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Deaf education policy as language policy: A comparative analysis of Sweden and the United States

Hult, Francis LU and Compton, Sarah (2012) In Sign Language Studies 12(4). p.602-620
Abstract
The present study offers a cross-national, comparative analysis of Swedish and US deaf education policies to examine the ways in which status planning and acquisition planning for sign languages are taken up. Major policy documents were selected from each polity, reflecting key national legislative policies as well as the primary texts that guide educational implementation: for Sweden, the Ordinance for Special Schools, the Education Act, and the national syllabi for special schools; for the United States, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Analysis of these texts shows that such planning tends to be explicit in Sweden while implicit in the United States. Moreover, the Swedish... (More)
The present study offers a cross-national, comparative analysis of Swedish and US deaf education policies to examine the ways in which status planning and acquisition planning for sign languages are taken up. Major policy documents were selected from each polity, reflecting key national legislative policies as well as the primary texts that guide educational implementation: for Sweden, the Ordinance for Special Schools, the Education Act, and the national syllabi for special schools; for the United States, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Analysis of these texts shows that such planning tends to be explicit in Sweden while implicit in the United States. Moreover, the Swedish policies focus on the development of sign language/national language bilingualism whereas the policies of the United States foreground assimilation to the hearing world; however, it is noted that implementational space for sign language and multilingualism are present in the policies of both countries to varying degrees. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Sign language, policy, education, English, Swedish, multimodal, multilingual
in
Sign Language Studies
volume
12
issue
4
pages
602 - 620
publisher
Gallaudet University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:84863768310
ISSN
0302-1475
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cf74280b-7e1e-4052-abcc-00595fa8cb3f (old id 3049317)
alternative location
http://gupress.gallaudet.edu/SLS/SLS12-4.html
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 09:38:05
date last changed
2022-01-29 18:48:47
@article{cf74280b-7e1e-4052-abcc-00595fa8cb3f,
  abstract     = {{The present study offers a cross-national, comparative analysis of Swedish and US deaf education policies to examine the ways in which status planning and acquisition planning for sign languages are taken up. Major policy documents were selected from each polity, reflecting key national legislative policies as well as the primary texts that guide educational implementation: for Sweden, the Ordinance for Special Schools, the Education Act, and the national syllabi for special schools; for the United States, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Analysis of these texts shows that such planning tends to be explicit in Sweden while implicit in the United States. Moreover, the Swedish policies focus on the development of sign language/national language bilingualism whereas the policies of the United States foreground assimilation to the hearing world; however, it is noted that implementational space for sign language and multilingualism are present in the policies of both countries to varying degrees.}},
  author       = {{Hult, Francis and Compton, Sarah}},
  issn         = {{0302-1475}},
  keywords     = {{Sign language; policy; education; English; Swedish; multimodal; multilingual}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{602--620}},
  publisher    = {{Gallaudet University Press}},
  series       = {{Sign Language Studies}},
  title        = {{Deaf education policy as language policy: A comparative analysis of Sweden and the United States}},
  url          = {{http://gupress.gallaudet.edu/SLS/SLS12-4.html}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}