Flemish Sign Language
| Flemish Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Vlaamse Gebarentaal (VGT) | |
| Native to | Flanders (Belgium) |
|
Native speakers
|
6,000 (2005) to 5,000 (2014) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | vlaa1235 |
Flemish Sign Language (Dutch: Vlaamse Gebarentaal; VGT) is the sign language of Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, a country in Western Europe. In Wallonia, the French Belgian Sign Language is used. These two sign languages are not related. The Flemish deaf community is estimated to include approximately 6,000 sign-language users (Loots et al., 2003).
When the first deaf schools were established in Flanders, the teachers were directly or indirectly influenced by the methods used at the Paris deaf school (and consequently by French Sign Language); either by following training programs in Paris, or by following training programs in two deaf schools in the Netherlands (Groningen and Sint-Michielsgestel), which were themselves influenced by the Paris school.
However, as with neighbouring countries, the education of deaf children was strongly influenced by the resolutions that took place at the Milan Conference in 1880. These resolutions banned the use of signs in the education of deaf children in favour of an oral approach. It has been viewed as a dark day in the history of sign language.
By the beginning of the 20th century there was a deaf school in every major town in Flanders, and in some towns there were even two: one for boys and one for girls. Most of the schools were residential and pupils only went home during the holidays, and later on also during the weekends. As a result, regional sign language varieties started to develop around every school.
It is now generally accepted and confirmed by research, that Flemish Sign Language consists of five regional varieties which have developed in and around the different Flemish deaf schools: West Flanders, East Flanders, Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, and Limburg (De Weerdt et al., 2003).
Next to the differences between the regions, there is intra-regional variation. One example is gender related variation. Until the 1970s, there were separate schools for deaf boys and girls and this has led to gender variation: some of the signs which are generally used today were boys’ signs or girls’ signs in origin. There are of course more reasons for the relatively high degree of intra-regional variation.
...
Wikipedia