Diminishing linguistic diversity is a global problem. As concern over language endangerment has increased, so have calls for preservation and revitalization of threatened languages. Advancing linguistic study of endangered languages is critical, especially for sign languages, which are too often excluded from most discussions of language endangerment.
This project provides fellowships for six U.S. students to attend the prestigious 3L International Summer School in Language Documentation and Description (3LSS). Specialized courses on sign language documentation and description of endangered sign language varieties are a particular forte of 3LSS. In addition to encouraging better approaches to the study of endangered sign languages, this project also promotes equal opportunity and expands educational access for deaf students, a historically under-served minority, who bring special potential to the study of sign languages. At least half of the fellowships are dedicated to support U.S. deaf students to attend 3LSS, which will be held in the Netherlands (5-17 July 2010) at the University of Leiden.
Teaching and Learning Together about Language Endangerment: U.S.-Dutch, Deaf-Hearing Collaborative Education at the 2010 3L International Summer School in Language Documentation and Description by Dr. Angela M. Nonaka Department of Anthropology, University of Texas The 3L Summer School in Language Documentation and Description (3LSS) is designed to combat the problem of language loss and help address an alarming trend whereby at least 50% of the world’s remaining languages are at risk of disappearing within the next century. The workshop, which ran for two weeks in July 2010 at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, was made a success through considerable preparation for the event in the six months prior to its start. A key component of its mission was to encourage better approaches to the study of endangered sign languages, since until recently they were routinely ignored and excluded from language preservation and revitalization efforts, leaving significant gaps in knowledge about sign language typologies and in understandings of threats to sign language diversity. Building on scholarly collaborations and on the success of a previous NSF grant supporting student attendance at the 2009 3LSS in London, the principal investigator (PI), Dr. Angela M. Nonaka, was asked to apply for NSF support for student participation and was invited to teach at the 2010 3LSS. Her involvement in the summer school was a direct concrete outcome of new professional networking made possible by the joint ESF-NSF EuroBabel program, where she has served as a partner in the VillageSign project, which focuses on comparative study of 11 endangered village sign languages. In addition to helping reverse the trend of sign language exclusion and filling in the gaps in our collective knowledge of sign language endangerment and diversity, NSF support for the 2010 3LSS also promoted equal opportunity and expanded educational access for Deaf students, who are a historically under-served minority in the sciences and who bring special potential to the study of sign languages. Working with an international team of Deaf and hearing scholars, the PI helped secure fellowships for 5 qualified students to attend the 3LSS, with half dedicated to supporting Deaf students to ensure outreach to this historically under-represented minority. Gender equity also was promoted by the fellowship, since without it there would have been no Deaf female students. Representing a demographically diverse group of students, some of whom work with international organizations like the United Nations, World Bank, and World Federation of the Deaf, fellowship recipients were enabled to benefit from improved sign language courses co-taught by a team of scholars who actively modeled successful Deaf-hearing collaboration and its professional implications and applications. Offering hands-on training, the 2010 3LSS formal curriculum included two sign language classes, on sign language diversity, typology, and endangerment; and on advanced methods for sign language documentation. Through examination of endangered village sign languages and comparison with American Sign Language (ASL) and other national sign languages, the curriculum underscored the richness of diversity among signed languages and the critical importance of documenting that variation in the ethnolinguistic record. To also promote second language learning of ASL and provide non-signers the opportunity to imagine a fieldwork experience in an unfamiliar Deaf, signing environment, an informal short course introduction to ASL was offered each day during the lunch hour. During office hours, the PI further promoted outreach by providing one-on-one academic advising, including to non-NSF sponsored Deaf 3LSS students who were contemplating applying to graduate school. The project thus directly supported outreach and encouraged the participation of under-represented minorities in science while also enhancing public understanding of science. Of the 88 students attending, 22% enrolled in the two sign-language courses, and included 7 Deaf students with very diverse backgrounds and research interests, including Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, and North America. Having Deaf and hearing students learn alongside each other also facilitated productive interchanges between the two groups, stimulated wider interest in sign language linguistics, and encouraged new ways of approaching theoretical and technical issues related to the documentation and description of manual-visual languages. Extra-curricular activities, including a night of poetry ‘reading’ performed by famous Deaf actors invited to the 3LSS further introduced members of the Dutch Deaf community to scientific interest in sign language diversity and endangerment, while public awareness about language and science also was advanced among some Deaf participants who previously had no formal training in linguistics. The many activities conducted under this grant have directly promoted professional networking and constitute a foundation for future collaborative endeavors among students and faculty at the 3LSS, including the current development of prospective conference panels and co-publishing opportunities. Over time students’ pursuit of tertiary education and work in international development will amplify the outreach effects of the training received at the 2010 3L Summer School in Language Documentation and Description.
