SimCom on the Bilingual Journey: Does it Work?

Let me first start by saying this post is NOT targeted at hearing families who use SimCom in the home as part of their learning journey - you are not expected to be a fluent model for your child!

Native Deaf signers are and other fluent signers you link your child in with are. YOU my friend, are doing a wonderful job - wherever you're at in the journey.

Spoiler alert: They are not.

And here's why:

🤟🏼 Linguistic Conflicts: SimCom can lead to linguistic conflicts as spoken language and signed language have different grammatical structures, syntax, and vocabulary. These conflicts can result in language interference, and one language becoming dominant in the delivery 

🤟🏼 Incomplete Language Exposure: Children learning a signed language may not receive full immersion in the language if they are only exposed to SimCom. It hinders their ability to develop full proficiency in the signed language. 

🤟🏼 Prevents Deeper Understanding: SimCom, as used in this scenario above, does not provide the level of visual description and unpacking that a signed language used exclusively (with depicting signs / classifiers / role shift etc) allows. This impacts a child's ability to build a deeper understanding of concepts, including Theory of Mind.

Make sense?

Clare x 

For more insights, follow my Instagram journey at @raisingthebilinguals