The Taiwanese Deaf Alliance and other groups yesterday called on the government to use Taiwan Sign Language (TSL) instead of signed Mandarin in a book planned for toddlers, saying that TSL is a natural language that should be treated as distinct from Mandarin.
Due to its inclusion in the Development of National Languages Act (國家語言發展法), which was passed by the Legislative Yuan on Dec. 25, 2018, TSL has gradually gained attention, the alliance said in a joint statement with 26 other hearing loss associations.
The Social and Family Affairs Administration is in the process of creating an electronic book to teach sign language to children under the age of three, they said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
However, it plans to use signed Mandarin, also known as “grammatical sign language,” they said.
Signed Mandarin, which follows Mandarin grammar, is not a “real” language, while TSL is an independent language with its own grammatical rules, they said.
Using signed Mandarin in the book would be to treat local sign language as an attachment to Mandarin, and to mistake language as something that can be translated word-for-word, they said.
It would go against the spirit of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well as the act, they said.
To facilitate the preservation, revitalization and development of TSL, the teaching material should use the natural language used by people with hearing impairments, they said.
While TSL is a language with its own developmental history, signed Mandarin is not a sign language, New Power Party Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭), who sits on the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee, told a news conference in Taipei.
For people with a hearing impairment, TSL is their native language and a culture that should be respected, she said.
Instead of giving parents more options, presenting signed Mandarin alongside TSL in teaching materials would be to treat an artificial system as a real language, said Chen Yi-jun (陳怡君), an assistant professor at Mackay Medical College’s Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology.
Signed Mandarin follows the word order of spoken language and is difficult to understand and far less valid as a means of communication than TSL, she said.
Signed Mandarin also undermines the logic and grammatical characteristics of a visual language, she said.
It is difficult for children with a hearing impairment who learn visually and do not have a foundation in spoken language to learn signed Mandarin, she said.
Teaching toddlers signed Mandarin would be forcing them to use signs to learn Mandarin, instead of allowing them to learn TSL, a visual language, Taiwan Sign Language Research and Development Association representative Pan Hsin-hung (潘信宏) said.
This is a form of discrimination, he said, adding that it forces children with hearing impairments to not identify with their own culture and language, and to instead learn a separate, artificial language.
Article 4 of the act states that all national languages should be equal and people should not be discriminated against or face restrictions when using a national language, Pan said.
Requiring people with hearing impairments to learn Mandarin through signs would be to deny them the right to their own language and a form of cultural and linguistic discrimination, he said.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS