Training Literacy Skills through Sign Language

What was this study about?

Researchers conducted a small study of deaf primary students at a Swedish primary school for deaf and hard of hearing children to see if using a sign language version of a literacy program for beginner readers would improve children’s literacy skills. The literacy program used software called Omega-is-d1 to train students on the connection between Swedish sign language and written Swedish.

What are the key findings?

• Generally speaking, literacy levels of children who are deaf or hard of hearing, fall behind their hearing peers.
• Children's literacy skills improved significantly during the 20 days of the study.
• The use of similar training software utilising sing language could be valuable in helping deaf or hard of hearing children's reading development and also, can be used to improve bilingual education (learning both in sign language and writeen/spoken language).

Where can I read more?