Alternative Assessment Evidence: Second Language Development of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students

• In Event: Rethinking Ability and Assessment – From Accommodation to Affirmation

Abstract

Despite growing interest in d/Deaf and hard of hearing (d/DHH) learners’ second language (L2) development, comprehensive, theory-driven analyses across developmental stages remain limited. This study applies Processability Theory (PT; Pienemann, 2005) to examine whether Korean secondary English as a Foreign Language learners who are d/DHH follow similar developmental sequences as their hearing peers.
Participants included 32 d/DHH and 38 hearing students. Three speaking tasks (picture-based description, argumentative, and announcement) elicited five morphosyntactic structures representing PT stages. Data were analyzed using implicational scaling based on PT emergence criteria.
Both groups followed PT’s predicted order; however, d/DHH learners showed slower progression and less sequencing stability. Findings underscore PT’s usefulness for tracking L2 development in underrepresented populations and designing accessible, developmentally appropriate assessments.

Authors

• Myeongeun Son, Seoul National University of Science and Technology

• Jongwoo Lee, Texas Tech University