Sociolinguistic Situation of the Dominican Republic Deaf Community Holly Williams SIL International 17 December 2009 SIGN4 – New Delhi, India

Special Thanks to: Dominican Republic Deaf community for volunteering their time to share about their language and life. Jason and Elizabeth Parks for helping gather, analyze and document information about the Dominican Republic Deaf community.

Dominican Republic Survey

General population: 9.5 million Deaf population: 18,000? October surveyors 3 weeks in country 7 cities Why 7 cities? Largest cities with large Deaf populations Geography Contacts

Dominican Republic Survey Rapid appraisal survey: investigates and gathers information to provide an overall perspective of the language community situation in a relatively short amount of time Research tools Participant observation Informal interviews Sociolinguistic questionnaire (SLQ)

Dominican Republic Survey SLQ: Questions 1-11: basic demographics of the Deaf community Questions 12-19: metadata Questions 20-40: language use and attitudes specifically among the Deaf community

Dominican Republic Survey Research questions 1.What is the sociolinguistic situation of the Deaf community in the Dominican Republic? 2.What is the language attitude of the Deaf community in the Dominican Republic towards American Sign Language (ASL)?

Dominican Republic Deaf Community Sociolinguistic Factors 1.Education 2.Organized social groups 3.Religious groups 4.Social access 5.Language use

Dominican Republic Deaf Community Education 1967 National Deaf School 1970’s Total Communication 2008: oral education but transfer to sign language if not succeeding orally 600+ students Teachers – no deaf education training available 10 satellite schools with goal of a school for Deaf people in each of the 31 provinces

Dominican Republic Deaf Community 1973 Instituto de Ayuda al Sordo Santa Rosa (Help Institute for the Deaf in Santa Rosa) Oral 400+ students Students required to have at least 60 decibels of hearing Sign language used outside of classroom 1980’s Religious deaf schools 10 schools throughout the DR Less than 40 students at each school

21 cities with at least one deaf educational center (2008)

Dominican Republic Deaf Community Organized social groups 1982: Deaf Club (est. 15 yrs after deaf school) 2000: National Deaf Association Informal gatherings in smaller towns

Dominican Republic Deaf Community Religious groups Protestant 1980’s –Interpreted and Deaf-led services –Yearly camp 300+ attendees –Sign language class –Connections to USA, Panama and Puerto Rico Jehovah’s Witness –Deaf camp –Mostly led by hearing individuals

Dominican Republic Deaf Community Social access Employment –Education certificate –Typical jobs –CASS Communication –Cell phones –Internet café –Interpreters No professional interpreters Goal: establish interpreters association

Dominican Republic Deaf Community Language use History Trujillo ( ) Sign language development started in 1967 with founding of the national deaf school ASL introduced in 1970’s

Dominican Republic Deaf Community Sign Language Variation Geographical region –More similar along middle (main services offered) Desire for standardization while respecting different cultures Deaf women may have limited vocabulary due to less interaction outside of home

Dominican Republic Deaf Community Language attitudes Sign freely in public ASL is prestigious Importance of characteristics for a leader in the Deaf community

Dominican Republic Deaf Community Sign Language dictionaries ASL dictionaries –Easily accessible –Used in schools Dominican Sign Language dictionary –Produced in 2008 –Disagreement Spanish initialization of ASL signs (eg: WATER/AGUA) Signs borrowed from other Spanish speaking countries Goal: Dominican Sign Language dictionary including regional signs

Conclusion The Dominican Republic Deaf community is unified in pursuit of a better life and identify the following needs: Bilingual situation: retaining ASL while developing their indigenous Dominican Republic Sign Language materials Better educational opportunities (Spanish literacy) Deaf education training for teachers Training for hearing parents of Deaf children Equal employment wages Interpreter training

Unpublished document is available. Contact: Or