Sign and School

Abstract

When our international collection of papers on the status of signing in school was published in 1987, we believed we were in transition in the UK. The discovery of sign languages and their validation by linguists, had provided the base for the implementation which the deaf community had requested. Deaf children ought to have sign language as their language of interaction and instruction. The collection highlighted forward thinking but also showed that different countries were at different stages of their journey. In this contribution, we reflect on the knowledge we had then, the discoveries since, and ask the question: is it now the norm that deaf children, from the earliest of age, have access to sign language (in our case, British Sign Language), and can we describe the evidence that says this is working to produce more adjusted and effective citizens? We look beyond the simple question to consider whether the bilingualism we have been advocating is one-sided and does not produce a change in attitude for the majority society. In effect, if deaf people become bilingual, does it allow society to remain monolingual and to avoid engagement with the deaf view of life and society? And finally, the paper asks: what will be hearing loss or/and hearing enhancement in future?