Deaf adult learners and their teacher: Knowledge construction and meaning-making through the lens of translanguaging and semiotic repertoires

ABSTRACT This article reports on a preliminary investigation into the language practices of three groups of deaf learners of English, all users of British Sign Language (BSL), and myself as their tutor in an adult education setting. These practices were explored through the lens of translanguaging, viewed as both a description of a linguistic process, and a theory of language, to learn more about how we draw on the totality of our resources to communicate and make meaning. The purpose of this investigation was to learn more about how BSL and English are used together in the same context and how that interplay works to our advantage. Additionally, consideration was also given to the contribution manually-coded English systems such as Sign Supported English (SSE) and Signed English (SE) make, together with the other written and sign languages, as well as gesture, enactment, pointing and other semiotic resources. Video recorded interactional data were collected from the classroom and supported by reflective notes and lesson plans. Both the video data, uploaded for analysis to ELAN, a multi-media annotation tool for creating time-aligned transcripts that supports a tier-based data model, and the written data corpus were examined using a thematic analysis. The findings revealed an illuminating picture of the interplay between languages, but also a movement beyond language as part of a broader semiotic repertoire to construct meaning in the classroom.摘要：本文针对三组以英国手语（British Sign Language, BSL）为主要使用语言的英语学习失聪学习者，以及笔者在成人教育场景中担任其导师时的语言实践，展开初步调研。本次分析以转语实践（translanguaging）为视角——该视角既被视作对语言过程的描述框架，亦被视作一种语言理论——以期更深入地理解人们如何调动全部可用语言资源开展沟通、建构意义。 本次调研的核心目的在于探究英国手语与英语在同一语境下的协同使用模式，以及二者的互动如何为沟通带来增益。此外，本研究亦考量了手势支持英语（Sign Supported English, SSE）与符号英语（Signed English, SE）这类手动编码英语系统，以及其他书面语、手语、手势、动作演示、指称动作及其他符号资源所发挥的作用。 研究从课堂场景中采集了互动录像数据，并辅以反思笔记与教案作为补充支撑材料。本次研究采用主题分析法，对上传至ELAN（一款支持分层数据模型、可生成时间对齐转录文本的多媒体标注工具）以供分析的录像数据，以及书面语料库展开了系统性检视。 研究结果不仅清晰勾勒出不同语言间的互动图景，同时还揭示出课堂语境中的意义建构过程已超越单一语言范畴，依托更广泛的符号资源库展开。