The complexity in deaf and hard-of-hearing multilingual learner education.
Sara Andersson, Iris-Corinna Schwarz
PMID 41533671WHAT IT FOUND
Schools for deaf and hard-of-hearing multilingual learners mostly address hearing loss and ignore heritage languages, leaving teachers unprepared.
Support teams and sign language help, but lack of appropriate assessments and materials hinders progress. Community partnerships and bilingual instruction are recommended to improve collaboration and learning.
Key findings
01Support teams in mainstream schools primarily respond to hearing loss, often neglecting the specific needs of multilingual learners.
02Teachers lack appropriate assessment instruments for multilingual deaf students, as existing tests do not have norms for this group.
03Home-school collaboration is frequently impeded by communication barriers and a lack of qualified interpreters.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The review included only articles published in English, potentially missing insights from other linguistic contexts. Most studies were conducted in North America and Europe, limiting generalizability to other regions. The included studies had small sample sizes and were mostly qualitative, preventing the calculation of effect sizes or broad generalizations. Only peer-reviewed empirical articles were included, excluding theoretical works or dissertations that might have added depth.
Declared interests
No specific funding sources or conflicts of interest are mentioned in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that existing language assessments or intervention strategies for deaf or multilingual learners are valid for deaf and hard-of-hearing multilingual learners. The review found no appropriate instruments for this specific group, and teachers reported that standard strategies were often unsuitable.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →