Sense of Community: The Irish Deaf Community

There is a strong perception among members of the Irish deaf community that the community is in gradual decline, with dwindling traditional bases for producing Irish Sign Language (ISL) users. For instance, enrolments in residential schools for the deaf have been declining steadily, and the numbers...

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Main Author: John Bosco Conama
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Irish Association for Applied Linguistics 2021-11-01
Series:Teanga: The Journal of the Irish Association for Applied Linguistics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journal.iraal.ie/index.php/teanga/article/view/681
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author John Bosco Conama
author_facet John Bosco Conama
author_sort John Bosco Conama
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description There is a strong perception among members of the Irish deaf community that the community is in gradual decline, with dwindling traditional bases for producing Irish Sign Language (ISL) users. For instance, enrolments in residential schools for the deaf have been declining steadily, and the numbers involved in social, sports and cultural activities in the community have been falling. Technological advances, consolidation of educational policies for deaf children in mainstream education, and individualisation and increased social mobility have also had an impact on how this community operates. However, there is paltry research on how such changes have affected deaf community cohesion, especially in the Irish context. Therefore, this ongoing research entitled Sense of Community – the Irish Deaf Community, seeks to explore the notion and strength of community belonging amongst the deaf community in Ireland. This project report presents the results of one element of this research, i.e. an online survey study conducted in June 2020. Initial analysis of the results of this survey indicate that ISL is one of the primary bonds holding the Irish deaf community together and that issues that divide the community include trustworthiness, feelings of exclusion, and the notion of leadership.
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spelling doaj.art-f0c295f5b4be489aa2a47edb3c91f38d2022-12-21T21:02:28ZengThe Irish Association for Applied LinguisticsTeanga: The Journal of the Irish Association for Applied Linguistics0332-205X2565-63252021-11-0128Sense of Community: The Irish Deaf CommunityJohn Bosco Conama0Centre for Deaf Studies, Trinity College DublinThere is a strong perception among members of the Irish deaf community that the community is in gradual decline, with dwindling traditional bases for producing Irish Sign Language (ISL) users. For instance, enrolments in residential schools for the deaf have been declining steadily, and the numbers involved in social, sports and cultural activities in the community have been falling. Technological advances, consolidation of educational policies for deaf children in mainstream education, and individualisation and increased social mobility have also had an impact on how this community operates. However, there is paltry research on how such changes have affected deaf community cohesion, especially in the Irish context. Therefore, this ongoing research entitled Sense of Community – the Irish Deaf Community, seeks to explore the notion and strength of community belonging amongst the deaf community in Ireland. This project report presents the results of one element of this research, i.e. an online survey study conducted in June 2020. Initial analysis of the results of this survey indicate that ISL is one of the primary bonds holding the Irish deaf community together and that issues that divide the community include trustworthiness, feelings of exclusion, and the notion of leadership.https://journal.iraal.ie/index.php/teanga/article/view/681sense of communityIrish deaf communityIrish Sign Language
spellingShingle John Bosco Conama
Sense of Community: The Irish Deaf Community
Teanga: The Journal of the Irish Association for Applied Linguistics
sense of community
Irish deaf community
Irish Sign Language
title Sense of Community: The Irish Deaf Community
title_full Sense of Community: The Irish Deaf Community
title_fullStr Sense of Community: The Irish Deaf Community
title_full_unstemmed Sense of Community: The Irish Deaf Community
title_short Sense of Community: The Irish Deaf Community
title_sort sense of community the irish deaf community
topic sense of community
Irish deaf community
Irish Sign Language
url https://journal.iraal.ie/index.php/teanga/article/view/681
work_keys_str_mv AT johnboscoconama senseofcommunitytheirishdeafcommunity