Álbum ilustrado en lengua de señas y español como estrategia para favorecer la adquisición de lengua de señas colombiana de niños sordos y sus padres a partir de la lectura conjunta

Abstract

Birth to five years is a crucial period for acquiring the language. This process becomes complex for deaf children because 90% of their parents are hearing persons. For deaf children, promoting language acquisition requires more than exposing the deaf child to a linguistic model or teaching the parent sign language. It is crucial to have didactics material that helps communication in sign language between parents and children strengthen skills and promote emotional bonds. This material is rare and difficult to find, particularly in Colombian sign language (LSC). This research aims to design an illustrated album narrated in LSC and Spanish that promotes the learning and use of sign language for children based on the parent-child joint reading. We aim to help parent-child a joint reading process where they can bond through sign language. The methodology used in the project is artistic creation research, which is a complex intersection of practice art, theoretical concepts, and research. The creative design process is part of the research practice and creates various art forms. Regarding the method, design is based on the recognition of the relationship between the author, the art piece, and the viewer; in this case, the author is a deaf person with deaf parents, and the viewer, it’s the pair parent-child and the art piece, are both illustrated albums. For the creation, a review of aesthetic references was carried out, in which three categories emerged: 1) video children's stories narrated in sign language, 2) illustrated books about people with hearing loss, which aimed to foster inclusive culture; 3) books for learning sign language, which is scarce, and become the base reference for the work design. Finally, two illustrated albums are created, "Lufe and the forest of colors", and "The shadows in the Lufe´s school". The conclusion for the research-creation process is summarized in four aspects: signs visual recognition, signs visual focus, the balance between signs, onomatopoeia and text, and the importance of emotional bonding.