ISHARA RESEARCH SERIES Sign bilingualism in education: challenges and perspectives along the research, policy, practice axis Carolina Plaza-Pust Ishara Research Series The Ishara Research Series is dedicated to current research in sign language linguistics and Deaf Studies. The series is designed for publications that are of current relevance to the field, but are not easily accommodated within the scope of conventional outlets. In addition, this innovative format is ideal for young researchers and first-time authors publishing work of high academic quality. The series is intended to be a tool for stimulating research in emerging areas, with particular emphasis on promoting Deaf authors and authors in countries where sign language studies and Deaf Studies are not established disciplines yet. Editorial board Anastasia Bradford Thierry Haesenne David McKee Connie De Vos Sign bilingualism in education: challenges and perspectives along the research, policy, practice axis Carolina Plaza-Pust Ishara Research Series 3 / Sign bilingualism in education: challenges and perspectives along the research, policy, practice axis Carolina Plaza-Pust / Lancaster: Ishara Press 2016. ISBN 978-0-9929221-3-9 Ishara Press International Deaf Empowerment Foundation 18 Sibsey Street Lancaster LA1 5DF United Kingdom [email protected] Cover illustration: Dan Zeshan Published 2016. ─────── For my family and friends Acknowledgements When I set out to work on bilingualism and deafness, I was not only intrigued by a type of bilingualism that involves two different modalities of expression. I was also impressed by the complexity of internal and external factors that shaped its development and maintenance. It became clear very soon that a comprehensive understanding of sign bilingualism required a cross-disciplinary approach that would allow for the consideration of the socio-linguistic, psycholinguistic and educational factors that determine deaf learners’ bilingual development of a sign language and an oral language. In practice, this meant not only going beyond a developmental linguistics approach and adopting an integrated perspective on bilingualism and deafness, but also engaging in a dialogue with diverse experts, exchanging with professionals on the spot, sitting in on classes and exchanging with the bilingual deaf students themselves. The results of the research undertaken are presented and discussed in two volumes that appear in parallel. The present work complements the volume on bilingualism and deafness in which I explore language contact in the bilingual language acquisition of sign language and written language. In that volume, education is taken into consideration in the discussion of the internal and external factors that determine the development and maintenance of sign bilingualism. In the present work, we narrow the focus on sign bilingualism in deaf education and the challenges and perspectives of a bilingual promotion of deaf learners in the educational domain. I want to extent my gratitude to all those colleagues and professionals who have contributed in one way or another to the progression of the present work. First and foremost, I wish to thank Klaus-B. Günther. Thank you for making it possible for me to join the research team concomitant to the bilingual education programme established in Berlin, and to conduct a longitudinal study with the deaf students participating in this programme. Thank you also for the thoughtful and thorough feedback to an earlier version of the present work. Very special thanks to Helen Leuninger, for your encouragement to conduct a study on sign bilingualism, and for your thoughtful feedback to previous versions of the present work. Your profound knowledge of sign language linguistics (and many other intricate areas of psycholinguistics) as well as your commitment to the recognition of sign language and their users in Germany have been a constant source of inspiration. Exchanges with many different people have helped to sharpen my views on challenges and perspectives in deaf education. For stimulating discussions about sign bilingualism, deaf education and related issues at different points in time throughout the last years I wish to thank Anne Baker, Anne-Marie Parisot, Astrid Vercaingne-Ménard, Beate Krausmann, Beppie van de Bogaerde, Bob Hoffmeister, Claudia Becker, Claudia Wilsdorf, Esperanza Morales-López, Gary Morgan, Johannes Hennies, Knut Weinmeister, María Luz Esteban Saiz, Marie-Anne Sallandre, Marie-Thérèse L’Huillier, Mieke van Herreweghe, Lourdes Gómez Monterde, and Victòria Gras. I am also grateful to the participants in the interviews I have conducted over the last years at various educational institutions in several countries, and to headmasters and teachers who have facilitated my sitting in several bilingual classes so that I could get a glimpse of actual teaching practices. Special thanks to the editors of Ishara Press, and, in particular to Annika Herrmann, for guiding me with patience and support through the publication process. I am indebted to my friends and to my family for their continued support and motivation to bring this work to a good close. To you I dedicate this work. Table of contents Acknowledgements ─── v Table of contents ─── vii List of figures ─── ix List of tables ─── ix List of acronyms for sign languages ─── ix 1. Bilingualism and education ─── 1 1.1. Introduction ─── 1 1.1.1. Outline of the book ─── 2 1.2. Bilingual education ─── 3 1.2.1. Aims and types of bilingual education ─── 3 1.2.1.1. Submersion education ─── 4 1.2.1.2. Transitional bilingual education ─── 4 1.2.1.3. Maintenance bilingual education ─── 5 1.2.2. Bilingual education programmes: Variables ─── 6 1.2.2.1. Status of the languages ─── 6 1.2.2.2. Language competence(s) envisaged ─── 6 1.2.2.3. Placement ─── 8 1.2.2.4. Students’ profiles ─── 9 1.2.2.5. Curriculum languages ─── 9 1.2.3. Bilingual education in Germany ─── 10 1.2.3.1. The monolingual habitus vis-à-vis linguistic diversity ─── 11 1.2.3.2. Types of bilingual education programmes ─── 13 1.2.4. Bilingual education: Challenges along the research, policy, practice axis ─── 13 1.2.4.1. Educational objectives and evaluation of outcomes ─── 14 1.2.4.2. Bilingual education and academic achievements ─── 15 1.2.4.3. The “bilingual” label revisited ─── 16 2. Changing perspectives in deaf education ─── 17 2.1. Early records of deaf education ─── 17 2.1.1. Teachers of deaf students ─── 18 2.1.2. The establishment of deaf schools ─── 23 2.1.3. Competing educational philosophies: Manualism vs. oralism ─── 24 2.2. From vision to audition: Changing perspectives in deaf education ─── 27 2.3. Oralism ─── 29 2.3.1. Components of oral education ─── 30 2.3.2. Outcomes and critique ─── 34 2.4. Total Communication ─── 37 2.4.1. Components of TC approaches to deaf education ─── 39 2.4.2. Challenges to the inclusion of signs in deaf education: The Hamburg experience ─── 41 2.4.3. Outcomes and critique ─── 45 2.4.4. The controversial status of signed systems ─── 48 viii ─ Table of contents 3. Sign bilingual education ─── 51 3.1. Sign bilingual education on the agenda ─── 51 3.1.1. First steps: Developments leading to the inclusion of sign language ─── 52 3.1.2. First bilingual education programmes: Challenges at the level of practice ─── 54 3.1.3. Diversification of methods used in deaf education ─── 54 3.2. Variation in sign bilingual education: a critical appraisal ─── 55 3.2.1. Status of the languages ─── 56 3.2.1.1. Sign language: Variation in age of exposure ─── 56 3.2.1.2. Spoken language and written language ─── 60 3.2.2. Curriculum languages: Language choice and language planning in the classroom ─── 63 3.2.2.1. Team teaching (one person–one language) ─── 64 3.2.2.2. Simultaneous communication ─── 66 3.2.2.3. Sign language as a separate subject ─── 67 3.2.2.4. Language contacts in the classroom and the promotion of metalinguistic skills ─── 67 3.2.3. Educational placements and the concept of inclusion ─── 69 3.2.3.1. Special schools ─── 69 3.2.3.2. Bilingual education in the mainstream ─── 70 3.2.3.3. Variation in educational placements: Special needs vis-à-vis equity of access ─── 72 3.2.3.4. Sign bilingualism in the mainstream: Tasks to be tackled ─── 73 3.2.3.5. A note on the bicultural component of sign bilingual education ─── 76 3.2.4. Students' profiles ─── 77 4. Sign bilingualism in deaf education: Challenges along the research, policy, practice axis ─── 79 4.1. Language planning and deaf education: On the relevance of coordinated action ── 79 4.1.1. Bottom-up processes ─── 80 4.1.2. Top-down processes ─── 82 4.1.3. Holistic model envisaged ─── 84 4.2. Modelling bilingualism as an option: Challenges at the level of practice ─── 85 4.2.1. Lack of institutionalisation ─── 85 4.2.1.1. Teaching conceptions, materials and assessment tools ─── 85 4.2.1.2. Teacher qualifications ─── 85 4.2.2. Heterogeneity of the student population ─── 87 4.2.3. Service provision and language choice for the deaf child ─── 88 4.3. Sign bilingualism in deaf education: Navigating expectations ─── 92 4.3.1. Variation in sign bilingual education: Unravelling the objectives ─── 92 4.3.2. Bilingualism as a chance: Deaf learners’ pooling of linguistic resources ─── 95 4.3.2.1. Insights into the organisation of multilingual knowledge in deaf learners ─── 95 4.3.2.2. Sign language, academic language and literacy skills ─── 96 4.4. Concluding remarks: Sign bilingualism as a challenge and as a resource ─── 98 5. References ─── 100 Index ─── 113 List of figures