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Developing Students’ First Language Through A Second Language Writing Intervention: A Simultaneous Approach, Hannah Marie Dostal

Doctoral Dissertations

Deaf and hard of hearing (d/hh) children often acquire an L1 after age 3, thus are arguably more diverse than that of the general bilingual population. A unique problem therefore exists among d/hh late language learners—they often do not have an L1 to later develop an L2. This study investigated the impact of an English writing intervention (Strategic and Interactive Writing Instruction, SIWI) that incorporates support for the development of American Sign Language in an effort to illustrate the necessity of explicitly addressing the proposed interdependence of language learning.

The research involved providing 23 upper elementary and middle school d/hh …