Identity issues when deaf students learn a foreign language : perceptions of themselves and of others
Deafness raises the question of otherness since both body and language are involved. Deaf French students are required to learn a third language (other than French and French Sign Language) – mostly English. This paper deals with the complexity of the relationships between deaf young people, foreign languages and foreign cultures. The data were collected through ethnographic fieldwork in several specialised and mainstream secondary schools. Findings show that learning a third foreign language can influence the boundaries between deaf people and hearing people, on the one hand, and between French people and foreigners, on the other hand. Several case-studies based on students’ profile were examined and then combined.