Bilingual approach to online cancer genetics education for Deaf American Sign Language users produces greater knowledge and confidence than English text only: A randomized study.
Christina G S Palmer, Patrick Boudreault, Barbara A Berman and 4 others
PMID 27594054WHAT IT FOUND
Bilingual ASL video with English captions helped Deaf adults with high school or less education learn more about cancer genetics than English text alone.
For those with some college or more, both formats improved knowledge equally. Overall, the study found no significant difference between the two formats when education level was ignored.
Key findings
01The primary outcome showed no significant difference in knowledge gains between the bilingual ASL and monolingual English text groups when analyzed without considering education level.
02Participants with low education (high school or less) gained significantly more knowledge from the bilingual ASL video format than from the English text format, where they showed no improvement.
03Participants with high education (some college or more) experienced significant knowledge gains from both the bilingual ASL video and the monolingual English text.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study used a self-reported measure of English reading ease rather than an objective test. The knowledge items were not previously validated for reliability or validity in ASL. Secondary outcomes were exploratory and not adjusted for multiple comparisons. Results may not generalize to Deaf individuals without computer or internet access.
Declared interests
Funding was provided by the National Cancer Institute (NIH). The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that bilingual ASL videos are superior for all Deaf adults. The study found no overall difference between formats. The benefit of the video format was specific to participants with high school or less education; those with some college or more learned equally well from English text.