Language Policies in Uruguay and Uruguayan Sign Language (LSU)

• Published in: Sign language studies 2012-07, Vol.12 (4), p.519-542
• Main Authors: BEHARES, LUIS ERNESTO, BROVETTO, CLAUDIA, CRESPI, LEONARDO PELUSO
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accessibility (for Disabled); Bilingual education; Community; Core curriculum; Course Descriptions; Cultural groups; Curricula; Deaf culture; Deaf education; Deafness; Design; Disability; Educational Development; Educational Policy; Foreign Countries; High school students; Innovation; Interpreters; Language; Language culture relationship; Language Planning; Language policy; Law; Minority & ethnic groups; Minority languages; National Standards; Policy Analysis; Politics of Education; Primary Education; School Community Relationship; Secondary schools; Sign Language; Sign languages; Spanish language; Special Education; Special Needs Students; Teachers; Teaching Methods; Uruguay; World language instruction
• ISSN: 0302-1475; 1533-6263; 1533-6263
• DOI: 10.1353/sls.2012.0008

This article explores the status of Uruguayan Sign Language (Lengua de Señas Uruguaya, LSU), in the context of language policies in Uruguay, as well as the specific situation of the Uruguayan Deaf communities. From 2000 to 2008 some language-policy acts (e.g., laws and other official documents) appeared in Uruguay. These statements refer mainly to education, although they also include other areas of society in both their design and their effects. In these official documents LSU is not seen as an attribute of a group of people with a handicap, and LSU speakers are not considered affected by health problems that require special educational treatment. Accordingly, LSU speakers are considered a minority group, as are speakers of Portugués del Uruguay (the Portuguese of Uruguay) or languages of immigrant groups. Thus, in the larger context of a diverse community, LSU is recognized and valued as the language of a minority group who have socially and culturally valuable backgrounds. As Uruguayan citizens, deaf people are entitled to have their community’s natural language considered as one of the Uruguayan population’s native languages. Uruguay does not have an official language explicitly designated by law; Spanish has always been considered as such as a consequence of habit, custom, and its status as the majority language. In fact, until the aforementioned language-policy decisions came about, Spanish was the only language used in education and by the state. In Uruguay the recognition of the existence of minority languages gives LSU a different status and opens the door for further developments that could positively affect the Deaf community. This article analyzes some of the historical processes that brought about in this change. The social visibility of LSU has grown continuously since 1983, both in education and other social sectors (e.g., public and private domains, the media). Since 1987, a bilingual education program for deaf people has been implemented in the primary schools. This program has encountered several difficulties mainly due to the fact that it was created with no connection to a more comprehensive proposal of national language policies, which in turn, left the program in the domain of policies for populations with medical handicaps. This article focuses on language policies in education. However, other aspects of public policies related to the Deaf community and LSU are also considered. The analysis presents cases of conflict and discusses th