Gallaudet University English for Deaf Study Discussion Hello, I hope you are doing well and a great day. I have an assignment, and it is 5 articles, s

Gallaudet University English for Deaf Study Discussion Hello,

I hope you are doing well and a great day.

I have an assignment, and it is 5 articles, so I need each articles only one page please. don’t copy their word ; only own words. please no plagiarism. I need them on time please.

I will really appreciate you who will be able to do for me.

Thanks. Sign Language, Culture & Community in a Traditional Yucatec Maya Village
Author(s): Robert E. Johnson
Source: Sign Language Studies, No. 73, Special Extra Length Issue: Papers on Sign Languages
& Deaf Cultures: The 1990 Meetings of the American Anthropological Association In New
Orleans (Winter 1991), pp. 461-474
Published by: Gallaudet University Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26204776
Accessed: 24-08-2018 17:08 UTC
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Sign language, Culture & Community
in a Traditional Yucatec Maya Village
Robert E. Johnson
Abstract
A traditional Mayan village in the state of Yucatan has an unusually
high number of deaf inhabitants (13 of about 400). The deaf people
have a rich sign language, which is not the same sign language as that
of the deaf inhabitants of the towns and cities of Mexico. The deaf
villagers are almost fully integrated into the ordinary patterns of life, and
appear to have access to the economic benefits of the society; deafness
is relatively depoliticized. This pattern is explained by the fact that all
hearing villagers are able to communicate well in sign language.
Notions of deaf community
It has been observed for nearly a century and a half that deafness
creates unique social groupings and identities. Both deaf authors
(Flournoy 1856 Veditz 1913, Jacobs 1974) and researchers (Becker
1986, Carmel 1976, Erting 1978, Croneberg 1976, Groce 1980,
Higgins 1980, Johnson & Erting 1989, Lane 1984, Lou 1988,
Markowicz & Woodward 1978, Meadow 1972, Padden & Marko
wicz 1975, Padden & Humphries 1988, Padden 1980, Schein 1968,
Stokoe 1970, Vemon & Makowsky 1969) have demonstrated that
deaf people create communities based on the fact of deafness, on
modes of communication, and on the necessity to achieve access to
the economic benefits of the society at large. These observations
have led to three major claims about the structure of deaf
communities:
11991 by Linstok Press, Inc. See note inside front cover. ISSN 0302-1475
461
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462
1.
Johnson
SLS
73
Communities
of
c
The
unique
comm
difficulty
they
fin
the
construction
o
use.
Interactional
basis
of
the
proportion
mode
of
deaf
people
may
be
c
the
who
i
si
structured
influenced
signin
interaction
among
It
is
common
for
t
mirrored
in
the
m
structured
a
the
boundaries
of
often
comparatively
tends
to
occur
mainstream
2.
Ethnic
Within
society
many
and
(Markowicz
Johnson
features.
&
biological
is
to
have
individuals
Deaf
The
the
have
person
th
Deafn
defini
groups
second
to
first
terms
the
featu
that,
customary
W
some
ethnic
order
iden
Erting
family.
fact
such
&
The
in
become
in
identity
behavior
deaf
less
w
pattern
be
(in
consi
addit
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Winter 1991 Deaf society in a Maya village 463
diminished hearing) must also accept to some extent the valu
the community and act according to the norms of behavior fo
group. Among the details of patrimony of the North Am
Deaf ethnic group are the identification of oneself a
(regardless of degree of hearing loss), the appropriate use of
language in appropriate situations, and a core identification wit
group and its normative values and behaviors, that is, wit
“culture” of the group. Among these values is the notion
deafness itself is not necessarily seen as a negative trait. Rathe
the trait that defines people’s acceptability to the group with
they identify, and, in fact, is the trait that defines that group.
Thus, ethnicity is a social force, created from within
community that both results from and results in interaction
identity with the group. In this sense, it is possible to speak
“boundary” around the Deaf ethnic group—a boundary create
reinforced by attitudes, values, and interactions that occur w
the group.
Of course, because Deaf ethnic groups are embedded within
larger mainstream societies, many of the values and behavior
patterns of the mainstream are incorporated into the culture of the
Deaf ethnic group. Thus, the Deaf ethnic group in the United States
shares many core aspects of culture with other ethnic groups and
with mainstream Americans. Among these are such values as
religion, a work ethic, economic values, attitudes about family
structure, and ethical principles. Nevertheless, the fact must be
recognized that Deaf Americans differ from other Americans in
their core identification with deafness and the communities that
emerge around deafness.
3. Communities of solidarity
Mainstream attitudes tend to associate deafness with negative
values. From the perspective of society at large, deafness is seen as
a lack of something, rather than as the presence of something.
From this point of view, degree of hearing loss becomes important
because the less a person hears (and therefore the less he or she can
communicate effectively with hearing people) the more difficult it
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464
Johnson
becomes
for
economic
reason,
SLS
73
that
roles
deaf
These
to
exp
peop
specifically)
economic
and
exp
social
attitudes
have
p
an
similar
exp
and
economic
ben
deafness
that
enh
their
source
outs
reinforce
social
boun
boundary
dynamic
and
the
be
tension
those
becomes
from
a
b
ou
politica
creates
“solidarity
refers
to
an
enhan
similar
by
the
people
people
in
the
often
from
the
m
differ
and
as
h
hearing
(Washington,
testimony
s
industria
other
with
identi
patterns
people
people
value
outside
These
each
core
often
people
deaf
experiences
to
DC,
this
pa
After
experienci
interactions
in
m
international
con
universal
charact
society
is
societies.
in
built
It
is
situations
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alm
veri
diff
Winter 1991 Deaf society in a Maya village 465
communities that deaf people create under differen
can determine whether the patterns of interaction,
solidarity are truly created for the reasons we p
therefore a universal condition of deaf communities
social and economic conditions are different, th
interaction and identification differ as well.
A Yucatec Maya deaf community
With this caveat in mind, several of us have been st
deaf community in a traditional Yucatec Maya village
Yucatan in Mexico. The first observations were m
Smith, who spent a number of years in the vi
ethnographic films about adaptations to econo
changes in Mexican society. He discovered (quite acci
in the village of about four hundred inhabitants, the
(now thirteen with a recent birth) deaf people
proportion, due to marriage patterns). In 1987, H
Carol Erting, and I made a brief visit to the village, a
returned, with Jane Norman, for a week. I remaine
and attempted to learn something of the sign la
observe the life of the deaf and hearing people.
Patterns of life in traditional Yucatec society
In order to understand the lives of the deaf people,
to understand the social context in which they live.
located in the north central part of the Yucatan penin
Mexico. The land surrounding the village is hilly, ro
densely covered by subtropical, scrub forest. It i
political divisions, each belonging to a small village.
areas is available to the residents of the village for ag
The village is composed of family compounds, sur
stone wall. Inside the compounds are several one
thatched dwellings, built of adobe, small poles, and
Each house tends to be occupied by one of the nuclear
comprise the extended family of the compound. I
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466
Johnson
members
SLS
of
73
the
ext
food
is
prepared
a
residents
of
the
v
different
villages
wife
moves
to
the
v
The
men
of
an
ex
production
of
food
involves
chopping
burning
the
slash,
the
ashes.
Each
plot
it
is
is
burned
cut,
and
burned
then
and
village
is
produced
compound
also
each
of
the
the
crops,
central
products,
some
Mexica
medicine,
central
economy
society
are
farmers
other
pursuits,
in
towns
the
in
such
and
citi
Women
also
have
involving
primarily
animals,
and
child
income
through
weaving,
and
piecew
In
the
village
possibly
three
boxing).
cot
the
tele
Althoug
primarily
for
ligh
most
part,
the
soc
only
what
it
needs
adopted
all
technolo
The
values
of
traditional
as
reliance
the
of
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th
well,
villa
Winter 1991 Deaf society in a Maya village 467
of the towns and cities of the region, which have f
urban, industrial lifestyle of central Mexico. Inter
towns is primarily economic, involving periodic vis
to buy and sell merchandise and to obtain acces
medical services. Interaction with the cities is prima
of day labor by the men, who go for a week at
supplemental cash, particularly in years when the
been good. Interaction with other villages is gen
sports competition, especially baseball, and socia
dances and fiestas. Although such outside interacti
for both men and women, the primary focus remai
and the family. The Maya villagers do not strongly
life outside the village.
The deaf villagers
1. Maya Sign Language
In the context of this pattern of life, the thirteen
interact and communicate exclusively in sign la
examination, the sign language has revealed itself t
language, which although somewhat less elabora
languages of industrial societies, shares structural
in all sign languages. As with all natural sign langu
Language is not a manual representation of eithe
languages of the village (Yucatec Maya and S
independent in structure, although, as always, the s
lexicon reflects the interests and necessities of the
the deaf community is embedded.
The language contains most of the structural fea
come to expect in natural sign languages. It h
organization, verbs of motion with classifier hand
verbs that show agreement with subject and object,
classification, non-manual morphemes with syntac
functions, and temporal and distributional aspec
predicates.
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468
Johnson
Although
to
be
an
SLS
the
73
sign
isolate
(the
lang
deaf
village) we found evid
throughout the Yucat
populations of Guatem
people in most villages
village (100 km distant
inhabitants (some of th
in which we stayed). Th
the
village
Mayas
in
to
be
other
mutuall
villages,
unintelligible with the
Mexican Sign Language a
of
the
Sign
country).
Language
interaction
[See
a
appears
t
among
de
example, the oldest dea
army at about the age
deaf men there as well
several months until dis
other occasionally at in
however limited, appea
throughout the area, in
to
have
been
present
establishment
Woodward
2.
The
Some
deaf
of
of
dea
1978).
community
the
in
patterns
in
we
deaf communities, oth
communities, language
among the deaf inhabit
pastime
during
the
even
typically seek each oth
chatting groups are ty
hearing
men,
if
there
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is
Winter 1991 Deaf society in a Maya village 469
also be several others. Ease of communication seems to
together.
The deaf women also appear to interact with e
frequently (and with deaf male relatives), and, altho
tend to get out of the compounds less frequently than m
women appear to prefer to interact with one anothe
events. However, even with the existence of this pattern
observe any activities that could be labelled as exclusive
mostly) “deaf.” Near the end of our visit, we gave a lunc
all the deaf people and their extended families. To our
it was the first event in the village that was defined so
basis of deafness.
In addition, we observed surprisingly little solidarity
people from outside the village. We discovered that
history there have been seven deaf residents in the nex
km distant, and through which the deaf villagers pass
often on foot, on their way to the market town). T
remaining deaf people live almost next to the road and
we visited them together with several deaf people from
we found that it had been several years since they h
other.
These and the deaf people living in other villages
mentioned to Hubert Smith during the course of twelve
visits to the village, even though, upon questioning, the
were found to know of their existence. It is clear from these
observations that the deaf villagers do not seek out other deaf
people in other places with nearly the vigor we have observed in
industrial societies. Similarly, the deaf member of our team was
welcomed and treated nicely, but not with the same degree of
commonality and solidarity as she has experienced in her visits to
deaf communities in industrial societies.
It appears, then, that identity for the deaf people of the village is
first with the family and the village, then Maya society. Thus,
although they all recognize themselves as deaf, and often prefer to
interact with each other, deafness itself does not appear to have
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470
Johnson
coalesced
to
have
a
SLS
strong
become
Differences:
It
appears
the
and
73
ethni
politiciz
Maya
that
de
these
di
core values of the M
in part from a stri
circumstances
indicated
that
society
at
identify
with
traditional
they
deaf
ex
peop
large.
In
M
family
groups
an
in
na
resistant to and relati
society is noticeably s
migration
labor
out
of
patterns,
the
and
vi
both
their work on weeken
who is a domestic wor
Given
this
context,
it
is
villagers is also focused
be in the society.
to
Probably
the
The
are
of
village
men
equal
have
full
perform
farmers
impo
acc
the
and
s
they
participate in the cott
people. It is tru
hearing
hearing
is
not
essential
valued
Maya
and
children,
or
society
thus
The
that
as
has
most
the
social
but
to
succes
critical
does
not
as
not
diff
people
community.
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r
become
crucial
deaf
sc
o
Th
Winter 1991 Deaf society in a Maya village 471
families, around which most important activities are
Access to family life is governed by access to communic
situation here is unlike any other we know of—with the
of the historic situation on Martha’s Vineyard reported
(1980). All hearing adults we met could sign well and s
sign very well. It appears that all people in the village (bo
and deaf) have acquired sign language naturally thro
action. This fact alone creates a condition in which both
economic benefits are more readily accessible to deaf peo
which the formation of a strong ethnic group and the po
of deafness are unnecessary.
To be sure, however, deaf people remain different from
people. The deaf people of the village have a lower ma
than the general population, among whom almost eve
married. Only three of the seven eligible deaf men are m
to hearing women) and all have had only hearing childre
that reinforces the belief that the deafness trait is pa
women. It is difficult for a deaf man to find a wife. Non
deaf women are married and they all say it would be im
find a husband. In addition, although everyone can sign,
do not have access to the majority of discourse, which is
in Maya. This probably accounts for the presenc
community of communication.
Conclusion
The comparison of deafness in this traditional society serv
verify two notions about the structure of deaf communiti
industrial societies. First, the influence of linguistic factors suc
ease of communication on the creation of interactional choices is
clearly present: the deaf villagers tend to choose to interact with
each other; but the presence of a large population of hearing people
who also sign tempers this community of communication so that it
is not as evident as those of industrial societies. Second, the com
parison verifies the notion of the influence of economic and social
access on the emergence of political deafness in the form of
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472
Johnson
solidarity;
economic
SLS
in
Africa
she
this
access
phenomenon
There
places.
73
is
is
ca
com
appare
exist anecdot
Frishberg (M
in
did
which
not
there
report
o
that manuscript, it
variety used widely
communication) repo
language
isolate
variet
and signing proficie
Venezuela. S. Supalla
Navaho reservation in Arizona and discovered some of the same
characteristics among a group of older deaf residents there. In
addition, there are scattered reports of similarly configured villages
in Mexico and Guatemala, in which we might also expect to find
these kinds of conditions prevailing. Once these other communities
have been studied, we will have available data to confirm or refute
the conclusions made here.
Perhaps more importantly, the study of isolated and long-lived
sign languages such as these will provide substantial insights into
universal characteristics of sign language structure and into their
place in integrated societies. Ultimately, they may stand as present
day analogs of the sign language communities said to have existed in
France and the United States prior to the establishment of schools
for deaf children. As such they may be important in understanding
the dynamics of language maintenance in communities, the
members of which are separated in space and time.
REFERENCES
Becker, G. & R. Arnold
1986 Stigma as a social & cultural construct. In The Dilemma of
Difference. Ainlay et al. eds. NY: Plenum.
Carmel, S.
[1976 Ethnic identity & solidarity in the deaf community in the US.]
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All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Winter 1991 Deaf society in a Maya village 473
Croneberg, C.
1976 The linguistic community. In DASL (New Edition) Stokoe,
Casterline, & Croneberg eds. Silver Spring, MD: Linstok.
Erting, C.
1978 Language policy & deaf ethnicity in the United States, Sign
Language Studies 19, 139-152.
Flournoy, J.A.
1856 A deaf mute commonwealth, American Annals of the Deaf
8, 120-125.
Frishberg, N.
[n.d. A Study of the deaf sign language of Adamarobe, Ghana.]
Grace, N.
1980 Everyone here spoke sign language…
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