Could Community-Based Sign Language Programs Serve as a Bridge for Deaf Adults to Post-Secondary?

The Sign Language Institute Canada (SLIC) is a community-based organization that aims to increase training and certification opportunities for teachers of American Sign Language (ASL) and la langue des signes Québécoise (LSQ) across Canada. SLIC has plans to implement a community-based sign language program, intended to provide deaf adults with pathways to employment, as sign language instructors, or continuing education, including college and university level education. The objective of this study is to explore the possibility of a community-based sign language program serving as a bridge for deaf adults to post-secondary. Through qualitative research with deaf adults who have participated in community-based adult education programs in the province of Ontario, as well as interviews with deaf adult education staff and teachers, this study aims to consider what a bridging program might look like, according to voices/signs of deaf adult learners, and move us in that direction.

Faculty Supervisor:

Rachel da Silveira Gorman

Student:

Partner:

Sign Language Institute Canada

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education; Public Service, Policy, and Governance; Other

University:

York University

Program: