Emerging Ecology of a Sign Bilingualism and Co-enrollment Classroom

This study documents the views and attitudes of stakeholders of the Hong Kong’s Sign Bilingualism and Co-enrollment (SLCO) Education Programme established in 2006, to identify an emerging ecology based on the SLCO classrooms in a primary school in which deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) as well as hearing participants, teachers and students alike, collaborated to create an inclusive culture in the school environment. Qualitative data were collected using two focus group discussions, each with six DHH students and six hearing students, and individual interviews with eleven parents of DHH and hearing students and six Deaf and hearing teachers. The data generated seven themes: positive impacts of sign language (i.e. HKSL), translanguaging, differences in English and Chinese achievement, positive attitudes towards co-enrollment, increase in students’ self-confidence, friendship and equal partnership, and importance and challenges of co-planning. Analysing these themes within the framework of evaluating inclusive education along the parameters of participation, achievement, and value of person as advanced in Anderson, Boyle and Deppeler (2014), we identified six dimensions to characterise the inclusive ecology of the SLCO classroom.