Deaf leaders devise bilingual learning resources for Indian signers

Deaf signers in India are creating a bilingual resource library to provide sign-language-based educational materials for children and adults. Twenty participants from deaf-led organisations across the country met in Indore last month to undergo practical training and begin devising these bilingual resources for teaching purposes, including Indian Sign Language (ISL) texts on various topics. 

Through hands-on instruction led by our senior lecturer Sibaji Panda, who drew on our deaf literacy project with Lancaster University and India’s National Institute of Speech and Hearing, the participants learned how to create ISL-based materials for a range of age groups. He commented: “The time has come now for ISL users to take the matter of learning resources literally into our own hands. I feel privileged to share the expertise and experiences acquired during our multi-partner project on deaf literacy with other like-minded deaf organisations”.

Thank you to all of the participants and language experts who are playing a part in building this exciting and unprecedented resource library.