Past Event

Incorporating Plurilingual Approaches in Teaching American Sign Language to Parents of Deaf Children 

Hearing parents of Deaf children who learn a signed language bring to the task of second language learning unique issues of social identity and investment (Norton Peirce, 1996). In addition, these parents have unique learning needs. However, parents of Deaf children often face distinct systemic, policy, and ideological obstacles to learning signed language (Snoddon, 2008; Snoddon & Underwood, 2013). This presentation seeks to advance a framework for parents’ learning goals in light of current understanding of plurilingualism, which is defined as multilingualism at the level of the individual and which recognizes the different purposes, domains, and types of competence that the individual social actor may have in their use of two or more languages (Coste, Moore, & Zarate, 2009). This framework is based in part on findings of an ethnographic study of workshops for teaching parents how to read books through ASL with their preschool-age Deaf and hard of hearing children. During a series of 13 workshops held over the course of 10 months, parents’ perspectives and orientations toward ASL and literacy and learning goals are highlighted. Implications of these findings regarding parents’ plurilingual orientation and repertoires point toward new directions in applied linguistics research by way of developing a parent ASL curriculum based in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

About the Presenter

Dr. Kristin Snoddon received her Ph.D. in Second Language Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto and completed a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship with the School of Early Childhood Studies, Ryerson University. She currently works at the University of Alberta as David Peikoff Chair of Deaf Studies. Her research focuses on ASL and early literacy programming, and related sociolinguistic issues. Her book American Sign Language and Early Literacy: A Model Parent-Child Program was published by Gallaudet University Press (2012). Her other publications have appeared in the Canadian Modern Language Review, Current Issues in Language Planning, Disability & Society, Sign Language Studies, and Writing & Pedagogy. She has taught courses in language development, Deaf studies, curriculum design, and working with linguistically and culturally diverse children for the University of Alberta and Ryerson University.