Learning English as a second language: Opportunities and challenges for sign bilingual deaf children

This article explores some of the key issues involved in teaching English as a second language to sign bilingual deaf students. It draws on research in progress and current practice in sign bilingual approaches in the UK and beyond. Teachers working with deaf children whose preferred language is BSL are constantly looking for innovative ways to develop their pupils' second language English skills and this quest is leading us further into the field of second and foreign language teaching and learning. While these approaches do have a lot to offer, they cannot totally respond to the unique language learning situation of bilingual deaf children. This article outlines the key theories of second language learning and proposes ways in which second and foreign language teaching approaches can be adopted for use with bilingual deaf children. Some of the more problematic issues which are surfacing are discussed and the implications of these for developing practice are explored.