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29 - Sign Language Standardization

from Part V - Standardization in Late Modernity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2021

By
Ronice Müller de Quadros  and
Christian Rathmann
Edited by
Wendy Ayres-Bennett  and
John Bellamy
Wendy Ayres-Bennett
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
John Bellamy
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

This chapter addresses issues related to sign language standardization, a topic that has been approached from many different perspectives. To some members of the Deaf communities, language standardization represents a form of outsider oppression meant to ‘fill in gaps’ with the establishment of a ‘standard’ sign language that is ‘more consistent’. In this sense, there is a resistance in some Deaf communities against dictionaries or glossaries proposed for educational purposes or for teaching sign language. On the other hand, others in the Deaf communities discuss how to standardize their language(s) considering different motivations that are more inclusive, such as the recognition of the diverse varieties of a sign language and how to deal with them. These points are discussed considering the complex factors that are involved in the tentative language standardization processes of sign languages in many different countries. We present and discuss the different experiences and motivations of various language planning projects that include proposals of sign language standardization. We conclude that a successful language standardization process needs to include Deaf professionals as the protagonists.

Keywords

sign languageslanguage standardizationlanguage promotionlanguage planningdeaf communitiesdeaf educationresistance
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Language Standardization , pp. 765 - 788
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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