Dr. Sarah Sheridan
Assistant Professor, C.L.C.S.
Assistant Professor, Centre for Deaf Studies

Projects

• Title
  • INCLUDEED
• Summary
  • (Social cohesion and INCLUsion: DEveloping the EDucational possibilities of the European Multilingual Heritage through Applied Linguistics) is a multilingual project whose main objective is the integration of immigrant and refugee groups in Europe through one of Europe's main assets: its languages. It involves the participation of leading universities in Applied Linguistics, especially language teaching and with previous joint experience in creating materials for the use of these socially disadvantaged groups. This project has the inclusion of disadvantaged groups as a central aim of its actions. With this, it responds directly to the priority "Social inclusion", and does so with an innovative approach in two ways: on the one hand, it addresses the sociolinguistic and cultural integration of groups of immigrants and refugees who already have basic linguistic skills in the host language. It is therefore a further step in their process of adaptation to the new environment, acquiring very important skills in the development of their professional and personal activities.
• Funding Agency
  • Erasmus + K2
• Date From
  • 2021
• Date To
  • 2024

• Title
  • Development and delivery of an accredited training programme for Deaf Irish Sign Language Interpreters
• Summary
  • Deaf Interpreters (DIs) are Deaf or hard-of-hearing people who possess fluency in a national or regional sign language and have recognised skills in interpretation and translation between their working languages/varieties/modes. Deaf interpreters often work in tandem with another interpreter. They provide supports that bridge a cultural or linguistic barrier that has been recognised within the community. Their in-depth lived knowledge of Deaf culture and the Deaf community supports hearing ISL interpreters, most of whom are L2 users of ISL DIs may work interlingually (e.g. between two varieties of Irish Sign Language, or indeed, cross-modally, working from Irish Sign Language to "hands-on" mode for DeafBlind clients). DIs can also work inter lingually, for example from another sign language to/from ISL. With commencement of the Irish Sign Language Act in December 2020, interpreters recruited by the public services must be formally registered with SLIS - graduates of this programme will be prepared to meet the requirements for membership of the register. This CPD course was delivered across 2020-21 in monthly weekend blocks, with a final summer school in July 2021. Students completed four modules introducing them to linguistics, ethics, interpreting theory and practice, with content delivered by CDS colleagues and leading experts in the field of interpreting studies. Graduates of this programme are now prepared to meet the criteria for registering on the Register of Irish Sign Language interpreters, managed by SLIS.
• Funding Agency
  • Sign Language Interpreting Service
• Date From
  • 2020
• Date To
  • 2021

• Title
  • The Performance of Language and the Psychology of the Sign Language Learner
• Summary
  • This book stems from my PhD research and is due to be published in Spring 2023. It is an exploration of both the performance of language and the psychology of the language learner. There is minimal data on the formal assessment of learner proficiency and very little empirically driven analysis of all aspects of L2-M2 teaching, learning and assessment. There is also an absence of literature on the learner experience, which was a driver for this research. The span of the research is broad and it provides a coherent and readable synthesis of a range of psychology of language learning perspectives (anxiety, learner strategies and motivation) that tend to be treated separately. Therefore, it will appeal to both sign and spoken language researchers and is likely to attract international attention from scholars within my discipline and from tangential fields (educational psychology, spoken language learning, etc.).
• Funding Agency
  • Office of the Dean of Research, Trinity College Dublin
• Date From
  • 2021
• Date To
  • 2022

• Title
  • Workplace Wellbeing during COVID-19: The Case of Irish Sign Language Interpreters
• Summary
  • An unexpected global pandemic has greatly impacted the work of SLIs and changed the 2020 interpreting landscape. COVID-19 resulted in a sudden decrease in work volume, which forced many SLIs to apply for the COVID payment. Those who continued to interpret operated in a very different way, predominately interpreting in remote settings. The aim of this research is to explore the range of demands and wellbeing issues currently experienced by SLIs since COVID-19 entered our lives. There is also potential to explore some of the merits and drawbacks of interpreting remotely (for appointments that would be traditionally face-to-face) and to ascertain if SLIs are experiencing additional stress and burnout compared to pre-COVID times. If so, how have SLIs engaged in self-care in order to navigate their way through these turbulent times?
• Funding Agency
  • Citizens Information Board & TCD Arts and Social Sciences Benefactions Fund
• Date From
  • 2021
• Date To
  • 2022

• Title
  • Sign Language Acquisition Corpus
• Summary
  • The Second Language Acquisition Corpus project was developed by the Centre for Deaf Studies, Trinity College Dublin and the Sign Language Department, Stockholm University, Sweden. It represents the world's first multi-modal data set of adult learners of a signed language (Irish/Swedish Sign Language) as a second or subsequent language in a second modality (sign languages are visual-spatial languages). The digital data set will be annotated in ELAN for a number of key points of interest, including: multi-modal code-mixing components, the use of fingerspelled items, the phonological in/accuracy of articulation of lexical signs and the use of signing space. This 'first pass' will inform our consideration of higher order questions around language acquisition in a new modality, and allow for the documentation of longitudinal development on issues surrounding the development of L2 proficiency in a signed language. This is a key step in bridging the significant gap in knowledge about sign language acquisition pathways.
• Date From
  • September 2013
• Date To
  • Present

• Title
  • Dublin Language Garden
• Summary
  • The Dublin Language Garden is a student and postdoc-led event highlighting the contribution of Linguistics and Communications Sciences to Irish society. The entire event is put together by early stage career (ESC) researchers (MPhil, PhD and Postdoc level) and showcases their research in a manner that is both imaginative and informative. The activities reflect the research being undertaken by ECR researchers, and the talks feature both senior lecturers and ESC researchers alongside one-another.
• Funding Agency
  • Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
• Date From
  • 2017

• Title
  • Promoting Excellence in Language Teaching
• Summary
  • An event and report progressing with the ProSign project at B2+ competency levels and developing content and assessment instruments (specifically ELP) for sign language learners In-depth exploration of ELP and how educators can implement it into our programmes. Opportunity to network and learn from best practice initiatives throughout Europe. Further consider how ELP can be successfully utilised and continue to develop materials, which will enable learners to progress beyond B1 competency.
• Funding Agency
  • Léargas & The European Centre for Modern Languages
• Date From
  • 2017