This article describes the results of a study conducted using a collaborative action-research framework (Savoie-Zajc, 1999) with a view to observing students’ reactions when they were taught Signwriting (SW) for the first time, as well as their teachers’ practices when teaching it for the first time. SW appears to be a promising tool for promoting student learning of written French, which is the language of the hearing majority for these students whose first language was Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ). We were particularly interested in the addition of SW as a means for the Deaf student to construct an identity distinct from that of the hearing majority as well as of the English-speaking majority.