Possible beings: Deaf children and linguistic justice
Temas
Detalles
This paper discusses the case of Carter Churchill v. Newfoundland and Labrador English School District and analyses legal documents as they illuminate current understanding of linguistic justice and relational ethics. This case is a test case for the standard of education provided to deaf learners in Canada who benefit from sign language. Linguistic justice considers language issues as they are relevant to social justice. The paper first discusses the linguistic justice framework in relation to deaf children’s right to sign language, then analyses legal documents from the case for what they reveal about patterns of inaction on the part of senior educational administrators and deficiency views of American Sign Language (ASL) that are pervasive in Canadian early intervention and education systems for deaf children. While the 2023 Human Rights Commission of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Board of Inquiry decision found the school district failed to provide reasonable accommodation and discriminated against Carter during the first four years of his education, this decision and related events stop short of ordering linguistic justice for deaf children in the form of sign language policy and planning that fulfils a society’s ethical responsibilities to deaf people.