How do hard-of-hearing pupils learn Japanese Sign Language through Deaf teacher’s Instruction?

A socio-cultural analysis

Abstract

The present paper discusses a part of the results of a new project for implementing signed language in a Japanese regular primary school. A Deaf teacher taught Japanese Sign Language (JSL) on the basis of the natural approach principle for one year in hard-of-hearing (HH) classes, where 11 HH pupils were enrolled, and the processes of signed language learning by HH pupils were investigated from a sociocultural point of view. These HH pupils usually used speech in their everyday communication and learned JSL as a second language. JSL lessons were video-recorded for 810 minutes, and the utterances (signed and spoken) by HH pupils and the Deaf teacher were transcribed. Their communication and interaction were analyzed qualitatively using the open-code method, and 10 categories were generated: 1) dependency on voice, 2) role of gestures, 3) role of letters, 4) fingerspelling, 5) relation between voice and signing, 6) watching, 7) learning mode, 8) support to other pupils, 9) extension of discourses, and 10) establishment of a dialogue space. Furthermore, these categories were analyzed chronologically at three periods, and four developmental trends were found: (i) changes from oral to manual, (ii) changes from aural to visual, (iii) various and flexible ways of communication and interaction, and (iv) extension of HH pupils’ discourse, which occurred not only with the teacher, but also among themselves. Finally, we discussed support to signed language learning and use for HH pupils in the regular primary school from the standpoint of “a culture” involving Deaf people.