Skip to main content

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin

Trinity Menu Trinity Search



You are here Staff

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

Biography

Dr. Sarah Sheridan is Assistant Professor at the Centre for Deaf Studies and the Centre for Language and Communication Studies. She teaches across several programmes including the Bachelor in Deaf Studies and the suite of MPhil linguistics programmes offered by the School. Sarah has extensive supervision experience at both undergraduate and postgraduate level and is currently supervising four PhD students. In 2021, Sarah was awarded a Teaching Hero Award by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in collaboration with the Union of Students in Ireland. Her primary research is on second language learning and topics related to learning anxiety, motivation and wellbeing. She is also interested in workplace wellness for both language teachers and sign language interpreters. She is currently involved in several teaching and research projects, e.g., the Erasmus + K2 funded INCLUDEED (Social cohesion and INCLUsion: DEveloping the EDucational possibilities of the European Multilingual Heritage through Applied Linguistics) project, which 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. Sarah is the School Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, which arose from the School receiving a bronze level Athena SWAN award. Sarah previously sat on the School Athena SWAN self-assessment team. Her professional background is sign language interpreting and she has over 15 years of experience. Sarah is committed to lifelong learning, particularly in relation to her teaching practice, and completed her PhD in the area of applied linguistics (language learning anxiety). In addition, she has obtained many CPD qualifications including a Postgraduate Diploma in Educational Studies and a Postgraduate Certificate in Workplace Wellness. She is currently taking the Aurora Women in Leadership programme.

Publications and Further Research Outputs

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Sign Language Interpreting in Ireland in, editor(s)Stacey Webb, Jemina Napier, and Robert Adam , Sign language translation and interpreting education two decades on, Washington DC, Gallaudet University Press, 2024, [Sarah Sheridan, Teresa Lynch, and Lorraine Leeson] Book Chapter, 2024 TARA - Full Text

European Forum of Sign Language Interpreters, Rights. Right?, 2023, Greece, 15th - 17th September, A member of the Scientific Committee Meetings /Conferences Organised, 2023

Linguistic Profile of Migrants in, editor(s)Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca , GUIDE FOR THE LINGUISTIC INCLUSION OF MIGRANTS, Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, 2022, pp36 - 59, [Carson, Lorna; Sheridan, Sarah; O'Brien, Caitríona; El-Hossary, Yomna Mohamed Hassan] Book Chapter, 2022 TARA - Full Text

Coppinger, Lucy; Sheridan, Sarah, Accent Anxiety: An Exploration of Non-Native Accent as a Source of Speaking Anxiety among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Students, JOURNAL FOR THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE LEARNING, 4, (2), 2022, p1 - 20 Journal Article, 2022 TARA - Full Text

European Forum of Sign Language Interpreters, EFSLI2022: #Awkward, September 3rd - 4th, 2022, Manchester, UK, A member of the Scientific Committee Meetings /Conferences Organised, 2022

Translation as a pedagogical tool in, editor(s)Stone, C., Adam, R., Müller de Quadros, R. & Rathmann, C. , Routledge Handbook of Sign Language Translation and Interpreting, Oxfordshire, UK, Routledge, 2022, pphttps://doi.org/10.4324/978100 , [Sheridan, S. and Lynch, T. ] Book Chapter, 2022

Sign Language Interpreting in Ireland in, editor(s)Napier, J., Adam, R., and Webb, S. , International perspectives on sign language interpreter education (2nd Edition), Gallaudet University Press, 2022, [Sheridan, S., Lynch, L. and Leeson, L.] Book Chapter, 2022

SUPERVISED Carmen María Ortiz Granero, International student adjustment in Irish universities: Language-related challenges and the role of EAP, Doctor in Philosophy, Trinity College Dublin , 2021 Thesis, 2021

Sheridan, Sarah, Revisioning the deaf community: the journey to developing a mixed-modality multilingual identity, International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA 2020),, Groningen, The Netherlands, August, 2021, 2021 Conference Paper, 2021

Sheridan, Sarah, Revisioning the deaf community: the journey to developing a mixed-modality multilingual identity , The Language Learning Journal, 2021 Journal Article, 2021 URL

Leeson, Lorraine Sarah Sheridan, Katie Cannon, Tina Murphy, Helen Newman and Heidi Veldheer, Hands in Motion: Learning to Fingerspell in Irish Sign Language (ISL) , Teanga, 2020, p120-141 Journal Article, 2020 TARA - Full Text URL

Sheridan, Sarah, Performing Irish Sign Language: A Concern for University Learners, 21st Association of University Language Communities Annual Conference, Maynooth, Ireland, 9-10 Jan 2020, 2020, pp12 - 13 Conference Paper, 2020

Sign Language Interpreting , Baker, Mona and Gabriela Saldanha, Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, London , Taylor and Francis, 2019, pp526-531 , [Leeson, Lorraine and Sarah Sheridan] Item in dictionary or encyclopaedia, etc, 2019

McGrotty, Caroline and Sarah Sheridan, Irish Sign Language Interpreting in Higher Education in Ireland: The Experience of Deaf Students, REACH Journal of Special Needs Education in Ireland, 32, (2), 2019, p72-83 Journal Article, 2019 URL

Use of Corpora in L1/L2/Ln Sign Language Pedagogy in, editor(s)Rosen, Russell , Routledge Handbook of Sign Language Pedagogy, London , Routledge, 2019, pp339-354 , [Leeson, Lorraine, Jordan Fenlon, Johanna Mesch, Sarah Sheridan and Carmel Grehan] Book Chapter, 2019

Leeson, Lorraine and Sarah Sheridan (with Katie Cannon, Helen Newman, Tina Murphy and Heidi Veldheer) , Hands in Motion: Learning to Fingerspell in Irish Sign Language , International Corpus Linguistics Conference 2019, Cardiff, Wales, 22-26 July 2019, 2019 Oral Presentation, 2019

Sarah Sheridan, Composing L2/M2 Self and Performances: A grounded theory study of adult sign language learners, Irish Deaf Research Network, Irish Deaf Research Conference 2018, Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin, 09/11/2018, 2018, pp19-20 Conference Paper, 2018

Sarah Sheridan , Exposure Anxiety - the case of sign language learners, The third international Psychology of Language Learning conference (PLL3), Tokyo, Japan, June 7-10, 2018, pp15-16 Conference Paper, 2018

Sarah Sheridan , PhD Troubleshootee Presentation, Grounded Theory Troubleshooting Seminar, Grounded Theory Institute, Mill Valley, California, 21-23 June, 2017 Conference Paper, 2017

Sarah Sheridan , Thesis in Three - L2/M2 Acquisition, EUROMEC Summer School, Trinity Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin, 10 - 13 July, 2017, edited by Jean Monnet Network , 2017 Conference Paper, 2017

Sarah Sheridan , PhD Troubleshootee Presentation, Dec 8th & 9th, Grounded Theory Troubleshooting Seminar, Trinity Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin, 8-9th Dec, edited by Grounded Theory Online , 2017 Conference Paper, 2017

Sarah Sheridan , The New Signer: L2/M2 Sign Language Acquisition, 11th International Symposium on Bilingualism Conference , University of Limerick, Ireland, 11 - 15 June, 2017 Conference Paper, 2017

Sarah Sheridan, Lorraine Leeson, What it takes to be a second language learner with a goal on becoming an interpreter, 5th Community Interpreting Conference, University of Limerick, 20th May, 2016 Conference Paper, 2016

Sarah Sheridan, Sign Language Learning:user experiences, Thesis-in-3, Trinity Long Room Hub, 11th May, 2016, 2016 Conference Paper, 2016

Sarah Sheridan, Grounded Theory: Using it to your advantage as a research student, School of Education , Trinity College Dublin, 2016 Oral Presentation, 2016

Sarah Sheridan, Grounded Theory Workshop , School of Nursing and Midwifery, Winter Research School, Trinity College Dublin , 2016 Oral Presentation, 2016

Sarah Sheridan, Staying Grounded - An example of how grounded theory methods have been applied to L2-M2 research, IRAAL Annual Conference, Paradigm shifting in Applied Linguistics: New theories and new methods, Trinity Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin, 19th November, 2016, edited by Irish Association for Applied Linguistics , 2016 Conference Paper, 2016

Sarah Sheridan, Grounded Theory Working Seminar, Grounded Theory Online: Supporting Grounded Theory Researchers, Middle Temple Hall, London, 3rd - 5th December, 2015 Oral Presentation, 2015

Sarah Sheridan, Patrick A. Matthews and Lorraine Leeson, Uncharted Territory - Exploring L2/M2 Sign Language Acquisition using Corpus Data, IRAAL 40th Anniversary Conference, Trinity College Dublin, 21 November 2015, 2015 Conference Paper, 2015

Patrick A. Matthews, Sarah Sheridan, Digging into Signs - Irish Sign Language, Digging into Signs Workshop: Developing Annotation Standards for Sign Language Corpora, University College London, 31st March, 2015, 2015 Conference Paper, 2015

Matthews, P.A., Sheridan, S. and Leeson, L., 'Sign Language Acquisition Corpus (SLAC) - ISL', Sign Language Acquisition Corpus (SLAC), Trinity College Dublin, 2015, - Digital research resource production, 2015

Haaris Sheikh, Lorraine Leeson, Ellen Lennon-Bowman and Sarah Sheridan, Medisigns, 1-2 March 2013, In:Medisigns, 2013, Trinity College Dublin Meetings /Conferences Organised, 2013

Lourdes Calle, Lorraine Leeson, Sarah Sheridan, Ellen Lennon-Bowman and Haaris Sheikh, efsli Working Seminar -III, 27-28 February 2013, In:efsli Working Seminar -III, 2013, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin Meetings /Conferences Organised, 2013

Sarah Sheridan, Translating Idiomatic Expressions from English to ISL: Theory and Practice, The Sign Language Translator and Interpreter, 3, (1), 2009, p69 - 83 Journal Article, 2009 TARA - Full Text

Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications

SUPERVISED Dempsey, Michael Bernard, Effects of Cultivating Bilingualism in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Trinity College Dublin, 2022 Thesis, 2022

SUPERVISED Garcia, Katty, The multilingual Latinx: translation and language mixing in contemporary Latin pop, Trinity College Dublin , 2022 Thesis, 2022

Sarah Sheridan, Psychology of Language Learning, BAQONDE Summer School, Trinity College Dublin, 05 Aug, 2022 Invited Talk, 2022

SUPERVISED Reyes, Brandon, Perception of Reflective Practice and Meditation in Language Education, Trinity College Dublin , 2022 Thesis, 2022

Sheridan, Sarah, Irish Sign Language Interpreter Workplace Wellness during COVID-19, An event part of Deaf Awareness Week (19 - 23 September), Citizens Information Board, September 23rd, 2022 Invited Talk, 2022

SUPERVISED Sheng, Yingli, Perceptions of Oral English Teaching and Learning in China: Do learners experience positive psychology in the classroom?, Trinity College Dublin , 2022 Thesis, 2022

Sheridan, Sarah , The Psychology of Sign Language Learning , Language Teacher Psychology Conference 2021, Graz, Austria, 06-08 September, 2021, University of Graz, Austria Invited Talk, 2021

SUPERVISED Yuan, Fei, Foreign Language Learning Anxiety in the Classroom: A Scoping Review, Trinity College Dublin , 2021 Thesis, 2021

SUPERVISED Coppinger, Lucy, Accent Anxiety: An Exploration of Non-Native Accent as a Source of Speaking Anxiety among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Students, Trinity College Dublin , 2021 Thesis, 2021

SUPERVISED Smick, Benjamin, An Analysis of English Language Teacher's Perceptions of Online Language Learning in the Era of Covid-19, Trinity College Dublin , 2021 Thesis, 2021

SUPERVISED Nolan, Isabelle, Arabic, a language of Islam? How the nature of the debate on teaching Arabic in public French schools furthers the stigmatisation of the language and its speakers, Trinity College Dublin , 2020 Thesis, 2020

SUPERVISED Xin, Xin, Motivation and autonomous learning of an L2 in Network-based environments, Trinity College Dublin , 2020 Thesis, 2020

SUPERVISED Liu, Jun, Using curriculum design theory to analyze the newly designed New Standard English textbook, 2020 Thesis, 2020

SUPERVISED Gao, Runlin, Preschool English Education in China: Teaching Practice and Teacher's Qualification, Trinity College Dublin , 2020 Thesis, 2020

SUPERVISED Liang, Jinwei, The Comparative Study of Content and Language Integrated Learning and Immersion Language Teaching From the Perspective of Second Language Acquisition, 2020 Thesis, 2020

Sheridan, Sarah, Interview with Sarah Sheridan on sign language acquisition , Irish Sign Language Awareness Week, Online, 22nd September, 2020, Irish Deaf Society Invited Talk, 2020

SUPERVISED Willoughby, Roy, ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING (ELT) IN IRELAND: IS IT A CAREER?, Trinity College Dublin , 2020 Thesis, 2020

SUPERVISED: Akatsu, Tsuneki, Teacher's Psychology: How Negative and Positive Factors Affect Their Teaching, Trinity College Dublin , 2019 Thesis, 2019

Sheridan Sarah , Empathising with Learners of Irish Sign Language , Workshop for the Council of Irish Sign Language Teachers, Trinity College Dublin, 2019 Invited Talk, 2019

SUPERVISED: Gibey, Clodagh, Deafblind Interpreting in Ireland, Trinity College Dublin , 2018 Thesis, 2018

SUPERVISED: Farrell, Aaron, Male Students and Deaf Studies: An Exploration of Gender and Career Choice within the Irish Deaf Community, Trinity College Dublin , 2018 Thesis, 2018

CO-SUPERVISED: Kelly, Vanessa, Continuous Professional Development for Sign Language Interpreters in Ireland, Trinity College Dublin , 2017 Thesis, 2017

CO-SUPERVISED: Parkinson, Shelley, An Examination of When ISL/English Interpreters Choose to Employ Constructed Dialogue in Order to Reflect Empathy, Trinity College Dublin , 2017 Thesis, 2017

CO--SUPERVISED: O'Donnell, Joanne, An Exploration into how Interpreters Cope when Interpreting Metaphorical Language within a Political Inaugural Speech from English into Irish Sign Language, Trinity College Dublin, 2017 Thesis, 2017

CO-SUPERVISED: Privett, Kate, Provision of Irish Sign Language Interpreters during National Weather Emergency Broadcasts : A Case Study, Trinity College Dublin , 2017 Thesis, 2017

Co-SUPERVISED: O'Neill, Abbie, Do Irish Healthcare Staff Serve the Deaf Community based on the HSE Guidelines for Provision of Sign Language Interpreters, Trinity College Dublin , 2017 Thesis, 2017

SUPERVISED: Caroline McGrotty, Quality of Irish Sign Language Interpretation in Higher Education in Ireland., Trinity College Dublin , 2016 Thesis, 2016

CO-SUPERVISING: Ploss, Jessica, Bimodal Language Learning: Reflections on the effects of learning more than one sign language, Trinity College Dublin, 2016 Thesis, 2016

Sarah Sheridan, Amanda Mohan , ISL/English Interpreting in Ireland, SIGNALL 3 Seminar: Lecturer & Student Presentations , KU Leuven, Antwerp, Belgium, 1st March, 2012 Invited Talk, 2012

Research Expertise

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

Keywords

Applied Linguistics; Deaf Studies; Educational Psychology; Intercultural Studies; Irish Sign Language; Second language acquisition; sign language interpreting; signed language teaching and learning; Social Psychology; SOCIOLINGUISTICS; Teaching and learning

Recognition

Representations

A member of the Scientific Committee for EFLSLI2022: The European Forum of Sign Language Interpreter Annual Conference. Manchester, U.K., September 2022. 2022

External Examiner for the BA and MA sign language interpreting programmes at the University of Wolverhampton 2021 - Present

External Examiner - Queens University Belfast, Masters in Interpreting 2013

Member of the Deaf Education Partnership Group 2019 - Present

Board Member - Sign Language Interpreting Service 2013 - 2016

Committee Member of the Council of Irish Sign Language Interpreters 2011-2013

Awards and Honours

Teaching Hero Award - National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in collaboration with the Union of Students in Ireland 2021

Special Commendation, Thesis in Three, EUROMEC SUMMER SCHOOL, Trinity College Dublin 2017

Selected by Léargas to attend an expert workshop on Promoting Excellence in Language at the European Centre for Modern Languages (Graz, Austria) 2017

Memberships

Council of Irish Sign Language Interpreters 2011 – Present

European Forum of Sign Language Interpreters 2012 – Present

Irish Association of Applied Linguistics 2015 – Present

International Association for the Psychology of Language Learning 2018 – Present

European Second Language Association 2019 – Present