Sign language challenges encountered by deaf learners born to hearing parents

Abstract

Sign language challenges encountered by Deaf learners born to hearing parents. In 1994, South Africa dedicated itself to a democracy for all in line with the constitutional principles of equality and equity as stated in White Paper 6. An attempt was made and is still being made to change the South African education system from one of “total inadequacy” that was governed on the basis of, for example disability, culture, language and race, to an inclusive policy or structure that aims to meet the diverse needs of all South African learners (Department of Education, 2001, p. 12). This study sought to identify the challenges encountered by deaf learners born to hearing parents when using sign language. Sign language is a method of teaching and learning for deaf learners and also provides a communication method at home and at school from early childhood. Stander, Plaatje, and Mcllroy (2017) indicate that deaf children born to hearing families encounter challenges in learning and communicating using sign language at home. This study adopted a qualitative method using a descriptive case study as the research design. The data collection methods included interviews, lesson observations and reviewing of official documents, as well as the use of audio, video and field notes as recording instruments. A purposeful sampling of six deaf learners, their hearing parents and experienced teachers were included in the study. The theoretical framework used for this study was Vygotsky’s sociocultural perspective of development, which includes theories about language, culture and cognitive development. The study was furthermore approached from an interpretivist paradigm. The findings indicate that sign language challenges encountered by deaf learners were enhanced by being born into a hearing family that does not have a background in sign language. In addition, language acquisition delays are exacerbated by parental denial of deafness, late discovery of deafness, and the deaf child growing up in a predominantly hearing community. In addition, the findings obtained from the study indicate that teachers’ training in SASL and the use of visual material have a vii significant impact on the deaf learners’ acquisition and learning of sign language. These findings, which focused on South African data, could be utilised to further address issues of SASL acquisition by deaf children.