Project Summary
Deaf children who reach the age of eight without a foundation in language have longitudinal struggles in the
areas of receptive and expressive language, working memory, executive functions, literacy and academic
skills, and behavioral, mental, social, and physical health. The lack of intervention programs targeting sign
language competencies during the critical period of development is a critical barrier to making progress in
preventing or addressing language delays in deaf children. Strategic and interactive approaches driven by
sociocultural, cognitive, and language theories have accumulated a large body of evidence documenting
improvements in more complex oral and written language skills. Cross-linguistic transfers between oral and
writing skills within and across first and second languages are well-established in the literature. Taking these
factors into account in addition to growing evidence that sign language skills positively predict literacy skills
and may lead to improved health outcomes, it is critical to systematically support deaf children’s sign language
competences as early as possible. To address the identified critical barrier to progress, these are the aims of
this project: (1) develop Strategic and Interactive Signing Instruction (SISI), an intervention program to target
the development of sign language skills in deaf children aged 5-8; (2) refine SISI training and implementation
protocols; and (3) test the efficacy of SISI in improving deaf children’s sign language skills. First, a SISI manual
will be developed for standardization and consistency in training, implementation, and fidelity. The SISI manual
will include: (a) descriptions of strategic and interactive approaches and their new applications to develop sign
language skills, (b) SISI intervention protocols, (c) SISI fidelity checklist, and (d) list of sign language skills that
are targeted in SISI. Second, an experimental study will be conducted to assess the extent of training and
support required from teachers to become proficient in SISI implementation. Meanwhile, child progress in
meeting their target sign language skills will be monitored formatively, and modifications may be made in an
iterative design fashion to strengthen the intervention design. Third, another experimental study will be applied
to assess the efficacy of SISI in improving deaf children’s sign language skills. Findings will provide robust data
on the mechanisms of successful training dose, intervention design and fidelity, and data collection protocols in
preparation for subsequent R01 application involving a large randomized controlled trial with sufficient
statistical power to further strengthen evidence of SISI in improving deaf children’s sign language skills along
with examinations of cross-linguistic interactions in the written form. This project is innovative in its new
applications of theory-driven strategic and interactive approaches to target sign language development in deaf
children.
