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By providing evidence that sign language is an autonomous language, research has contributed to various changes both within and beyond the signing communities. The aim of this article is to present an example of how sign language change is driven not only by language-internal factors but also by changes in language perception, as well as in the changing groups of users and the contexts of use. Drawing from data on Italian Sign Language collected at a sign language research center in Italy for more than thirty years, the present study shows how language research was itself a major impetus for a new linguistic awareness. It also relates how changes in language attitude have influenced new linguistic practices and forced Italian signers to think about the rules that govern the use of their language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts on topics related to sign language including the aspects of language planning in the Netherlands, language policy in Italian sign language and linguistic planning in Brazil.

It is widely known that supranational institutions and organizations, like the United Nations and the European Commission, encouraged national governments to recognize national sign languages as the languages of their Deaf communities. Nonetheless, Italy has not yet recognized Italian Sign Language (US) as the official language of the Deaf community in Italy. At present, a number of proposals are still awaiting discussion by the Italian Parliament, which has postponed consideration of them for many years. Despite the general unconcern for US at the highest levels of national political institutions, local governments provide help and financial support for local integration projects, especially those involving deaf children. Within this institutional picture, LIS is quite viable and visible throughout the country. For instance, national TV news broadcasts are interpreted several times every day (by both public and private broadcasting corporations), and messages in LIS are commonly used to inform Deaf people of major events (such as national and regional elections and national referenda). Furthermore, signers may have an interpreter when asked to be present in court for trials. Moreover, the main Deaf organization, namely, Ente Nazionale Sordi, which is widespread in Italy, actively collaborates with both local and national institutions, especially to promote the use of LIS by deaf and hearing children in bilingual school programs. Ente Nazionale Sordi (ENS) also provides language courses for hearing adults who are interested in LIS and for interpreters who want specialized instruction. In this article, we describe the current situation of the Italian Deaf community and the status of its sign language. Starting with the latest national law on language minorities (482/1999), we explain some of the reasons that LIS has not yet been recognized as the official language of the Italian Deaf community. We then focus on some of the most relevant initiatives entertained by local governments, ENS, and universities in order to strengthen LIS and make it more visible to the hearing community. Since a lack of standardization might partly explain why US has not yet been recognized, we disentangle this issue by illustrating some interesting results of a recent sociolinguistic investigation. The picture that we draw shows that LIS is ready to be officially designated as the language of the Italian Deaf community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses sociolinguistic variation in the lexicon and the creation of the Lingua dei Segni Italiana (Italian Sign Language or LIS) Corpus Project used as language by Italian deaf people. It states that has also a natural history and has a complex phonology, syntax, and morphology like the Italian spoken language. It talks on data collection of the research project from 10 Italian cities with 165 signers as well as the need to formally recognize LIS as a minority language.

Discusses the features of three Italian Sign Language registers to determine the iconicity and productivity in sign language discourse. Definitions of the term iconicity; Texts used to analyze the presence of dynamic iconicity; Major kinds of linguistic iconicity.

Presents several abstracts of studies about sign languages. "Discourse Genre and Linguistic Mode: Interpreter Influences in Visual and Tactile Interpreted Interaction"; "Chasing the Mythical Ten Percent: Parental Hearing Status of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in the U.S."; "Iconicity and Productivity in Sign Language Discourse: An Analysis of Three LIS Discourse Registers."