08/10/24 - SKOL seminar: Krister Schönström (Stockholm University)

We are excited to announce that the Sign language, interpreting, linguistics and communication (TOLK) research group will be organizing a seminar by Dr. Krister Schönström (Stockholm University) addressed to the SKOL program members and any student interested in attending. The seminar will be in Swedish Sign Language with interpretation to English and Norwegian Sign Language (NTS).

 

Dr. Krister Schönström is an Associate Professor at Stockholm University who received funding as the Faculty of Education, Arts and Sports (FLKI) guest researcher for this fall. He will be at HVL with the TOLK research throughout the month of October. 

 

This talk will take place at HVL in room M005 on October 8, 2024 from 13.00-14.00.

 

 

Fingerspelling and reading development in deaf and hard-of-hearing signing students – Some insights from the ReadSign project

 

Literature on literacy in deaf children often highlights challenges in developing age-appropriate reading skills (e.g., Goldin-Meadow & Mayberry, 2001). However, many literacy programs focus on auditory-based learning and follow the Simple View of Reading model (Hoover & Gough, 1990), which emphasizes phonological knowledge for decoding and relies on spoken language skills for reading development. Contrary to that, we argue that deaf students require an approach that takes into account their unique starting point. When they begin to read, their task is often two-fold: They need to learn not only to decode but also to learn an entirely new language.

 

However, there is a lack of effective tools to support literacy development in deaf students. To address this, we launched the ReadSign project, which promotes reading through educational materials based on sign language and fingerspelling. In collaboration with Stockholm University and the National Agency for Special Needs Education (SPSM), an adapted version of Fingerspelling Our Way to Reading (Schick et al., 2018) is being evaluated for use in Swedish Sign Language. This material, designed for first-level students aged 6, aims to enhance phonological awareness and fingerspelling skills, improving word recognition. The project is assessing its impact in deaf schools from 2023 to 2025. In this presentation, we will outline the material, its theoretical basis, and share insights from the classrooms, discussing challenges and positive outcomes in students' reading development.