IRES Track II: Translanguaging Science - Assessment of Language Proficiency and Processing Across Languages and Modalities

Rochester Institute Of Tech, Rochester NY

Investigators

Abstract

For a large number of children in the United States, knowing more than one language is increasingly common. For many children this takes the form of two or more spoken languages, but for those children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH), their languages are often signed and spoken and therefore structurally different from each other. Much work has yet to be done to understand the process of language acquisition for these unimodal (speech-speech) and bimodal (sign-speech) bilinguals. The way in which English is acquired is likely to be influenced by the modality and typology of the other languages that the child knows. One particular challenge is determining whether a child’s acquisition of English is atypical or typical given their school and home language environment. Researchers studying the United States’ population of DHH children are often equipped to study only one of the child’s language modalities, either signed (ASL) or spoken (English and/or Spanish). This may result in underestimating a multilingual child’s linguistic abilities, or a failure to detect and intervene when language difficulties emerge. The objective of this award is to provide advanced training to 20 U.S. graduate students across two ASIs in the assessment of multiple languages in multiple modalities (signed, spoken, written) within a theoretical framework – translanguaging – that centers multilingual children and how they use their languages for different purposes. There will be a particular emphasis on the situation of DHH children, for whom acquisition of English is often highly variable despite its importance for integration into the U.S. workforce and economy. ​ The purpose of the ASI is to enhance literacy research with the application of translanguaging theory to the methods of language assessment and processing. For two years, 10 U.S. graduate students will be selected to ensure diverse cohorts who have demonstrated an aptitude for scientific research. Students will be selected on the basis of strong academic standing, recommendations from advisors and other faculty, and a clear statement of research interests that demonstrates a strong potential to benefit from the ASI curriculum. Selected students will participate in a two-week summer ASI hosted by Stockholm University, and taught by faculty from the United States, the United Kingdom and Sweden. Stockholm University is a leading center for the study of multilingualism and language acquisition in DHH children. Students will have access to an outstanding US and European faculty, and to cutting edge resources at the new Stockholm University Brain Imaging Center. The two major ASI themes will be language assessment and language processing. Students will learn how to assess language proficiency and processing across modalities using behavioral, EEG and eye tracking methods. They will also receive a grounding in translanguaging theory and address the theoretical and practical issues when assessing DHH children who use multiple languages. The ASIs will also incorporate advanced statistical training in longitudinal data analysis in order to provide the tools needed to study language development. Students will participate in lectures and research talks, small and large group activities, and one-on-one interactive discussions with research mentors. Before, during, and after the ASI, the students will work with those research mentors to develop a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement grant proposal. This proposal will serve as the primary means for assessing student learning and will be the primary short-term outcomes of the ASIs. Longer term outcomes include new international collaborations, an increase in theoretical innovation, and better recruitment and retention of DHH graduate students in doctoral programs. ASI administrators will work closely with colleagues who have active mentoring programs for DHH students to ensure the development of individualized educational plans that will allow students to maximize this learning opportunity and prepare a new generation of U.S, researchers to study the complexities of multimodal and multilingual language development. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.