Language Policy and Planning for Sign Languages

1st Edition

By Timothy G. Reagan

Categories: Linguistics
Series: Sociolinguistics in Deaf Communities
Imprint: Gallaudet University Press
Hardcover : 9781563684623, 270 pages, November 2010
Ebook : 9781563684630, 296 pages, September 2014
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The sixteenth volume in the Sociolinguistics in Deaf Communities series provides both knowledgeable language policymakers and sign language experts the information and means to apply their expertise jointly for future language planning for sign languages.

 
 

Description

This volume addresses the burgeoning need for language policy and language planning for the sign languages used by deaf people. Author Timothy Reagan writes for two audiences in his new book, those who know language policy and language planning but not the Deaf World, and those well-versed in the Deaf cultural community but unfamiliar with language planning studies. To begin, Chapter 1 presents an overview of the Deaf World and a brief introduction to sign language in general. The second chapter outlines a broad overview of language policy and language planning studies both as an academic discipline and an applied type of social engineering.

     In Chapter 3, Reagan examines the specifics of American Sign Language in terms of the history of language policy and planning from the nineteenth century to the post-Congress of Milan period and its form in recent years. The fourth chapter critically examines the creation of manual codes used in deaf education in the U.S. and elsewhere. Chapter 5 analyzes language policy and planning in settings around the world, and the final chapter recommends steps and methods for future language policy and planning efforts for sign language. The cohesive rationale offered in Language Policy and Planning for Sign Languages will prove to be invaluable to all administrators and educators working with populations that use sign languages.

 

Timothy G. Reagan Dean of the Graduate School of Education at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan.