Bimodal multilingual education: recognizing the linguistic resources of a diverse deaf world

Although research of bilingualism in a single aural-oral linguistic mode is common, this has yet to be extended to visual-gestural modes of language use. This is a significant research gap, as deaf people and signed languages are agentic forces that contribute to a diverse global linguistic and soci...

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Published inInternational journal of bilingual education and bilingualism Vol. 25; no. 7; pp. 2699 - 2710
Main Authors Parks, Elizabeth S., Calderón, Jesús
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 09.08.2022
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
American Sign Language
Bilingual Education
Bilingualism
Bimodal multilingualism
deaf education
Deafness
Educational Legislation
Foreign Countries
Hearing Impairments
Inclusion
Instructional Materials
language acquisition
Language Attitudes
Language Usage
Linguistics
Multilingualism
Sign Language
Sociocultural factors
Spanish
Spanish language
technology
Uruguay
Uruguay
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Summary:Although research of bilingualism in a single aural-oral linguistic mode is common, this has yet to be extended to visual-gestural modes of language use. This is a significant research gap, as deaf people and signed languages are agentic forces that contribute to a diverse global linguistic and sociocultural landscape. In this article, we present a current deaf bilingualism case study in Uruguay to explore ways that education may move beyond a focus on bimodal bilingualism to acquisition of multiple signed languages alongside a spoken one: bimodal multilingualism. We contextualize the Uruguayan case within a broader history of bilingual education and introduce the possibility of an educational initiative in which bimodal multilingual educational opportunities are available through Uruguayan Sign Language (LSU), Spanish, and American Sign Language (ASL). We suggest five areas to attune to as bimodal multilingual educational initiatives are pursued, attending to language vitality and viability related to a number of speakers, intergenerational language transmission, attitudes toward languages, domains of language use, availability of quality language materials, and responses to media use. Finally, we conclude with a call to bilingual education scholars to include an emergent horizon of bimodal multilingual education marked by acquisition of multiple signed languages.
ISSN:1367-0050
1747-7522
DOI:10.1080/13670050.2021.1964432