Australian Irish Sign Language or AISL is a minority

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...

in Australia. As a Francosign language, it is related to French Sign Language as opposed to Auslan which is a Banzsl language which is related to

British Sign Language British Sign Language (BSL) is a sign language used in the United Kingdom (UK), and is the first or preferred language among the Deaf community in the UK. Based on the percentage of people who reported 'using British Sign Language at home' on ...

. AISL was brought to Australia from Ireland in 1875 by a group of

Dominican nuns The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

(including a Deaf nun) where three schools were established and used AISL as a language of instruction. Due to oralist policies, the use of AISL was discontinued as a language of instruction in the early 1950s. There are now around 100 signers of this language, most of whom are in their early seventies and onwards, though there may be younger

CODA Coda or CODA may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * Movie coda, a post-credits scene * ''Coda'' (1987 film), an Australian horror film about a serial killer, made for television *''Coda'', a 2017 American experimental film from Na ...

History

According to the Irish Deaf Society, Irish Sign Language (or ISL) "arose from within Deaf communities," "was developed by Deaf people themselves," and "has been in existence for hundreds of years." In 1875, a group of

(including a Deaf nun named Sister Gabriel Hogan) came to Australia from Ireland, bringing with them ISL. From there and the establishment of three schools, AISL was used as a language of instruction until the early 1950s. Prior to the 1875 arrival of ISL, British Sign Language (BSL) came to Australia in 1825 with the arrival of John Carmichael from

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. The first schools for Deaf children were established in 1860 in both

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, however, the trajectory of BSL towards Auslan and that of ISL towards AISL differed. Indeed, it was along the Protestant/Catholic line that the languages were taught, where Protestant schools taught BSL-later-Auslan, and Catholic schools taught ISL-later-AISL. Both AISL and Auslan, however, stopped being used as languages of instruction after the disastrous Milan Congress of 1881, where by the 1950s, oralism cemented across Australia. Since then, AISL has stopped being used in Deaf clubs or wider community settings, now only being used by small friend groups from the now-closed schools and between family members. Although Australia has a National Policy on Language, it only mentions Auslan (not even Australian Aboriginal sign languages). As of 2017, there were not teachers, professionals, nor interpreters who are able to provide services in AISL.

History

See also

References

Further reading