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

Sociolinguistic Situation of the Sociolinguistic Situation of the Dominican Republic Deaf Dominican Republic Deaf

CommunityCommunity

Holly WilliamsSIL International

17 December 2009SIGN4 – 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 SurveyDominican Republic Survey

Dominican Republic SurveyDominican Republic SurveyGeneral

population: 9.5 million

Deaf population: 18,000?

October 2008• 3 surveyors• 3 weeks in

country• 7 cities

Why 7 cities?• Largest cities

with large Deaf populations

• Geography• Contacts


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)


SLQ:Questions 1-11: basic

demographics of the Deaf community

Questions 12-19: metadataQuestions 20-40: language

use and attitudes specifically among the Deaf community


Research questions1. 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 Dominican Republic Deaf CommunityCommunity

Sociolinguistic Factors1. Education2. Organized social groups3. Religious groups4. Social access5. Language use


Education1967 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


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)


Organized social groups

• 1982: Deaf Club (est. 15 yrs after deaf school)

• 2000: National Deaf Association

• Informal gatherings in smaller towns


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


Social access• Employment

– Education certificate– Typical jobs– CASS

• Communication– Cell phones– Internet café– Interpreters

• No professional interpreters• Goal: establish interpreters association


Language use

History• Trujillo (1930-1961)• Sign language development started

in 1967 with founding of the national deaf school

• ASL introduced in 1970’s


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 home18%

82%

Different Signing

Similar Signing


Language attitudes• Sign freely in public • ASL is prestigious• Importance of characteristics for a

leader in the Deaf community

0

2

4

6

8

10

Deaf Participant Responses

Must bedeaf

Know SignLanguage

Able tovoice

Literate inSpanish

Welleducated

Very important

Doesn't matter

Adverse to it


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

ConclusionConclusionThe 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 Unpublished document is available.available.

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Documents

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