Course Overview

This course introduces the candidates theoretical perspectives and current research of bilingualism. It is designed for the candidates to acquire an understanding of the concepts related to the development of bilingual language abilities (signacy, oracy, and literacy) for children 0-5 years of age. This course examines bilingual communities, bilingual deaf and hearing children and their language development and use, the bilingual brain, language maintenance and shift, transference, code switching and language attitudes. The course will also address historical and cultural aspects of bilingualism in early childhood deaf education