Critical Perspectives on Plurilingualism in Deaf Education

Kristin Snoddon · Joanne C. Weber

Jul 2021 · Multilingual Matters

About this ebook

This book is the first edited international volume focused on critical perspectives on plurilingualism in deaf education, which encompasses education in and out of schools and across the lifespan. The book provides a critical overview and snapshot of the use of sign languages in education for deaf children today and explores contemporary issues in education for deaf children such as bimodal bilingualism, translanguaging, teacher education, sign language interpreting and parent sign language learning. The research presented in this book marks a significant development in understanding deaf children's language use and provides insights into the flexibility and pragmatism of young deaf people and their families’ communicative practices. It incorporates the views of young deaf people and their parents regarding their language use that are rarely visible in the research to date.

About the author

Kristin Snoddon is Associate Professor, School of Early Childhood Studies, Ryerson University, Canada. Her research interests include sign language policy and planning, inclusive education, sign language and early literacy programs for parents and deaf children, critical ethnography and minority-language children.

Joanne C. Weber is Canada Research Chair in Deaf Education Tier II, Faculty of Education, University of Alberta, Canada. Her research interests include language and literacy education, arts-based research, deaf education, posthumanism, applied linguistics and sign language studies.