Language instruction of deaf multilingual learners: a survey of teachers

This study investigates the instructional practices and self-reported confidence of educators working with Deaf Multilingual Learners (DMLs), students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and come from homes where languages other than English or American Sign Language are used. Through a national web-based survey (Appendix A), data were collected from 89 current and former teachers of DMLs, capturing their demographic profiles, instructional strategies, and perceptions of their ability to support language development. Quantitative analyses, including descriptive statistics, t-tests, and correlation analyses, were conducted to identify patterns related to teaching experience, strategy use, and support systems. Findings show that multimodal strategies, such as combining signs, spoken language, visuals, and print, were widely used and rated highly by educators, particularly those with more than 3 years of experience. In contrast, strategies that incorporated students' home languages were used infrequently. Use of phonological awareness strategies varied depending on the instructional language modality, with fingerspelling and signed-language scaffolds used more often than spoken phonics-based strategies. Notably, gaps emerged in access to DML-specific training and collaboration opportunities, and most respondents identified as White, female, and English-speaking, highlighting a lack of educator diversity. These findings underscore the importance of targeted professional development in multimodal and phonological instruction, culturally responsive pedagogy, and home language inclusion. Addressing these gaps is essential to improving equitable language access and educational outcomes for DMLs in K-12 settings. Appendix A showcases the questions from the survey (See Appendix A).