…

Signing systems that attempted to represent spoken language via manual signs -- some invented, and some borrowed from natural sign languages -- have historically been used in classrooms with deaf children. However, despite decades of research and use of these systems in the classroom, there is little evidence supporting their educational…

Deaf students are no less likely than their hearing counterparts to obtain good grades and pass courses in higher education. Despite this, under half the number of deaf pupils, compared to hearing pupils, go straight from school to university, and when there, face an array of challenges that hinder their HE experience [Sachs, D. (2011). Inclusion…

Implemented in 1998, the original intention of the California Newborn Hearing Screening Program (NHSP) was to provide Deaf babies early language opportunities so they can be successful academically. However, 20 years after the inception of the NHSP, Deaf children continue to be the lowest-performing group of students in public schools. One reason…

As a response to the ban on singing and playing woodwind and brass instruments, and with the heightened exposure of Auslan interpreters in the media due to COVID reporting, many music teachers considered Auslan choirs to be a safe singing-replacement activity for end-of-year performances. Auslan holds deep cultural significance to the Deaf…

The eighth edition of this bestselling textbook has been revised and updated to provide a comprehensive and accessible introduction to bilingualism and bilingual education in an everchanging world. Written in a compact and clear style, the book covers all the crucial issues in bilingualism and multilingualism at individual, group and societal…

In Abu Dhabi, multilingualism amongst its highly diverse population is typical. However, with Arabic as the official language and English as the lingua franca, the population's other languages are subordinate on public signage. Those proficient in English or Arabic have more access to information than those who are not. While effective…

Studies on hard of hearing (HH) individuals have focused mostly on children's experiences in school. However, their lives as young adults have not received much attention. The present study therefore examined HH young adults' experiences of social identity and group membership. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 16 individuals (10…

Key word signing, an unaided augmentative, and alternative communication (AAC) system is commonly used by children with Down syndrome who attend mainstream primary schools. To ensure the successful use of key word signing within a mainstream environment, a meaningful, contextually appropriate sign vocabulary must be available to all communication…

In 1981, Sweden was the first country in the world to entitle deaf pupils to a bimodal-bilingual education. However, drawing from interviews with key past Stockholm teacher trainers and on our own efforts to update teacher training, we note that sign-bilingual teacher training in Sweden has been ad hoc to this day. The interviewees' accounts…

Successful face-to-face communication involves multiple channels, notably hand gestures in addition to speech for spoken language, and mouth patterns in addition to manual signs for sign language. In four experiments, we assess the extent to which comprehenders of British Sign Language (BSL) and English rely, respectively, on cues from the hands…

Language knowledge, age of acquisition (AoA), and stimulus intelligibility all affect gaze behavior for reading print, but it is unknown how these factors affect "sign-watching" among signers. This study investigated how these factors affect gaze behavior during sign language comprehension in 52 adult signers who acquired American Sign…

Autism researchers often use mand training paired with direct trial instruction (DTI) as an effective way to increase communication skills for young children with autism. However, these methods often occur in clinical settings. In this case study, we trained a parent to complete a DTI verbal mand intervention with her son with autism. She…

Whether to use spoken English for the instruction of American Sign Language (ASL) is a pedagogical debate for those teaching hearing second language learners. Previous investigations have found the use of learners' first language to be beneficial for vocabulary acquisition. Studies on sign languages, however, have found that a class taught…

We can gain a better understanding of short-term memory processes by studying different language codes and modalities. Three experiments were conducted to investigate: (a) Taiwanese Sign Language (TSL) digit spans in Chinese/TSL hearing bilinguals (n = 32); (b) American Sign Language (ASL) digit spans in English/ASL hearing bilinguals (n = 15);…