In this project (PhD at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), I interviewed 39 people (deaf and hearing) linked to the Singapore Deaf Community. I also conducted some observations of Singapore Sign Language (SgSL) classes in different settings. I recorded some segments of the lesson for close-up analysis and did semi-structured interviews in tandem with photo elicitation techniques with some of the SgSL deaf instructors and other stakeholders in the community. There are also plans to do Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) later on, where I will analyse how deafness is constructed in public media discourse in Singapore in newspapers. I am currently in the transcription and data analysis stage of my research. Currently, I am analysing the following:
- How the deaf identity of SgSL instructors’ surfaces in the SgSL classroom.
- The impact deaf ideologies (e.g. audism) and language attitudes (linguicism) on the SgSL instructor’s identity
- Language practices and strategies in the SgSL instructors’ classroom
- How state multilingualism and government language policy influence identity and language attitudes.
