bilingual–bicultural education

{{Short description|Deaf education programs that use sign language as the native language}}

Bilingual–Bicultural or Bi-Bi deaf education programs use sign language as the native, or first language, to teach Deaf children. In the United States, for example, Bi-Bi proponents state that American Sign Language (ASL) should be the natural first language for deaf children, although the majority of deaf and hard of hearing children are born to hearing parents.{{Cite journal |date=2021-08-17 |title=SASL Journal, Volume 4, Number 1 |url=https://open.clemson.edu/saslj/vol4/iss1/1/ |journal=Society for American Sign Language Journal |volume=4 |issue=1}} In this same vein, within Bi-Bi educational programs the spoken or written language used by the majority of the population is viewed as a secondary language to be acquired either after or at the same time as the native language.

In Bi-Bi education, a signed language is the primary method of instruction. Once sign language is established as the individual's first language and they have acquired sufficient proficiency, a second language—such as English—can then be effectively taught using the first language as a foundation.{{Cite journal |last=Drasgow |first=Erik |date=1993 |title=Bilingual/Bicultural Deaf Education: An Overview |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26204676 |journal=Sign Language Studies |issue=80 |pages=243–266 |issn=0302-1475}} The bicultural aspect of Bi-Bi education emphasizes Deaf culture based on the idea that language is tied to ones identity and ethnic pride, thus needed to strive in that culture.

Usage Worldwide

Within the US, 36% to 40% of residential and day schools for deaf students report using Bi-Bi education programs.{{cite journal |last1=LaSasso |first1=C. |title=Survey of Residential and Day Schools for Deaf Students in the United States That Identify Themselves as Bilingual-Bicultural Programs |journal=Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education |date=1 January 2003 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=79–91 |doi=10.1093/deafed/8.1.79 |pmid=15448048 |doi-access=free }} A notable example of schools utilizing the Bi-Bi method in the US include The Learning Center for the Deaf in Massachusetts and Gallaudet University.

Sweden and Denmark are two countries known for their bilingual–bicultural education of deaf children. Sweden passed a law in 1981 that mandated bilingualism as a goal of deaf education. Denmark recognized sign language as an equal language and espoused sign language as the primary method of instruction in schools for the deaf in 1991.{{cite report |id={{ERIC|ED414671}} |last1=Baker |first1=Sharon |last2=Baker |first2=Keith |title=Educating Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Bilingual-Bicultural Education |date=August 1997 }}

Bilingual-Bicultural Movement

Bilingual–bicultural education is based on Cummins' Model of Linguistic Interdependence. In 1976, James Cummins predicted that proficiency in a first language would correlate to competence in a second language because a single cognitive process underlies language acquisition for both languages. After decades of using the oral method of education, some advocates sought a new method for teaching deaf students.

Marie Jean Philip was a pioneer in the Bilingual-Bicultural (Bi-Bi) movement.Philip, Marie Jean and Anita Small. 1992. [http://saveourdeafschools.org/Philip_and_Small_1991.pdf Bilingual/Bicultural Program Development at The Learning Center for Deaf Children]. In: Deaf Studies: What's Up? Conference Proceedings, October 24–25, 1991, pp. 51-107. In 1985, The Learning Center for the Deaf in Framingham, Massachusetts, was able to convince Philip to begin a new career as Special Assistant to the Director for Implementation of Bilingual/Bicultural Policies. After two years, Philip agreed to take on the full-time position of Bilingual Bicultural Coordinator, which she held from 1988. Philip led the school into the Bi-Bi education system.

The Learning Center for the Deaf became the first Deaf school in the United States to officially adopt a Bilingual-Bicultural teaching philosophy.{{cite web|url=http://library.rit.edu/depts/archives/deafhistory/philip-epilogue.htm|title=Petersen Collection - Banner Template|website=library.rit.edu}}{{Cite book |last=Marschark |first=Marc |url=https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=0mmJAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA17&dq=history+of+Bilingual+bicultural+deaf+education&ots=78rq14BQLY&sig=lu50c1bQBspuacjl6xnS1eqTu-E#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The Oxford Handbook of Deaf Studies, Language, and Education, Vol. 2 |last2=Spencer |first2=Patricia Elizabeth |date=2010-05-28 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-974181-6 |language=en}} Schools in California,Norton, Kenneth W. 2000. The Eagle Soars to Enlightenment. Fremont, CA: California School for the Deaf Indiana,[http://saveourdeafschools.org/ISD_BIBI_History.pdf Bilingual-Bicultural program implementation timeline], Indiana School for the Deaf, unpublished, circa 2000. and Maryland soon followed by officially adopting Bilingual-Bicultural teaching philosophies. Many schools then began to use systems of Manually Coded English (MCE) in an attempt to develop English in deaf students. After the perceived failure of Manually Coded English systems, some educators began using the bilingual–bicultural model.{{cite journal |last1=Prinz |first1=Philip M. |last2=Strong |first2=Michael |date=August 1998 |title=ASL Proficiency and English Literacy within a Bilingual Deaf Education Model of Instruction |journal=Topics in Language Disorders |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=47–60 |doi=10.1097/00011363-199808000-00006}}

On September 24, 2018, Carey M. Ballard published a thirty-minute documentary film, Bilingual-Bicultural Movement at The Learning Center for the Deaf, which examines the history of the movement.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/5l6jUOmBBVs Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200421235319/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l6jUOmBBVs Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l6jUOmBBVs| title = Bilingual-Bicultural Movement at The Learning Center for the Deaf | website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

Bi-Bi Approaches to Learning

A majority of deaf children are born from hearing parents.{{Cite journal |last1=Bruwer |first1=Beausetha |last2=Staden |first2=Annalene van |last3=Plessis |first3=Lodewyk du |date=2024-07-12 |title=A bilingual-bicultural literacy programme for deaf learners in Namibia |url=https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/pie/article/view/7779 |journal=Perspectives in Education |language=en |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=267–281 |doi=10.38140/pie.v42i2.7779 |issn=2519-593X|doi-access=free }} This can result in deaf children not becoming proficient in either English or Sign Language by the time they enter school age.{{Cite book |last1=Gibson |first1=Heather |last2=Potma |first2=Shelley |last3=Rouse |first3=Jenelle |date=April 2021 |title=The Emergence of Signed Language Education and Reading |chapter-url=https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/saslj/vol4/iss1/1 |journal=Society for American Sign Language Journal |chapter=An Innovative Pedagogical Approach: American Sign Language (ASL) Gloss Reading Program |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=18 |via=database}} There is ongoing debate within the Deaf community about the best way to teach Daf students in the U.S. Some believe a new written system for ASL should be created (see "Writing" section in American Sign Language), while others prefer using ASL Gloss, MCE, or not having a written ASL system at all.

An example of a Bi-Bi teaching strategy is one that focuses on Deaf Children learning ASL and English simultaneously, with English being introduced through ASL Gloss readings. These readings slowly shift to the morpho-syntactic structure of English,{{Cite journal |last=Suppalla |first=Samuel |last2=Byrne |first2=Andrew |last3=Cripps |first3=Jody |date=2018 |title=Teaching Literature to Deaf Students and the Challenge of Bilingualism |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343558708_Teaching_Literature_to_Deaf_Students_and_the_Challenge_of_Bilingualism_Society_for_American_Sign_Language_Journal |journal=Society for America's Sign Language Journal |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=27-31}} allowing deaf students to become more familiar with English vocabulary and grammar. This method aims to ensure that deaf students are competent in both ASL and English literacy.

The National Association of the Deaf lays out several suggested steps on how to plan and implement a Bicultural education program, including steps such as hiring staff who are proficient in both sign language and the common second language of the region, defining when and how each language should be used, and creating a space that represent the values and beliefs of both Deaf and Hearing communities.

Research on Socio-emotional Impact

Research has shown links between sociocultural factors and students' educational success. Learning in their first language allows students to feel a sense of belonging, leading to their academic success, including development in their two languages.{{Cite journal|last1=Sánchez|first1=B.|last2=Colón|first2=Y.|last3=Esparza|first3=P.J.|year=2005|title=The Role of Sense of School Belonging and Gender in the Academic Adjustment of Latino Adolescents|journal=Journal of Youth and Adolescence|volume=34|issue=6|pages=619–628|doi=10.1007/s10964-005-8950-4|s2cid=143864108}} The bilingual teaching approach creates meaningful academic experiences for students when cultural factors are recognized.{{Cite journal|last=Cummins|first=James|year=1979|title=Linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children|journal=Review of Educational Research|volume=49|issue=2|pages=222–25l|doi=10.2307/1169960|jstor=1169960}} The cultural aspect of the bicultural bilingual approach enhances deaf students' experiences success in school.{{cite thesis |last1=Seremeth |first1=Mary Ann |date=2016 |title=A study of teacher efficacy in secondary American Sign Language-English teaching |id={{ProQuest|1870036812}} |oclc=978349766 }} The school climate in a bicultural-bilingual setting gives students the opportunity to foster their academic, cognitive and socio-cultural skills in two languages.

Various studies have found a correlation between ASL skill level and English literacy or reading comprehension. The most plausible explanation for this is that ASL skill level predicts English literacy level.{{cite journal |last1=Goldin-Meadow |first1=Susan |last2=Mayberry |first2=Rachel I. |date=November 2001 |title=How Do Profoundly Deaf Children Learn to Read? |journal=Learning Disabilities Research and Practice |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=222–229 |doi=10.1111/0938-8982.00022}} Having a basis of American Sign Language can benefit the acquisition of the English language. In fact, bilingual children show more development in cognitive, linguistic, and meta-linguistic processes than their monolingual peers.

Lev Vygotsky, a former Soviet psychologist renowned for his study on social cognitive development, argued that the quality and quantity of children's play is contingent upon the language shared among children.{{cite journal |last1=Vygotsky |first1=L. S. |title=Play and Its Role in the Mental Development of the Child |journal=Soviet Psychology |date=April 1967 |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=6–18 |doi=10.2753/RPO1061-040505036 }}{{cite book |last1=Vygotsky |first1=L. S. |last2=Cole |first2=Michael |title=Mind in Society: Development of Higher Psychological Processes |date=1978 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-57629-2 }}{{pn|date=May 2023}} Piaget, another psychologist renowned for his child development study, and Vygotsky agreed that language plays a significant role in cognitive and social development, because language competence significantly shapes play behaviors.Piaget, J.(1962). Play, dreams and imitation in childhood. New York Norton. When deaf children are in a Bi-Bi setting where they have access to language and the full ability to communicate with their peers, they can develop linguistic, social, and cognitive skills.{{Cite web |title=NAD - National Association of the Deaf |url=https://www.nad.org/about-us/position-statements/position-statement-on-asl-and-english-bilingual-education/ |access-date=2025-05-03 |website=www.nad.org}}

A study on deaf children and theory of mind (ToM), which is the ability to put oneself in someone else's shoes, showed no differences in performance in theory of mind tasks between deaf children of deaf parents and their hearing peers.{{cite journal |last1=Schick |first1=Brenda |last2=de Villiers |first2=Peter |last3=de Villiers |first3=Jill |last4=Hoffmeister |first4=Robert |title=Language and Theory of Mind: A Study of Deaf Children |journal=Child Development |date=March 2007 |volume=78 |issue=2 |pages=376–396 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01004.x |pmid=17381779 |citeseerx=10.1.1.473.8685 }}{{cite book |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195309799.013.0017 |year=2012 |editor-last1=Margolis |editor-last2=Samuels |editor-last3=Stich |editor-first1=Eric |editor-first2=Richard |editor-first3=Stephen P. |last1=Goldman |first1=Alvin I. |chapter=Theory of Mind |title=The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Cognitive Science |isbn=978-0-19-530979-9 }} Deaf children with hearing parents however, whether they were educated using spoken English or ASL, showed delays in two ToM tasks, false beliefs and knowledge states. A potential reason for such delays could be due to the lack of accessibility to conversations for deaf children in their environment, opportunities for incidental learning, and the difficulty in communicating about daily routines.{{cn|date=March 2025}} This can create challenges in discussing thoughts, beliefs and intentions among deaf children lacking language.{{cite journal |last1=Peterson |first1=Candida C. |last2=Siegal |first2=Michael |title=Deafness, Conversation and Theory of Mind |journal=Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry |date=March 1995 |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=459–474 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7610.1995.tb01303.x |pmid=7782409 }}{{cite journal |last1=Peterson |first1=Candida C. |last2=Siegal |first2=Michael |title=Insights into Theory of Mind from Deafness and Autism |journal=Mind and Language |date=March 2000 |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=123–145 |doi=10.1111/1468-0017.00126 }}

Deaf children use sign language to express themselves, discuss events, ask questions, and refer to things in their environment, just as hearing children use spoken language.{{cite book |last1=Volterra |first1=V. |last2=Caselli |first2=M.C.C. |chapter=From gestures and vocalizations to signs and words |pages=1–9 |editor1-last=Stokoe |editor1-first=William C. |editor2-last=Volterra |editor2-first=Virginia |title=SLR '83: Proceedings of the III International Symposium on Sign Language Research, Rome, June 22-26, 1983 |date=1985 |publisher=Linstok Press |isbn=978-0-932130-08-2}} The human brain is naturally wired to crave information and constant access to communication, and social settings with accessible language provide that.{{cite report |id={{ERIC|ED455620}} |last1=Marschark |first1=Marc |title=Language Development in Children Who Are Deaf: A Research Synthesis |date=June 2001 }} The earlier that Deaf children have the chance to naturally acquire sign language with constant language input, the better their cognitive and social skills, because they are able to receive information about actions, objects, experiences, and events in time.{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Karen E. |last2=Landry |first2=Susan H. |last3=Swank |first3=Paul R. |title=Does the Content of Mothers' Verbal Stimulation Explain Differences in Children's Development of Verbal and Nonverbal Cognitive Skills? |journal=Journal of School Psychology |date=January 2000 |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=27–49 |doi=10.1016/S0022-4405(99)00035-7 }}

bilingual–bicultural education

Usage Worldwide

Bilingual-Bicultural Movement

Bi-Bi Approaches to Learning

Research on Socio-emotional Impact

References

Further reading

See also