Revisiting the Past to Understand the Present: The Linguistic Ecology of the Singapore Deaf Community and the Historical Evolution of Singapore Sign Language (SgSL)

Singapore, a young nation with a colonial past from 1819, has seen drastic changes in the sociolinguistic landscape, which has left indelible marks on the Singapore society and the Singapore deaf community. The country has experienced many political and social transitions from British colonialism to attaining independence in 1965 and thereafter. Since independence, English-based bilingualism has been vigorously promoted as part of nation-building. While the roles of the multiple languages in use in Singapore feature prominently in the discourse on language planning, historical records show no mention of how these impacts on the deaf community. The first documented deaf person in archival documents is a Chinese deaf immigrant from Shanghai who established the first deaf school in Singapore in 1954 teaching Shanghainese Sign Language (SSL) and Mandarin. Since then, the Singapore deaf community has seen many shifts and transitions in education programming for deaf children, which has also been largely influenced by exogeneous factors such as trends in deaf education in the United States A pivotal change that has far-reaching impact on the deaf community today, is the introduction of Signing Exact English (SEE) in 1976. This was in keeping with the statal English-based bilingual narrative. The subsequent decision to replace SSL with SEE has dramatic consequences for the current members of the deaf community resulting in internal divisions and fractiousness with lasting implications for the cohesion of the community. This publication traces the origins of Singapore Sign Language (SgSL) by giving readers (and future scholars) a road map on key issues and moments in this history. Bi- and multi-lingualism in Singapore as well as external forces will also be discussed from a social and historical perspective, along with the interplay of different forms of language ideologies. All the different sign languages and sign systems as well as the written/spoken languages used in Singapore, interact and compete with as well as influence each other. There will be an exploration of how both internal factors (local language ecology) and external factors (international trends and developments in deaf education), impact on how members of the deaf community negotiate their deaf identities.

Confronting Assumptions in Immigrant Multilingual Deaf Education

Within the American deaf community, multilingualism is evidence among deaf individuals who use three (or more) languages daily. Despite the linguistic diversity, limited research focuses on multilingualism, multilingual education, or multilingual development in this population. The increasing multilingual immigrant D/HH student population in the United States coupled with a scarcity of research on multilingual immigrant D/HH learners has triggered various assumptions about their education. This chapter will focus on addressing the assumptions surrounding the education of immigrant multilingual deaf learners.

Inclusion and Exclusion

In this chapter, the authors explore the practice of inclusion as it relates to the education of deaf and hard of hearing (d/hh) students. Using the current situation in Jamaica as a microcosm, it is argued that for this specific population of students it may be necessary to reframe and redefine the notion of inclusion more broadly. For example, the authors argue that as a result of the specific cultural, linguistic, and academic needs of d/hh students, a more traditional approach to inclusion may in fact result in isolation and less access to content and skills. Inclusion that considers how deaf education classrooms may include accessible language, the Deaf community, families of d/hh children, and Deaf role models may be more appropriate for this population.

Universal Design for Learning and Technology in Deaf Education

Deaf students face challenges and barriers in US general education classrooms due to barriers of non-matched monolingual instruction. The demographics of deaf education classrooms have changed over the years and no longer are families encouraged to choose one modality. Multilingual DHH students face unique challenges and barriers that cannot be left unaddressed or overlooked. The following chapter outlines a literature review of the guiding principles of UDL specifically to address the challenges and needs of multilingual DHH. This chapter addresses the need for the three guiding principles, engagement, representation, and expression, along with the integration of technology. Practical application will guide current deaf educators in creating lessons and physical classrooms while implementing technology to meet deaf students' needs in general education classrooms.

Bilingual and Multilingual Education for Deaf Students, Linguistic Minorities

This chapter discusses some of the language issues and challenges that deaf and hard of hearing students (DHH) face in the school environment and argues that successful bilingual and multilingual education programs are necessary for DHH students, including professional training in deaf education around of the world. The chapter includes subtitle topics such as the historical development of bilingual education, deaf learners and deaf bilingual education, multilingual and multicultural education. The author concludes the chapter by making recommendations regarding the effectiveness of bilingual and multilingual education for DHH students. The goal is to support educators and professionals in the deaf education field to pay attention to bilingual deaf education through teacher professional development based on the field needs.