Auslan Policy
Policy current from 25 April 1997
Preamble
This Policy takes in the areas previously covered by the Australian Association of the Deaf Policies on Auslan, Communication and the Education of the Deaf because the language of the Deaf Community is too all encompassing to be separated into separate areas.
Introduction
Sign Language is seen as the main distinguishing feature that defines a Deaf Community. The role of the Australian Association of the Deaf, with its objectives and Statement of Purposes is to enhance the status of Sign Language in Australian society. If Sign Language is rejected, the situation of Deaf people is weak and unequal. (WFD Manual 1994:41)
Auslan (Australian Sign Language) is the native language of many Deaf people who have Deaf parents and of many hearing children of Deaf parents. One research study has shown that there are almost 16,000 users of Australian Sign Language in Australia (Hyde & Power 1991) although the Association is of the view that there may be more. In addition, Auslan is the primary language of many Deaf people who do not have Deaf parents but have learnt Auslan later in their lives. Deaf people lead bilingual lives and use mostly Auslan as well as written and spoken English, with varying levels of competence in their everyday lives. Grosjean (1992) states that
The bilingualism present in the Deaf Community is a form of minority language bilingualism in which the members of a Deaf community acquire and use both the minority language (sign language) and the majority language in its written form and sometimes in its spoken or even signed form.
Deaf people should have the opportunity to contribute to all aspects of economic, educational and social life of Australian society through their native language, Auslan. In order to effectively accomplish this, a bilingual education in both Auslan and English is necessary. The Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities as produced by the United Nations draws attention to this by stating that:
In all societies of the world there are still obstacles preventing persons with disabilities from exercising their rights and freedoms and making it difficult for them to participate fully in the activities of their societies.
For many Deaf people who do not have access to all aspects of community life in Australian society, this is a reality. However, it is pointed out by the Standard Rules that it is:
the responsibility of States to take appropriate action to remove such obstacles and that consideration should be given to the use of sign language in the education of deaf children, in their families and communities. Sign language interpretation services should also be provided to facilitate the communication between deaf persons and others
Auslan as a Community Language
The Australian Government has recognised the Deaf Community as a language group:
It is now increasingly recognised that signing deaf people constitute a group like any other non-English speaking language group in Australia, with a distinct sub-culture recognised by shared history, social life and sense of identity, united and symbolised by fluency in Auslan, the principal means of communication within the Australian Deaf Community. (Dawkins 1991:20)
This means that Auslan is seen by the Australian Government as the language of a distinct linguistic minority group.
the recognition of Australian Sign Language. Auslan has been defined as a Community Language in the National Policy on Languages. The recognition of Auslan as a Community Language by State Government Departments is strongly supported by the Australian Association of the Deaf.
the continued recognition of Auslan as a Community Language and increased participation in Australian society of Deaf people through the use of interpreters and the provision of information in Auslan, live. in video and by mass media.
the Federal and State Governments of Australia to abolish any remaining obstacles to the use of sign language as the primary and everyday language of Deaf people.
the provision of information either directly or through an accredited Auslan interpreter at no cost to the Deaf person.
the abolition of any remaining obstacles to the use of sign language as the primary and everyday language of Deaf people.
Auslan as a language of Education
A cornerstone of the activities of the AAD is lobbying for the provision of bilingual education in Auslan and English for Deaf children and adults. Research has shown that Deaf people learn best through the use of sign language in education. As Australia is a multicultural but predominantly English speaking country with many Community Languages (one of which is Auslan), Deaf children must have the opportunity to learn both Auslan and English in order to have maximum opportunity for educational, social and emotional growth to take their place in a multilingual community. Research has even shown that children educated in bilingual environments perform better cognitively than their peers. In addition,
it is important that Deaf children and adolescents be given every opportunity to learn about the cultures they belong to (the Deaf culture primarily but also, to some extent, the hearing culture), that they be able to interact with these cultures and that they be able to go through the process of choosing the cultures or the culture they wish to identify with. It is the task of parents, family members, educators and members of the cultures involved to make sure this process takes place as early and as smoothly as possible. (Grosjean 1992)
- the right of Deaf children to have full early exposure to sign language and to be educated as bilinguals or multilinguals with regard to reading and writing.
- the recognition of Auslan, the sign language of the Australian Deaf Community as the first language of a Deaf child, which will ensure that Deaf children to acquire their first language with full fluency.
- the national sign language as the main language of instruction for academic subjects.
- the instruction in the national spoken and written language should occur separately but in parallel as is usual for other bilingual educational programs for other languages.
- the instruction of English occurs best in the written form. In order to teach and explain how to use and understand English, Auslan should be used as a teaching language. Deaf children should choose whether to learn the spoken form.
- the provision of sign language instruction for parents and professionals working with Deaf children
- Teachers of Deaf children to learn and use Auslan as the primary language of instruction.
owing to the particular communication needs of deaf/deaf blind persons, their education may be more suitably provided in schools for such persons or special classes and units in mainstream schools. At the initial stage, in particular, special attention needs to be focussed on culturally sensitive instruction that will result in effective communication skills and maximum independence for people who are deaf or deaf/blind.
An area that needs development is the training of Deaf people to be teachers of Deaf or hearing children. There is a paucity of this resource in many countries around the world and Dr Edward C. Merrill, a Past President of Gallaudet College (now University) in an address to the World Federation of the Deaf in 1976:
The deaf professional is an outstanding model for young deaf children and will, in all probability, be able to relate to and communicate with a deaf constituency much better than a hearing person.
- all efforts to ensure an increase in the number of Deaf teachers with suitable qualifications are to be encouraged.
- teacher training programs should have Auslan and Deaf Studies as an integral part of the course to enable both Deaf and hearing people to work in a bilingual environment.
- appropriately qualified Deaf people should be involved in teacher training and professional training to enable Auslan and Deaf culture to play a larger role in education.
- Integration in Deaf education is always seen as a controversial topic. In contrast to other children with disabilities, integration of Deaf people into society is seen as the World Federation of the Deaf as being best achieved by separate schools for the Deaf with Sign Language as the language of instruction and a subject to be taught.
- It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for a Deaf child to develop a strong self-image or self-esteem in a hearing group, to say nothing of learning. It is hard or impossible to identify oneself with hearing peers or teachers.
Service Providers
Deaf professionals are also required in different professions to provide services in different fields for Deaf people in their own language so that Deaf citizens may receive services as others do. The Australian Association of the Deaf recommends that:
- services be accessible for Deaf people in the area of through the services of appropriately qualified Deaf people.
- courses which train workers in the areas of mental health, aged care, social welfare advocacy and counselling become accessible to Deaf people.
- service providers recruit appropriately qualified Deaf people to work in the areas of.
Provision of Auslan teaching
The Australian Association of the Deaf believes that training programs are essential and that all Deaf and hearing individuals should have the opportunity to learn Auslan. in addition, Auslan is the second language of many Deaf people who do not acquire it spontaneously but through education.
- Deaf children.
- Deaf adults who are keen to study Auslan as an academic course of study.
- Deaf people with no prior knowledge of Auslan.
- Deafened and severely hard of hearing individuals with poor lipreading skills.
- parents, relatives and friends of Deaf children.
- professionals working with Deaf children and adults.
- teachers of the Deaf.
- school students, as a language other than English.
- Deaf-Blind people through specialised programmes.
Auslan training and research programmes.
For equal access to occur in the Australian Community, education, services and information must be provided in Auslan to the Australian Deaf Community. To enable this, appropriately accredited training programs are required for the training of people to become professions (teachers, service providers and Auslan interpreters amongst others). The Australian Association of the Deaf promotes:
- the training of qualified teachers to teach Auslan which includes academic courses from Universities, training seminars and workshops to train Deaf people to become qualified Auslan teachers.
- the provision of the teaching of Auslan as a community language at all levels in Education, in pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary (including Institutes of Technical and Further Education and Universities) sectors.
The teaching of Auslan must be closely linked with research programmes at appropriate institutions such as Universities, research institutes and educational institutions. These institutions should maintain close links with the Australian Association of the Deaf and the research that results from these activities should guide the teaching of sign language, the training of interpreters, and the training of parents and professionals. The Australian Association of the Deaf supports:
- increasing knowledge about Sign Language through scientific research, especially in the field of linguistics.
- the development and maintenance of sign language dictionaries for reference by Deaf people, Auslan students, teachers of Deaf people, sign language interpreters and other professionals who work closely with Deaf people.
- the employment of Deaf people who are fluent native users of Auslan who should also be recognised as the legitimate arbiters in the correct usage of Auslan and who should hold significant positions in research efforts.
- the provision of funds to enable the training of Deaf people to teach or carry out research in order to enable adequate research to occur.
the provision of funds to enable the training of sign language interpreters at tertiary institutions.
- the participation of Deaf people in national and international conferences concerning sign language and the dissemination of research findings which will inform Deaf people in other countries about research on their languages.
Auslan Interpreting
Interpreting between Auslan and English is an essential aspect in the life of the Deaf Community and enables equal participation by Deaf persons in the wider community. Often it is the Deaf person’s principal means by which they access the wider community in which they live. To enable a satisfactory level of access to interpreting services, the provision of training programs in sign language interpreting is seen as vital by the Australian Association of the Deaf. The Australian Association of the Deaf believes:
- that sign language interpreting is a highly skilled profession and which requires funds for appropriate training programmes.
- sign language interpreting is an area of sign language linguistics that has not sufficiently been researched in the past and that research in this area is a matter of priority.
- in a strong relationship with the Australian Sign Language Interpreters Association (ASLIA) and that communication and consultation between the AAD and ASLIA must occur regularly at a high level.
- that interpreters must be appropriately trained and accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters at Paraprofessional, Professional and Conference Levels.
- that interpreters are bound by the Code of Ethics.
Auslan and the Media
Citizens of Australia receive much of the information about their community through the mass media which is largely in a spoken or written language. This excludes Deaf people from access to the Australian media in their native language. The Association aims to continue its lobbying efforts for the increased hours of captioning in addition to this.
- initiatives should be taken by broadcasting authorities to include translation of television programmes such as news, programmes of political interest and programs of cultural or general interest, into Auslan.
- sign language programmes should be targeted at Deaf adults and children as well as sign language students.
- written materials such as news, programmes of political interest and programs of cultural or general interest should be translated into Auslan and made available in video form.
- any Deaf literature, poetry or artistic form should be available to the wider community through TV or video.
Strengthening the status of Auslan
- raise the profile of the Australian Deaf Community and its language, Auslan.
- continue to lobby Federal and State Governments as well as non-government organisation in order to achieve full equality for Deaf people in the Australian Community.
References
Dawkins, J (1991). Australia's Language: The Australian Language and Literacy Policy. Australian Government Printing Service: Canberra.
Grosjean, F. (1992) The Bilingual and the Bicultural person in the Hearing and in the Deaf World. In Sign Language Studies, Winter 1992
Hyde, M. and Power, D. (1991) The Use of Australian Sign Language by Deaf People. Research Report No. 1 Griffith University Centre for Deafness Studies and Research: Brisbane.
Moustgaard, R (1994). World Federation of the Deaf Manual on how to establish and run an organisation of the Deaf. World Federation of the Deaf: Finland.
Report on the Status of Sign Language. (1993). World Federation of the Deaf, Finland
The British Deaf Association's Education Policy (1984) British Deaf Association: London
The Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (1993): United Nations: New York
WFD News, December 1991: World Federation of the Deaf, Finland
WFD News, December 1993: World Federation of the Deaf, Finland
WFD News, November 1995: World Federation of the Deaf, Finland
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