A study on the acquisition of fingerspelling in deaf preschool children during the period of manual and spoken language acquisition

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K20229
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: :Education and related fields
• Research Institution: Ibaraki University (2023); National Institute of Special Needs Education (2021-2022)
• Principal Investigator: Iguchi Akiko 茨城大学, 教育学野, 助教 (90908352)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-08-30 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 聴覚障害 / 幼児 / コミュニケーション / 手話 / 指文字

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The study investigated the process of fingerspelling acquisition in deaf preschool children and examined teachers' utilization of fingerspelling. The first phase of the study analyzed the acquisition of fingerspelling using the Japanese manual alphabet among 4-6-year-old children who are deaf or hard of hearing in deaf preschools. Subsequently, the second phase of the study was to determine the characteristics of preschool teacher’s using fingerspelling (Japanese manual alphabet) among preschool children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The participants included four teachers, with two teachers assigned to younger children aged 3-4 years old and two teachers assigned to older children aged 5-6 years old. Therefore, it was thought that teachers intend to lay the groundwork for children’s using fingerspelling in preschool younger children, and expand children’s Japanese vocabulary through the use of fingerspelling in preschool older children.

Free Research Field

聴覚障害児教育

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

聴覚障害幼児は，周囲の大人との相互交渉を通して指文字を習得していくことが予想され，その習得過程を明らかにするためには，指導者側の視点及び，幼児側の視点の両方からのアプローチが求められる。本研究では，教育指導的側面及び発達的側面の両側面からの検討を通して，音声言語と手指言語の２つの言語環境下で養育される聴覚障害幼児の指文字習得過程を明らかにすることを目的とした。本研究成果は，聴覚障害児教育で培われてきた，幼児と教員の相互交渉の中で言語を育む活動に位置づく，音声言語の語彙獲得を意図した指文字の使用モデルを検討する基礎的な知見を得るものである。