Being my parents’ eyes: Study on the language identity of sighted child of blind parents in sunshine of my life (2022)

Rafifah Najla Fakhirah, Emy Sudarwati

Abstract


This present study explored the construction of language identity in a Sighted Infant of Blind Parents (SIBP) through a psycholinguistic framework. This study also addressed a gap in research on how the unique role of a sighted child in a blind family shapes an individual’s communicative self-concept. This qualitative research study used the Hong Kong semi-autobiographical film Sunshine of My Life (2022) as a qualitative descriptive design and analyzed the protagonist, Chu Tsz-yan as an SIBP. This study applied six thematic analysis steps to investigate: (1) how are the practices of language brokering and visual mediation strategies (transforming visual information into spoken language) manifested in the linguistic interaction with her blind parents, and (2) how her the dual role as the mediator and as an individual construct her language identity. The findings revealed four crucial themes that portrayed the development of her language identity which are visual mediation as a fundamental communicative practice, the structural tension of her dual role as a child and caregiver, the psychological crisis of role conflict arising from the duality, and lastly, reconciliation where these conflicting roles were integrated into unified identity through creative expression. This study concluded that the language identity of a SIBP is a dynamic narrative of adaptation, struggle, and integration, in which linguistic responsibility is ultimately constructed into a multifaceted and integrated self-concept.

Keywords: Sighted Infants of Blind Parents (SIBP); Language identity; Visual mediation; Dual role; Role conflict


Keywords


Sighted Infants of Blind Parents (SIBP); Language identity; Visual mediation; Dual role; Role conflict

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30659/e.11.2.773-792

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