Controversy regarding sign language has once again broken out — just months after disability advocates slammed the use of fake sign language in parody videos of the Central Epidemic Command Center’s (CECC) daily news briefings.
While the use of mock interpreters is not acceptable, it is perhaps an understandable gaffe due to a lack of understanding about the deaf community. However, the latest problem is puzzling.
On Monday, the Taiwanese Deaf Alliance and 26 other hearing loss associations called on the government to feature Taiwan Sign Language (TSL) instead of signed Mandarin in a book planned for toddlers, saying that the two systems are distinct and most deaf people communicate using TSL.
The electronic book is being developed by the Social and Family Affairs Administration to teach sign language to children aged three and younger.
Signed Mandarin, which uses Mandarin syntax and morphology, is considered an impractical language for communication. Completely independent, TSL is a visual language with its own grammatical rules. It is not a word-for-word articulation of spoken language, and makes sense primarily to visual learners.
Critics say that Mandarin has compound words and metaphorical phrases that can cause confusion when individual characters are signed. For example, a TSL sign can be used to express the Mandarin idiom mamahuhu (“so-so,” 馬馬虎虎), but signed Mandarin, which signs individual characters, expresses the phrase as “horse horse tiger tiger,” which could be incomprehensible to a young signer.
It is unclear how the administration could make such a major mistake, unless it failed to consult experts or members of the deaf community before proceeding. It should be understood that educational material should use the language of the learners.
TSL is an integral part of the nation’s deaf community and should be respected. The community is similar to an ethnic group with a native language. Native languages have greatly suffered through centuries of colonization and oppression. To impose impractical sign language on people is reminiscent of how Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) and Amis speakers were forced to use Japanese and Mandarin in the past.
This is representative of the myriad challenges hampering the nation’s pledge to preserve and promote its native languages. The government meant well with the Development of National Languages Act (國家語言發展法). While it was a symbolic move that gave official legitimacy to these languages, effectively implementing the act and ensuring a lasting impact continues to be a problem. The issues range from how to transliterate Hoklo to the effectiveness of having only one period of instruction per day and the serious issue that the languages are not being used in daily life.
However, TSL is alive and well — it is the only means of communication for many deaf people. It is used on live television and has gained much public attention since people began tuning in to the CECC’s daily news briefings.
There is no reason for a government agency to use a completely different system of signing in a series of electronic books, as it goes against the spirit of the act and is disrespectful to the community that uses it.
If the project pushes ahead with signed Mandarin after the backlash, it will reflect the sad state of a nation being unable to live up to its lofty ideals, and another utter waste of public funds.
With the Year of the Snake reaching its conclusion on Monday next week, now is an opportune moment to reflect on the past year — a year marked by institutional strain and national resilience. For Taiwan, the Year of the Snake was a composite of political friction, economic momentum, social unease and strategic consolidation. In the political sphere, it was defined less by legislative productivity and more by partisan confrontation. The mass recall movement sought to remove 31 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators following the passage of controversial bills that expanded legislative powers and imposed sweeping budget cuts. While the effort
There is a story in India about a boy called Prahlad who was an ardent worshipper of Lord Narayana, whom his father considered an enemy. His son’s devotion vexed the father to the extent that he asked his sister, Holika, who could not be burned by fire, to sit with the boy in her lap and burn him to death. Prahlad knew about this evil plan, but sat in his aunt’s lap anyway. His faith won, as he remained unscathed by the fire, while his aunt was devoured by the flames. In some small way, Prahlad reminds me of Taiwan
When Hong Kong’s High Court sentenced newspaper owner Jimmy Lai (黎智英) to 20 years in prison this week, officials declared that his “heinous crimes” had long poisoned society and that his punishment represented justice restored. In their telling, Lai is the mastermind of Hong Kong’s unrest — the architect of a vast conspiracy that manipulated an otherwise contented population into defiance. They imply that removing him would lead to the return of stability. It is a politically convenient narrative — and a profoundly false one. Lai did not radicalize Hong Kong. He belonged to the same generation that fled from the Chinese
Former Hong Kong media magnate Jimmy Lai (黎智英), who on Monday was sentenced to 20 years in jail for his role in the 2019 Hong Kong democracy movement and “colluding with foreign forces,” once called on members of the US government for support in his struggle against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Speaking to a forum at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in July 2019, Lai, speaking about the US having the moral authority over the CCP, said: “It’s like they are going to battle without any weapon, and you have the nuclear weapon. You can finish them in
RSS