Deafness in a multilingual society: A review of research for practice

Abstract

This paper reviews the research literature to support good practice among educational psychologists working with deaf1children who are exposed to spoken languages other than English and/or to British Sign Language at home. This group of children is growing in size, and the challenges they face are becoming better understood. In this review we discuss the children’s communication skills in oral languages and sign languages, the assessment issues they present and the development of their personal identities as concurrent members in many cases of two minorities – the ‘Deaf’ community and a community that is defined by traditions of oral language and culture to which they may have only partial access.