Sign Languages Dictionary as a Tool for Language Education and European Mobility of Deaf Students

Project summary

The main goal of the project MobiDeafDict is to create a multilingual sign database including English in the form of a dictionary as an instrument for increasing language competences of the deaf, both as an instrument for the mobility of the deaf and for English language instruction of deaf learners. Thematically the sign database will be related to academic environment, study and professional mobilities, and study materials for English language instruction of the deaf. Thanks to the project, a sign database will be created in Slovakia and Austria, where it has so far not existed. The goal of the project is also the involvement of the two partners, through collaborative work on the creation of both the translation and monolingual parts of the dictionary with all the specifications normally included in dictionaries, then the partners can continue extending the dictionary after the project conclusion. The distinct characteristics of the dictionary is its bidirectionality, linking with more language and its monolingual part including formal and semantic parts, which will increase the awareness not only of the deaf users about their sign language and enrich their vocabulary in the local spoken languages. The project partners are: - Masaryk University, Brno - Technical University, Wien - Comenius University, Bratislava The project co-partners are: - Czech Deaf Young organization - Slovak Association of Deaf Youth Clubs - Verein österreichischer gehörloser Studier The main project outputs and activities are: - an innovated online dictionary Dictio with translation and explanatory functions - mobile version of the translation part of the online dictionary Dictio - sign database consisting of 3 sign languages - Czech, Slovak and Austrian Sign Languages including 4 spoken languages - English, Czech, Slovak and German - e-learning course of the notation system SignWriting - international conference The existing Dictio dictionary will be extended to include other language modules and a version for mobile devices. The sign database of all the sign and spoken languages will include several thousands of entries including several tens or hundreds of entries in the monolingual part, i.e. with formal and semantic specifications. The list of entries for the creation of the sign database will be based on several thematic areas such as academic environment and study and professional mobility in the EU. An e-learning course will enable all the partners to acquire practical knowledge for the transcription of signs into the notation system SignWriting. The transcription of all signs will allow for the bidirectionality of the dictionary, i.e. it is possible to look for the sign language itself and find its meaning in another language. Introduction to the environment of the online dictionary Dictio and its use is a part of the first workshop. The second workshop will follow up on the e-learning course of SignWriting and will allow the space for the sharing of experience and findings from the transcription of signs acquired by the individual partners and thus deepen the practical skills. The participants involved in the project - employees are mostly deaf. They are mostly employees of the partner universities, the team will be complemented with other deaf members from outside of the universities. In total, there will be about 15 deaf + several hearing persons. Although, the main target group of the project is deaf youth at universities, the benefits of the dictionary are far-reaching. The whole european community of deaf persons, sign language speakers, and all those who come into contact with these languages will benefit from the dictionary, whether it be on a personal or professional level. Namely, the users might be individuals, organizations, interpreters, (language) teachers, linguistics specialists and many other. The impact of the outputs - online dictionary and sign database is wider, at several levels, primary it is the acquisition of knowledge for the elicitation, processing and publication of the sign data by the employees themselves, particularly from the partner organizations. At the secondary level, the dictionary as an instrument for the instruction of English will make it possible to acquire English vocabulary more effectively and thus improve the communication during study and professional stays within the EU. At the highest level, the dictionary can be used practically by anyone who is professionally, culturally or otherwise connected to sign language, e.g. interpreters, and linguists. The fact that an online database of signs of individual sign languages of all the EU countries will be gradually created at one place including a monolingual (explanatory) part represents the contribution of the project in the long term horizon. A European monolingual sign dictionary will be created, which can at national and international levels be used by sign language specialists, teachers, language lecturers and general public.