In this webinar, Dr Louise de Beuzeville offers insights for parents on giving their children a strong foundation in Auslan. She provides:
This video is produced with support from Expression Australia, thanks to funding from the Deaf Regional Health project.
Dr Louise de Beuzeville is a teacher of the deaf and a linguist with expertise in first language acquisition. She works at the NextSense School Sign Bilingual Program 3 days a week and is lead education researcher for 2 days a week, as well as being a conjoint lecturer with the NextSense Institute.
She has worked in the field of deaf education and signed language linguistics for over 25 years. For the last 12 years, she has largely been working in a school setting and teaching young deaf children through Auslan, while also keeping her finger in many pies, such as being one of the curriculum writers for the Acara Auslan national curriculum and working on an online Auslan assessment tool.
Her research has focused on the acquisition of Auslan by young deaf children from deaf families, and the use of space and spatial language in Auslan by deaf native signing adults and children. Lou is passionate about evidence-based practice in language and literacy development.
Q: How do you discern a reputable Auslan provider?
A: Firstly, I would want to know that they’re a Deaf person involved in the Deaf community. Secondly, that they have been signing for many years, and that Auslan is their primary language. Get recommendations from talking to other people, it can be hard to know. If your child is learning just a few signs and Auslan is not going to be their primary language, I think a primary language user is not as essential. If Auslan is going to be your child’s primary language, you really need to know that you’ve got a good fluent person.
Q: We’re often told to NOT sign and speak at the same time, but what about when you’re speaking to other hearing people, but you want to make those conversations accessible to Deaf kids? Is it ok to sign and speak at the same time?
A: It depends on the situation. In the classroom, I find it easier to switch between Auslan and English as every learner is different and not all students I teach knows full Auslan and meaning is better conveyed if do one or the other then switch depending on who needs the information. When I do full class instruction, I do both. For me, it’s a flexible thing on who’s in the room. It is the same as with spoken languages – you make the language accessible to as many people as possible.
Q: My little one is nearly 9 and has been learning Auslan for 2 years. How do I keep her interested as she is getting bored and for some reason gets embarrassed using Auslan in public.
A: I guess again, it depends. I have definitely seen kids who are actually very functional in spoken language, who really don’t want to sign, and the parents are pushing it, which is so much better than the reverse. I wouldn’t be trying to force them to sign if they’re not feeling a need but I would worry about why they have that attitude. I would want them to be in some sort of situations where they’re seeing more deaf people and seeing that it isn’t something to be embarrassed about, or something bad. I guess I’d be exploring why she feels that it’s embarrassing.
Disclaimer: The information contained on this website is not intended as a substitute for independent professional advice.
