The impact of a bimodal bilingual input on deaf children’s communication and language development
Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This study explores the impact of hearing parents' bilingual English and Auslan (Australian Sign Language) input on the communication and language development of their young deaf children.The participants in this study were eight severe-to-profoundly deaf children and their hearing parents living in Victoria.The families were enrolled in a state-wide Victorian Department of Education and Training bimodal bilingual early childhood intervention program for deaf children and their families.Despite earlier diagnosis of infants' deafness, access to early intervention programs and enhanced amplification technology, communication and language outcomes for children born with permanent deafness have been generally below those of hearing children.The communication needs of deaf children therefore continue to present significant challenges to parents and educators.Given the diverse language and learning needs of deaf children and the numerous factors contributing to their language outcomes, no single mode of communication has been found that suits all children.Amongst the various communication approaches adopted by early childhood intervention programs for deaf children is a bimodal bilingual approach, in which the children are exposed to spoken language and sign language.However, although the literature reports numerous studies that focus on language input and communication development for young deaf children, there are very few studies devoted to bimodal bilingual communication and first language acquisition.This study therefore aimed to measure the language outcomes of children exposed to English and Auslan early in their development and to determine the extent to which the parents' interaction strategies promoted optimal language outcomes for their children.Due to the heterogeneity of the participants in this study, it was difficult to control the wide range of variables known to impact on the language development of young deaf children.Therefore, a single case design was chosen as the methodology for this study which incorporated detailed descriptions about each case and allowed each of the eight iii cases (i.e.parent or child) to act as their own control.Three research questions were explored in the study and were designed to elicit a deeper understanding of the factors contributing to the children's language outcomes.The research questions related to three main areas: parental language input, the parental sensitivity to their children's communication needs and the children's language outcomes.Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, data were collected from bi-monthly assessments over 20 months, allowing for ten progression points to be analysed.Particular attention was given to measuring the Auslan proficiency of the parents, type of language input, the children's emerging language skills and modality preferences and the factors influencing these preferences.Several assessment tools were devised specifically for this study and are described in detail in the Method Chapter of this thesis.The findings of the study reveal that the children's language outcomes were strongly predicted by parent sensitivity and that the children with the strongest language skills changed their modality preferences over the duration of the study.These findings contribute valuable insight into the nature of effective parent-child interactions using a bilingual approach and identify the communication strategies that promote positive language outcomes for young deaf children.iv
Author: Elizabeth Levesque
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1560343542