How linguistics facilitates social development; A case study on sign language

For centuries, attitudes towards deaf people were far from encouraging. Their civil rights were denied and they were seen as members of a deprived community. As such, in almost all societies, deaf children did not have any chance to attend schools, and therefore, unprepared to communicate with normal individuals, they were pushed to the margins of societies. Regardless of some tentative attempts, the first systematic step in educating deaf children was taken by Abbe de L Epee in 18th century. After many decades of controversy over methods such as oralism and American Sign Language (ASL), it was accepted that the latter along with similar counterparts was the best communicative medium for deaf persons. In 1960, William Stokoe claimed that ASL was a genuine language with a unique syntax, giving an approval to acknowledge ASL as a national language in the US. The subsequent measures to teach and promote ASL, British Sign Language, French Sign Language, etc. have been encouraged by scholars mostly involved in language studies. Thanks to these studies, today almost all textbooks on linguistics dedicate a chapter or at least a section to describe sign language and its similarities to human natural speech. Likewise, academic and public centers publish specialized educational packages to turn deaf people to signers. In is believed that due to these theoretical and practical activities, deaf persons are no longer underprivileged. They attend special (and sometimes ordinary) schools and universities, compete with other individuals to fill in job vacancies, participate in many social events, to name a few. In sum, they are now regarded as normal citizens enjoying just a different mode of communication. In this article, I would like to argue that recognition of deaf persons as usual citizens is a significant stage in social development, a stage which is mainly facilitated by linguists.

کلیدواژه ها:

deaf person ، sign language ، linguistics ، social development