Tove Skutnabb Kangas Bilingual Education and Sign Language as the Mother Tongue of Deaf Children

8/13/2019 Tove Skutnabb Kangas Bilingual Education and Sign Language as the Mother Tongue of Deaf Children

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Bilingual education and Signlanguage as the mother tongue

of Deaf children

TOVE SKUTNABB-KANGAS

University of Roskilde, Denmark, and

bo Akademi University, Vasa, Finlandwww.Tove-Skutnabb-Kangas.org

[email protected]
http://www.tove-skutnabb-kangas.org/http://www.tove-skutnabb-kangas.org/


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List of contents 1

1. The future of languages?

2. Why have languages become extinct or seriouslyendangered? Old ideologies of homogenisation as aroad to unity and prevention of disintegration?

3. Agentless neo-imperialistic control as acontext for Linguistic Human Rights

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List of contents 1


2. Why have languages become extinct or seriouslyendangered? Old ideologies of homogenisation as aroad to unity and prevention of disintegration?


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Over half of the worlds

languages are IndigenousOf the worlds almost 7,000

spoken languages (theEthnologue, 15th edition) atleast some 4,500 areIndigenous (Oviedo & Maffi2000; Terralingua,

www.terralin ua.or5
http://www.terralingua.org/http://www.terralingua.org/http://www.terralingua.org/http://www.terralingua.org/


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http://www.terralingua.org/http://www.terralingua.org/


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Endangered languages 1

Over 50% of the worlds almost7000 languages are endangered

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96% of the world's 6000 languagesare spoken by 4% of the world's

population. 90% of the world's languages are notrepresented on the Internet.

One language disappears on averageevery two weeks. 80% of the African languages have n

orthography (UNESCO).8


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If 90-95% of the worlds languages disappearbefore 2100, most Indigenous languages will go

There may be only 300 to 600 oral languages left in

2100 as unthreatened languages, transmitted by the

parent generation to children. These would probably

include most of those languages that today have more

than one million speakers, and a few others. Almost all

languages to disappear would be Indigenous, and most

of todays Indigenous languages would disappear, withthe exception of very few that are strong numerically

(e.g., Quechua, Aymara, Bodo, Mapuche) and/or have

official status (e.g., M!ori, some Saami languages).

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What about Sign languages? How many Sign languages arethere?

What is their future?

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The future of Si n lan ua es? 1

How many Sign languages are there NOBODY KNOWS!!!!!

The World Federation of the Deafs Fact Sheet on Signlanguage(s) does not mention any figures:http://www.wfdeaf.org/documents.html- it only says(downloaded 18 June 2007):

There are currently about 4,000 recorded spoken/written languages in the world if more countriesrecognise sign languages as well, this number would goup dramatically.

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The future of Sign languages? 2Sadly, there are several errors in this sentence.

Firstly, the number of recorded spoken/writtenlanguages (provided the WFD means spokenlanguages, regardless of whether they are written

or not, and all are not) is almost 7,000 (see above),not 4,000 (and there are 114 Sign languagesincluded).Secondly, each country that has so far recognised

sign languages, has recognised one and oneonly. Since there are somewhat over 200 states inthe world, the number of the worlds languages

would not go up by more than around 100 more.13


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The future of Sign languages? 3

In fact, there may be as many Signlanguages as spoken languages in theworld. Every society has deaf people,

and they have developed sign languageseverywhere, with many dialects.When Deaf organisations become

stronger, maybe we learn how manySign languages there are unless mostof them are extinct at that point.

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What is happening to Signlanguages?Many of them are disappearing,and we can predict that there willbe even fewer Sign languages

left than spoken languagesaround the year 2100.

Why? 15


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The future of Sign languages? 5There are two main reasons and both are,paradoxically, connected to more rights toDeaf people

1. States grant rights to only ONE Signlanguage, if at all. The other Signlanguages may disappear.

2. If cochlear implants are usedsubtractively, instead of in addition toSign languages, Sign languages may

disappear.16


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Sign languages recognized in theConstitution, according to the WorldFederation of the Deaf, are

Brazil, Czech Republic, Ecuador,Finland, New Zealand, Portugal, South

Africa and Uganda

(Fact Sheet on Sign language(s): http://www.wfdeaf.org/documents.html,downloaded 18 June 2007).

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There is, (ibid.) some recognition in terms oflegislation and/or policy in the followingadditional countries: Australia, Belarus,Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia,

Cyprus, Denmark, France, some German

states (Lnder), Greece, Iceland, Iran,

Latvia, Lithuania, Mozambique, Romania,

Russian Federation, Slovak Republic,Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland,

Thailand, USA, Uruguay andZimbabwe.

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The Sign language is, in addition,

officially recognised by thegovernment in the United

Kingdom, Cuba andMauritius.

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There is thus some kind of

recognition of Signlanguages in alltogether 38

states, i.e. fewer than 20%of the worlds states.

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Japan is not on the list.Is this correct?If so, what are you doing about it?

Languages that are completelyinvisible are not going to make it.Is your school a first positive sign

towards formal recognition of Signlanguages in Japan? Or are there otherstoo?

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The second reason for Sign languagesdisappearing is cochlear implants. Users ofcochlear implants should obviously in most

cases be granted the same right to learn anduse Sign languages as non-users of implants.Cochlear implants are probably good if they

are additive (used in addition to Signlanguages) but can be disastrous if they aresubtractive, used instead of Sign languages.

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The future of Sign languages? 12Cochlear implants cannot replaceSign languages if we want Deaf

people to have LHRs.

Unfortunately there is a lot ofwrong information around whichtries to convince people that implant

users do not need Sign languages.But implants do not change Deaf

children into hearing children.

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List of contents 1


2. Why have languages become extinct or seriouslyendangered? Old ideologies of homogenisation as a

road to unity and prevention of disintegration?


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The old false claim: linguistic assimilationfurthers integration of a state through acommon language. LHRs prevent it.!Many of the fears that prevent states from

guaranteeing LHRs originate from the old falseclaimthat granting LHRsand thus maintaininglinguistic diversity will preventthe integrationofa state through a common language.

!A special type of language policy goal, namelylinguistic assimilationof minorities, is said to

furtherthis integration.25


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"the indivisible integrity of thestate with its territory and nation"

The Turkish Constitutions have

since the 1920s, Mustafa Kemal's(Atatrk's) times stressed "the

indivisible integrity of the state

with its territory and nation".

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Old ideologies of homogenisation as a road to

unity and prevention of disintegration 1

Language is one of the essentialcharacteristics of a nation. Those who

belong to the Turkish nation ought, above all

and absolutely, to speak Turkish. [] Thosepeople who speak another language could,in a difficult situation, collaborate and take

action against us with other people whospeak other languages (Mustafa Kemal,Atatrk, 1931).

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Old ideologies of homogenisation as a road to

unity and prevention of disintegration 2

The USA president Theodore Roosevelt expressedin 1919, three days before his death, sentiments

similar to Atatrks, in a letter to the next

president.

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Old ideologies die hard...

Turkey still sees any official use of Kurdish asa threat to this unity - it is legally forbidden to

use Kurdish as a teaching language or to teachit as a subject in schools.

The attempts in the USA to make English the

only official language and to ban the use of

other languages from schools as much as

possible speak to the same (unfounded) fears.

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Nice phrases - and assimilation

There are thousands of examples of similar quotesfrom the 1860s onwards all over the world.

The question is: why do these attitudes still linger on,

under all the nice phrases about linguistic andcultural diversity?

Can one see them in the relative lack of funds andrights for educational programmes using Indigenousand minority childrens (including Deaf childrens)mother tongues as the main teaching languages??

Even in the best of situations?31

A global phenomenon:


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A global phenomenon:Subtractive assimilation still mostly requiredfrom Indigenous peoples for full human rights

In India the term backward tribes is still in officialuse - they are backward until they are subtractively

assimilated. The phenomenon is global: assimilationthrough linguistic genocide is in many cases stillrequired from Indigenous peoples and minorities forfull linguistic and other human rights.

See Skutnabb-Kangas 2000. See also http://www.samiskhs.no/eng/ToveSkutnabbKangas.htm for some

literature.32
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Deaf education? 1

Is this true for Deaf people too? Ofcourse.

All education based on orality only,

education that forbids the use ofSign languages, all education of theDeaf which does not use a Sign

language as the main teachinglanguage, is subtractively

assimilationist.34


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Deaf education? 2

Even education where the use of Signlanguage is allowed informally, andeven if Sign language is taught as a

subject but is not the main teachinglanguage, is subtractivelyassimilationist.

It tries to replace the Deaf childrensmother tongue, a Sign language, with aspoken language, and make Deaf

children as much like hearing children35

f d i


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Deaf education? 3

Cochlear implants can do this too, ifthey are used insteadof teachingthrough Sign language. If cochlear

implants are used in an additiveway,in addition to teaching the childrengood Sign language skills, using Signlanguage as the main teachinglanguage, then they can be useful for

many children.36

f d i


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Deaf education? 4

Subtractive assimilationist

teaching of Deaf children islinguistic genocide, and

does not respect childrenslinguistic human rights.

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The role of human rights? 1

If we want Deaf children to be able to develop theircapacities fully, what role can human rights play?

For most Indigenous peoples and Deaf people,political, economic and social rightsare extremelyimportant. They are weak or lacking today. Theirachievement often seems to be the first priority.It might seem for some that linguistichuman rights

and other culturalrights come only AFTER basicmaterial needs have been satisfied at least to someextent. The two types of right are often, erroneously,seen as exclusive.

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h l f h i h ? 2


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The role of human ri hts? 2

In fact, LHRs are a necessary prerequisite for bothdemanding and enjoying all the other rights.Understanding and analysing the connectionsbetween language, culture, ethnicity, identity, land

and water, philosophy of life, presupposes language -ones own language, as well as other languages.

Without analysis and understanding, planning

strategies and action may be futile or take a directionleading to assimilation.

The vogue denying the connections and belittling therole HRs and especially LHRs is destructive.

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Hearing people helping the Deaf

There has been and is stillmassive paternalism towardsthe Deaf they are often seenas helpless victims, and inneed of help from hearing

people (rather than justice andhuman rights).

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Not helpless victims but actors

I see the Deaf as active agents in their own lives, inthe sense of the British sociologist AnthonyGiddens: Actors are knowledgeable andcompetent agents who reflexively monitor their

action.In other words, speakers of languages that aresubject to linguistic imperialism are not helpless

victims, but are in a more complex relationshipwith the forces propelling a dominant languageforward, at the cost of a dominated language(Phillipson, in press).

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Glorification, stigmatisation, rationalisation 1

But actors can also act in ways, which may beharmful to them. Some of the help that Deafpeople got earlier from hearing people can beidentified as part of patriarchal control: the hearingpeople claimed that they knew best what was goodfor the Deaf.At the same time as this help was given, it also

hierarchised the hearing and the Deaf. In order tohelp somebody, you first have to create the onesyou are helping as helpless (see Gronemeyer 1992),meaning weaker and less OK than you yourself.

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Glorification, stigmatisation, rationalisation 2

Speakers of the dominated languages can becomecomplicit in the weakening of their own languageswhen they accept/receive this help. This hashappened and may still happen through threeprocesses: glorification, stigmatization andrationalization. Through the processes ofglorification, the dominant language (what it is,

has and does for you) is made to seem modernand useful. Through stigmatising the dominatedlanguage, it is made to seem backward and useless.

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Glorification, stigmatisation, rationalisation 3Rationalising the relationship between them makes

leaving the dominated language behind and learning thedominant language at the cost of it, subtractively, seemboth good, and the only possibility (either/or). Andthose who help you in this analysis, are then made to

seem as if they are doing something good for thedominated group (see Skutnabb-Kangas 2000).

This was how Deaf people were and often still are made to believe that orality was best for them and that

learning and using Sign language was not useful andcould even be harmful, and that in any case Signlanguages were not real languages and not fit for beingused as teachin lan ua es in schools.

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Li i ti i i li t f d


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Linguistic imperialism as part of modern

agentless neoimperialistic control? 3

This modern agentless neoimperialist controlcreates subjectivities FOR Indigenous peoplesand minorities that divide them, so that those

who support the revival of old traditions andphilosophies of life, the reversal of languageshift, and revitalisation of languages and cultures

are constructed as anti-modern, backword, whilethose who are constructed as modern are theones despisingthe linguistic maintenance of thegroup and seeing mother-tongue-based multilingual

education as romantic but unrealistic.46



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There might be similarprocesses going on in relation tothe Deaf, both vis--viscochlear implants and education

through the medium of Signlanguages.

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In fact, of course, what the modern world needs is

exactly those philosophies of life and traditionsand cultures and knowledges that Indigenouas

peoples may still have, philosophies of life

which (without romanticising them asrepresenting noble ecological savages) have

many of the keys to sustainable, holistic life.

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The context of Linguistic Human Rights

This agentless neoimperialistic control is the contextwithin which I look at (the lack of) linguistic humanrights, especially in education. I claim that demandsfor LHRs must be based on historical and present-day

analysis of why languages need regenesis in the firstplace and what kind of structures, ideologies andpractices keep them down. The analysis must also lookinto the future (what are the alternative scenarios) and

plan arguments and strategies accordingly."I also claim that if more and proper rights are granted

NOW, it saves the state from later court cases and largecompensations. Thus it is also in the interest of states togrant proper Human Rights NOW.

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Li t f t t 2


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List of contents 2

4. Who/what can have language-related rights?

Termsusedwhen rights are granted: own

language, minority language, mother tongue5. Definitions of mother tongue - can one have amother tongue that one does not know?

6. Compensation for loss of the mother tongue?7. Concluding remarks

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Wh h t h i ht ?


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Who or what can have rights?

Individuals, collectivities, or languages 1

Languagesthemselves may have rights to beused, developed and maintained.

Alternatively, individualsor collectivitiesofpeople (individuals, groups, peoples,

organizations, or states)may have rights to use,develop and maintain languages or duties to enablethe use, development or maintenance of them.

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Wh h t h i ht ?


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Who or what can have rights?

Beneficiaries?

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Childgrants rights to the individualchild.

Council of EuropesFramework Convention on theProtection of NationalMinoritiesgrants rights to(national) minorities, i.e. groups/collectivities.

Council of EuropesEuropean Charter on Regionalor MinorityLanguagesgrants rights to languages,not speakers of the languagesconcerned.

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Terms for beneficiaries?

But if we want to look at to what extent theexisting fairly few binding rights

can be and are being applied to Sign languagesand their users, we need to examine what theterms used in various HRs instruments are when

individuals or collectivities or languages arebeing granted rights? Are they defined, and ifso, how?

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Whi h l ? T d h i h d


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Which language? Terms used when rights are granted:own language, minority language, mother tongue 1

What are the terms used in various HRs instrumentswhen individuals or collectivities or languages arebeing granted rights? Are they defined? How? Some

examples:

UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

(ICCPR), Article 27 http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_cescr.htm

In those states in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minoritiesexist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be deniedthe right, in community with other members of their group, toenjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own

religion, or to use their own language(emphasis added).54
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_cescr.htmhttp://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_cescr.htmhttp://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_cescr.htmhttp://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_cescr.htm


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Whi h l ? T d h i ht t d
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UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belongingto National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic

Minorities, 1992, Art. 4.3.:

www2.ohchr.org/english/law/minorities.htmStates shouldtake appropriatemeasures so that,

wherever possible, persons belonging to minoritieshave adequateopportunities to learn their mothertongueorto have instruction in their mother tongue(emphases added).

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Whi h l ? T d h i ht t d
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The Framework Convention on the Protection of National

Minorities, 1998 http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/157.htm, Art. 10.2:

In areas inhabited by persons belonging to nationalminorities traditionally or in substantial numbers, if there issufficient demand, the parties shall endeavourto ensure, as

far as possibleand within the framework of their educationsystems, that persons belonging to those minorities haveadequateopportunitiesfor being taught in the minoritylanguageorfor receiving instruction in this language

(emphases added).58
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The most often used terms are

their own languagetheir own indigenouslanguage

their mother tongue

the minority language 60


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These terms are not defined

legally in the human rightsinstruments (except when

immigrant languages ordialects are excluded from

minority languages).We need to define them.

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List of contents 2


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List of contents 2

4. Who/what can have language-related rights?Termsused when rights are granted: own language,

minority language, mother tongue5. Definitions of mother tongue - can one have

a mother tongue that one does not know?


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Definitions of mother tongue


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Criterion Definition

ORIGIN The language learned first

IDENTIFI-

CATIONa. Internal (own)

b. External (byothers)

a. The language one identifies with

b. The language one is identified asa native speaker of by others

Competence The language one knows best

Function The language one uses most

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Mother tongue of linguistic


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majorities

For linguistic majorities (e.g. speakersof Japanese in Japan) all the

definitions usually converge. Theyhave learned Japanese first, they

identify with Japanese, are identified

by others as native speakers ofJapanese, know Japanese best and use

Japanese most.64

A combination of all can be used


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A combination of all can be used



IDENTIFI-







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g g

minorities 1

If linguistic minorities live and work wherethe majority language dominates, the

majority language mostly becomes their

most used language in most formaldomains and often also informally.

Therefore it is not fair to use a mother

tongue definition by function - they havenot chosen freely to use the majority

language most.

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Wh t d f i h ?


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What does fair mean here?

The expression not fair here means thatthe definition does not respect linguistichuman rights, and here especially the right to

choose freely what ones mother tongue is.The red in the next Table thus shows that weexclude the mother tongue definition by

function using it would not show respectfor the LHRs of linguistic minorities.

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IDENTIFI-







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g g

minorities 2

If linguistic minorities get their education insubmersion programmes (through the

medium of the majority language), the

majority language often becomes thelanguage they know best in most more

formal domains.

Therefore it is not fair to use a mothertongue definition by competence either.

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IDENTIFI-







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IDENTIFI-







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If the forcible assimilation has

happened already for the parent orgrandparent generation, it is not fair

to use a mother tongue definition byorigin either, because the parents have

not spoken (or have not been able to

speak) the mother tongue (e.g. Ainu,Saami or Maliseet) to the children.

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g



IDENTIFI-


b. External (by

others)





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In this case a mother tongue

definition by internal identification

can be the only possible fairdefinition.

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g



IDENTIFI-







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Another important exception is the


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Another important exception is the

Deaf. 90-95% of Deaf children are

born to hearing parents. If thechildren were to get a good education,

they would learn Sign language earlyon, and get most of their education

through a Sign language.

In this case, children and parents do

not have the same mother tongue.78


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For most Deaf children the most fair

mother tongue definition is:The language that they identify with

(often, at least later on, also incombination with an external

identification: the language that they

are being identified as native speakersof by others).

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For Deaf children a Sign language is


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For Deaf children, a Sign language is

the only language that they can

express themselves fully in. Theycannot do this in any spoken

language, except in writing. Thereforewe can, for them, also add a modified

definition by competence: The

mother tongue is the language thatthey identify with and that they can

express themselves fully in.80



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g



IDENTIFI-




b. The language one is identified as

a native speaker of by others

Competence The language one can express

oneself best in


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But if the child is unfortunate?


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But if the child is unfortunate?

But what if a Deaf child (or an Indigenouschild) is NOT one of those fortunate oneswhere parents have used the mother

tongue by identification from the verybeginning, and where the child has hadmost of her education through this

mother tongue. What if the child does notknow the mother tongue by internalidentification?

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M l i i


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My claim is:

It is possible to identify with a language

that one does not know.

It is possible to have a mother tongue that

one does not have (any or full)

competence in.

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It is possible to identify with a language that


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It is possible to identify with a language that

one does not know.

It is possible to have a mother tongue that onedoes not have (any or full) competence in.

If this were to be accepted in international law(and it has not yet been tried in court), those

few rights that exist to mother tongue medium

education and to learning the mother tongue as

a subject, would also apply to Indigenous

children in various revitalisation programmes,

and to Deaf children.

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Conclusion for regenesis


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g

When forcible assimilation has led to a language

being seriously endangered (dying, moribund,in need of revival) or neglected (endangered, inneed of revitalisation), the strategy could (should?)

be to use ONLY a mother tongue definition by

internal identification, when demanding fullLinguistic Human Rights for individuals andcollectivities, regardless of whether the individuals

are receptive or productive users or non-users. The same might apply to Deaf children.

At the same time, claims for compensation formother tongue loss should be raised in courts.85

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List of contents 2


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List of contents 2

4. Who/what can have language-related rights?Termsused when rights are granted: own language,

minority language, mother tongue5. Definitions of mother tongue - can one have amother tongue that one does not know?


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Some examples of court cases

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Compensation for loss of mother


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tongue? 1

Some residential school victims may eventually recoverdamage awards for their language loss.

(Cloud v. Canada (Attorney General) [2005] 1 C.N.L.R.8). The court case still continues - it started in 1992.

Quoted in Leitch, David (2005). Canadas NativeLanguages: Wrongs from the Past, Rights for the Future.

Paper given at the conference First Nations, First

Thoughts, University of Edinburgh, Centre of Canadian

Studies, 5-6 May 2005. Available at www.cst.edu.ac.uk/2005conference/archiveA-M.html

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Compensation for loss of mother
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tongue? 2

(Cloud v. Canada (Attorney General) 65 O.R. (3d) 492

[2003] O.J. No. 2698

Court File No.1267

Ontario Superior Court of Justice

Divisional Court

Gravely, Valin and Cullity JJ.

June 23, 2003. http://www.turtleisland.org/news/cloud2.htm

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Canadian $1.9-billion court settlement 2006 onid ti l h l i ll t d t
http://www.turtleisland.org/news/cloud2.htmhttp://www.turtleisland.org/news/cloud2.htmhttp://www.turtleisland.org/news/cloud2.htmhttp://www.turtleisland.org/news/cloud2.htmhttp://www.turtleisland.org/news/cloud2.htmhttp://www.turtleisland.org/news/cloud2.htmhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginal


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residential schools recognizes: allstudents

suffered throughloss of culture and language

Residential schools were originally an extension of the missionary workof European religious settlers who sought to convert aboriginals toChristianity. The federal government became involved in joint ventures

with the churches in 1874 and took over the schools completely in 1969.The last residential school closed in 1996.

While specific lawsuits dealing with sexual and physical abuse continue,the $1.9-billion settlement recognizes that all students suffered through

loss of culture and language and by being forcibly removed from theirhomes to live at the schools. The $1.9-billion settlement was officiallyapproved by the courts last month.http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginal

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginalhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginalhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginalhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginalhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginalhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginalhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070102.NATIVESCHOOLS02/TPStory/?query=aboriginal


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Concluding remarks: summing up


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g g pIf more and proper rights are granted NOW, it saves

the state from later court cases and bigcompensations. Proper rights include really extensiverevitalisation programmes, even reversal, for thoseIndigenous peoples who have lost their mother

tongue. It should be accepted that where the parentsor grandparents have been forcibly assimilated andhave therefore not been able to speak the Indigenouslanguage, for instance Saami, to their children, Saamiis still the children's mother tongue if they identifywith it, even if they don't know the language.Therefore, people can demand that they have theright to mother tongue medium education in Saami.

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Concluding remarks


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g

There is still a gap between nice phrases andthe realities which are not so nice. Low-intensity warfare still prevails againstIndigenous peoples. It is succeeding, more or

less, all over the world, as also shown by thefate of the UN Declaration on the Rights ofIndigenous Peoples.But there is also new awareness, resistance,

and even emerging action, legal andeducational, that is succeeding.

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Indigenous peoples and minorities (including theD f) th l t b k t
http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml


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Deaf) themselves must be key actors

The Deaf should insist that Sign languages (with thepossible exception of ASL, American Sign Language)are endangered and should be included in all endangeredlanguages programmes. But this is obviously notenough. The Deaf must, just like Indigenous peoples,themselves be key actors. Despite a lot of knowledge andnegotiation skills, the Deaf did not, for instance, manage

to get nearly as much into the UN Convention on theRights of Persons with Disabilities as would be requiredfor proper education (http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml).

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Indigenous examples of civil society action
http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtmlhttp://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtmlhttp://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtmlhttp://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtmlhttp://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtmlhttp://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml


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In Orissa, India, a project has started where

Indigenous children from 10 groups ofpeoples will be instructed through the mediumof their mother tongues in 200 schools.(Contacts: professor Ajit Mohanty, dr.Mahendra Kumar Mishra)In Nepal, a project has started where allIndigenous children (around 100 groups) will

be instructed through their own languages(Contacts: dr. Lava Deo Awasthi, professorDavid Hough).There are many other examples in all parts of

the world, including all Americas.96

Will you start?


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Will you start?

I would like to see lists of all educationalprojects for/by both Indigenous peoples andthe Deaf on the web, with descriptions of

the set-up, strategies used to get started,results, and contact people. This would be astart. The Japanese project would be in a

good position to start such a website forDeaf education and Deaf Linguistic HumanRights Will you start?

Documents

Tove Skutnabb Kangas Bilingual Education and Sign Language as the Mother Tongue of Deaf Children