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No 10 - Norwegian sign language as an official language

by Grete Bergh

A summary

In 2003, the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs commissioned the Norwegian Archive, Library and Museum Authority (ABM-utvikling) to consider whether Norwegian sign language should be introduced as an official language in Norway.  The resulting report, presented here as a part of ABM-utvikling’s Publication Series, provides a broad introduction to the status of sign language both in Norway and abroad.  The report concludes with the recommendation that a law be drafted to accord Norwegian sign language the status as an official language in Norway.

The commission carried the following mandate: “Phase 1 of the evaluation should define the parameters of the project, identify who constitute the Deaf community, establish contact with relevant specialist organisations, national Deaf associations and their officials, andset out the problems that require clarification and indicate the range of solutions that are available.  The evaluation should contain information concerning the relevant legislation both in Norway and in other countries as appropriate.  Phase 1 of the project shall conclude with the presentation of a report”.

The mandate follows on from the approach by the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs to ABM-utvikling, commissioning a report on the evaluation of sign language as an official language, and also a letter from the Norwegian Association of the Deaf of 2001, containing a resolution demanding “The right to sign language”. 

The subject has proved to span a very wide field, possibly several fields, and thus the report has had to limit itself by selecting particular problem areas relating to the Deaf and sign language, a selection which in itself has proved to be a challenge.  Since the main task of the commission relates to sign language, the main focus of the report is on Deaf people who communicate in this manner.  Issues relating to the degree of deafness and the consideration of the needs of the severely Hearing Impaired, who may also benefit from sign language, have not been elaborated in the report. 

Some new issues have been raised by recent technological advances in the form of cochlea implants; in the future those born deaf or deaf-blind may not remain deaf as the term is understood today.  Most of those who will undergo the operation are likely to remain hearing impaired, which will both create opportunities and raise new challenges.  This is an area where much research is currently being carried out in the sciences of technology, language and teaching.  Wide discussions are taking place amongst researchers and specialists in their fields, exchanges that are often marked by sharp differences of view.  A short chapter in the report looks at some of these developments.

The topics selected for a more thorough discussion in the report have been chosen in order to highlight the fact that sign language is the first language for the Deaf, and is their language for education and communication for daily life and for culture.  The report also looks at some issues of rights in relation to language.

Source materials have in large measure consisted of public statements and various research papers that discuss questions relating to the Deaf community and sign language.  Information about the status of sign language has been obtained by looking at ongoing projects and recent resolutions passed by both European and Nordic organisations. Sign languages are achieving recognition as official languages in several countries, the latest of which are Belgium and New Zealand, where resolutions to this end were enacted during Autumn 2003.

There is nowadays a desire to see the lowering of barriers around those who are suffering a disability.  The report provides definitions of some of the concepts connected with Hearing Impaired or Deaf people, and looks at the numbers of individuals who belong to the groups.  There are also new challenges associated with Hearing Impaired or Deaf people who come from an ethnic minority background.

The report discusses the question of whether Deaf people should be seen as disabled, as forming a language minority group, or both.  Our society has undergone a change from the time when the Deaf were regarded as being disabled, towards a tendency today of a more differentiated view, where those with a physical handicap are perceived in relation to the limitations that are inherent in our society. The perceptions held of Deaf people are closely linked with the acceptance of sign language as a language fully equal to the spoken language.  An important factor is also that language creates identity.

Chapter 5 of the report deals with sign language, primarily Norwegian sign language, in different contexts. It looks at sign language for direct communication and as a language for learning, including a discussion about bilingual learning, presenting examples from selected Norwegian research papers on reading ability.

Chapter 6 looks at the education system and the rights of and opportunities for Deaf people, both through the government teaching support system consisting of schools for the Deaf run by the centres of excellence,and through mainstream schools.  It also discusses the rights associated with adult education programmes and the opportunities for parents of Deaf children to receive training in sign language.  The chapter also provides an overview of programmes in higher education especially adapted to Deaf people, both in Norway and abroad.

Chapter 7 investigates life at work and cultural experiences from the point of view of sign language.  Increasing numbers of cultural programmes are taking up the cultural issues of the Deaf, and they are enabling Deaf people to participate in cultural activities by using sign language or subtitles.  Such initiatives include “Teater Manu” – the Norwegian Sign Language Theatre, the simultaneous interpretation of television programmes, the provision of subtitles for Norwegian films, and the production of video books.

Chapter 8 looks at how technological developments have contributed to the growing participation of Deaf people in information, knowledge, culture and experience in our society.  It is now possible to access text telephones, photo phones, and mobile telephones.   Research is under way in several areas to make sign language capable of serving as communication between the Deaf people and Hearing people, by means of a variety of two-way interpretation programmes between sign language and speech, using for example mobile telephones.  Reference is made to some relevant development projects.

Chapter 9 gives a brief introduction to cochlea implants (CIs), which involves the surgical insertion of a hearing aid, enabling the person to perceive sound.  Whilst there is debate as to the effectiveness of CIs, the technology is under continuous development.  The report looks at some aspects of the debate surrounding CIs in relation to sign language and discusses the results of two Norwegian research projects.

Chapter 10 describes the interpreting service.  This service is laid down in the Social Security Law, stipulating the right of Deaf people to an interpreting service in their every day life, at work and in higher education.  Courses for the training of interpreters are available at Oslo University, the University College of Sør-Trøndelag and from Autumn 2004 at the University College in Bergen.  Deaf people are dependent on efficient interpreters for their communication with Hearing people; however, there remains a shortage of interpreters.

Chapter 11 investigates sign language as a minority language, using as a basis various international agreements.   Deaf people and sign language are not defined as national minorities or minority languages.  It is pointed out, however, that resolutions have been passed in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament recommending that sign language be accorded the status of an official language in the member countries, and that sign language should be included in the European Charter for the Protection of Regional or Minority Languages.  The chapter sets out the status of sign language in different European countries; over the past few years it has been accorded the status of an official language in several of these.  In 2003, the Nordic Council decided that deliberations should begin on the inclusion of sign language in the Nordic Language Convention in conjunction with the current revision of the convention.

Chapter 12 discusses whether sign language should be accorded the status of an official language in Norway.  The discussion includes both issues of rights and of practicality.  There is also a brief examination of what alternatives there are to the enactment of Norwegian sign language as an official language.  It is the conclusion of the author that making provision in law for Norwegian sign language to become an official language will secure the rights of Deaf people to life-long access to sign language, and that such a law would enhance the equal rights of the Deaf.

Chapter 13 contains the recommendation that Norwegian sign language be laid down in law as an official language in Norway.