Learning Japanese Sign Language as a foreign language: the impact of online tools in creating equal learning opportunities for Deaf students

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic-driven shift to a mainly digitized learning environment has raised criticism regarding a widening digital divide which minority groups, like people with disabilities, were already experiencing (Duplaga 2017; Scanlan, 2021). However, the increasing attention for elearning tools, inclusivity and accessibility related problems has paved the way for the development of new inclusive teaching methods (Hashey, 2014; Lago, 2017; Alsadrani, 2020). This study aims to identify inequalities in education of Japanese language for students with disabilities, and to observe the positive impact of JSL e-learning tools in creating an accessible learning environment for students who are deaf or hard of hearing (e.g. online dictionaries, video technology, contents with caption). The study has been conducted via electronic surveys, which were distributed to hearing students of Japanese and Italian Sign language, Deaf students, and teachers of Japanese at Ca' Foscari University of Venice. In the surveys, the three groups of participants were asked to express their opinion on some major problems concerning the difference in accessibility of foreign language (FL) e-learning tools and traditional FL teaching methods. The survey also addressed the possibility of having access to Japanese Sign Language e-learning tools to investigate (i) motivation of hearing students for Japanese in learning JSL; (ii) motivation of deaf students in learning a foreign SL with online materials; (iii) the opinion of teachers on whether JSL e-learning tools could be useful in creating equal learning opportunities for deaf and hearing students. The findings of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the responses to the survey showed a high level of motivation of hearing students in learning JSL, a considerable number of Deaf students interested in learning a foreign sign language, and a general perception by teachers that traditional teaching methods are not sufficiently accessible to deaf students. The data will be analyzed and discussed to understand how JSL e-learning tools can be implemented to fill the learning opportunity gap between hearing students and deaf students when it comes to foreign language learning.