Ongoing Projects

Promoting Early Signing and Deaf Awareness in Preschool Education

Date: 01/01/2015 - present

The project aims to promote the importance of early language input and introduce training in sign bilingual education to teachers of the preschool sector with the following four objectives:

1. To consolidate the impact of sign bilingual education in the preschool sector, which in turn benefits the schools and their teachers, as well as DHH and hearing children and their families;
2. To implement training in sign bilingual education for teachers and other professionals in the preschool sector, to enhance their professionalism, particularly in the area of early childhood development;
3. To identify mainstream kindergartens and nurseries in Hong Kong where children with hearing loss are enrolled so that professional advice and training can be offered to the teachers and parents involved, with the ultimate goal of nurturing a more inclusive culture within these settings; and
4. To document the experiences and skills required for implementing early signing in preschool settings, and to archive the learning materials through digital technology, for support of curriculum planning for a Certificate Programme in Early Sign Bilingual Education for preschool teachers in the future.

With the four objectives of the project, specific activities including: i) training on Sign Bilingual Education Practices at different preschool institutions; ii) school-based teacher training and consultation; iii) territory-wide seminars and workshops for teachers and parents; and iv) development of online platform & information brochure will be conducted to promote the importance of early language input through sign language for infants, especially in the context of deaf awareness and hearing loss.