Writing Development and Translanguaging in Signing Bilingual Deaf Children of Deaf Parents

Translanguaging allows for a holistic lens on the natural language practices of multilinguals and the strategies they use to communicate and to make meaning, such as writing. Multilinguals have a single, integrated linguistic repertoire and reasoning in which all languages are naturally activated in...

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Main Author: Leala Holcomb
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-01-01
Series:Languages
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/8/1/37
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author Leala Holcomb
author_facet Leala Holcomb
author_sort Leala Holcomb
collection DOAJ
description Translanguaging allows for a holistic lens on the natural language practices of multilinguals and the strategies they use to communicate and to make meaning, such as writing. Multilinguals have a single, integrated linguistic repertoire and reasoning in which all languages are naturally activated in the brain throughout the writing process. Some deaf children are raised in environments where signed language is first acquired and then used to support the development of a written language. The current literature on translanguaging is scant in capturing signing bilingual deaf writers’ translanguaging practices. This study took a closer look at the written texts produced by three deaf siblings within an American Sign Language/English bilingual deaf family across the course of their childhood between three and ten years old. Their applications of linguistic features in writing over time were qualitatively identified, described, and analyzed. This study’s findings provided rich descriptions and examples of the ways signing bilingual deaf children leverage their whole linguistic repertoire to express ideas in print. Because translanguaging practices were modeled at home and school during natural interactions and direct instruction, these siblings’ language and writing skills continued to flourish over time.
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spelling doaj.art-aeeb4e95a0124d1694f1c0010312eb842023-11-17T12:08:59ZengMDPI AGLanguages2226-471X2023-01-01813710.3390/languages8010037Writing Development and Translanguaging in Signing Bilingual Deaf Children of Deaf ParentsLeala Holcomb0College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USATranslanguaging allows for a holistic lens on the natural language practices of multilinguals and the strategies they use to communicate and to make meaning, such as writing. Multilinguals have a single, integrated linguistic repertoire and reasoning in which all languages are naturally activated in the brain throughout the writing process. Some deaf children are raised in environments where signed language is first acquired and then used to support the development of a written language. The current literature on translanguaging is scant in capturing signing bilingual deaf writers’ translanguaging practices. This study took a closer look at the written texts produced by three deaf siblings within an American Sign Language/English bilingual deaf family across the course of their childhood between three and ten years old. Their applications of linguistic features in writing over time were qualitatively identified, described, and analyzed. This study’s findings provided rich descriptions and examples of the ways signing bilingual deaf children leverage their whole linguistic repertoire to express ideas in print. Because translanguaging practices were modeled at home and school during natural interactions and direct instruction, these siblings’ language and writing skills continued to flourish over time.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/8/1/37translanguagingdeafSign Languagebilingual
spellingShingle Leala Holcomb
Writing Development and Translanguaging in Signing Bilingual Deaf Children of Deaf Parents
Languages
translanguaging
deaf
Sign Language
bilingual
title Writing Development and Translanguaging in Signing Bilingual Deaf Children of Deaf Parents
title_full Writing Development and Translanguaging in Signing Bilingual Deaf Children of Deaf Parents
title_fullStr Writing Development and Translanguaging in Signing Bilingual Deaf Children of Deaf Parents
title_full_unstemmed Writing Development and Translanguaging in Signing Bilingual Deaf Children of Deaf Parents
title_short Writing Development and Translanguaging in Signing Bilingual Deaf Children of Deaf Parents
title_sort writing development and translanguaging in signing bilingual deaf children of deaf parents
topic translanguaging
deaf
Sign Language
bilingual
url https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/8/1/37
work_keys_str_mv AT lealaholcomb writingdevelopmentandtranslanguaginginsigningbilingualdeafchildrenofdeafparents