‘Recognition’ Status of Ethiopian Sign Language and the Deaf in Key Legislations: A Critical Review from Linguistic Human Rights Perspective

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to explore the status of the Ethiopian
Sign Language (EthSL) in key legal and policy documents in a country
where the recognition status of the language and its users have been
debatable. To identify, in detail, implicit and explicit recognitions granted
and/or missed in the documents, interpretive policy analysis is used as a
method. Using Linguistic Human Rights (LHRs) approach as a
framework, the purposely selected documents were examined critically.
It is found from the review, there is no explicit recognition granted for
EthSL as a language in its own rights at Federal or Regional constitutions
and other policies, including the new FDRE Language Policy. None of
these official documents also determined EthSL to be a working
language, language of education, Mother Tongue/primary language of
Deaf children, or community language. The educational and disability
policies and plans recommend using sign language, however not EthSL,
in various contexts primarily as an assistive mechanism and
communication tool. Further, language rights as a human right issue in
the case of the Deaf is not promoted and protected in the documents
adequately. Lack of recognizing the linguistic identity of EthSL users and
their human rights have a negative effect on their dignified life, which
requires attention in future policy formulations.
Keywords: Ethiopian Sign Language (EthSL), Recognition, Linguistic Human
Rights (LHRS), Deaf, Linguistic Identity, Language Policy and
Planning