Language structure and language family
Like many sign languages, LIS is in some ways different from its "spoken neighbor"; thus, it has little in common with spokenHistory of LIS and LIS education
The Romans, along with most of Europe, inherited from Greece the notion that thought corresponds with the spoken word and thereby believed that deaf-mute individuals possessed lower intelligence and ability to reason. The first time that deafness was officially recognized in law and different types of deafness were differentiated, including distinguishing it from muteness, occurred under Emperor Justinian (527-565 CE). This provided at least some deaf for the first time with legal rights, though these deaf most likely concerned those deafened postlingually (Radutzky, Elena (1993) "The Education of Deaf People in Italy and the use of Italian Sign Language" Chapter 14 in John Vickrey Van Cleve (ed.) (1993) "Deaf history unveiled: interpretations from the new scholarship" Washington: Gallaudet University Press. p. 238-9). During the Middle Ages, these legal rights were severely restricted because the deaf could not serve feudal lords their military interests. The restrictions the deaf faced included losing the right to inheritance, to celebrate mass and to marry ( p. 239). Furthermore, two medical theories regarding deafness were common throughout the Middle Ages. One idea was that muteness was a defect of the tongue, to be cured by healing the tongue. Another idea was that the ability to hear was related to the mouth via a tube in the ear, to be cured by shouting in the mouth. The first Italian text mentioning deaf people's ability to reason and to use their intellect, through signing or other means, was of the legal advisor Bartolo della marca c'Ancona early in the 14th century ('''' p. 240). This more positive look at deafness was continued with the onset of the Renaissance. The invention of the printing press and, hence, the widespread availability of books stimulated general interest in education practices and this entailed several positive developments for the deaf. ( p. 240) The first Italian teacher of deaf pupils was Pedro Ponce de León (1520-1584 CE), a Benedictine monk. This was likely related to Benedictines their long tradition of holding silence and using signs to communicate. This was a tradition possibly dating back to the establishment of the vow of silence by St. Benedict in 529 CE in a town near Naples. In fact, the first recorded signs of this language date back to the 11th century. Interestingly, Benedictines also struggled with maintaining an 'official' set of signs for all Benedictines and with the continued arising of "unofficial" signs in the separate monasteries. ('''' p. 242-3) The first Italian school for the deaf in was founded by Tommaso Silvestri in the late 18th century. His teaching used a signing or manualist method inspired by the teaching practices of the famous Parisian educator of the deaf Abbé de l'Épée. Tommaso Silvestri had traveled to France and had seen the use of the signing method first hand ('''' p. 243). In 1793, Tommaso Silvestri wrote that signs stimulate the intelligence of the deaf and should be adopted in education.Corazza, Serena (1991) "La lingua dei Segni nell'educazione dei Sordi," ''L'Educazione dei Sordi'', Siena:Istituto Tommaso Pendola. <Official status of LIS
On May 19, 2021, Italy officially recognized LIS. Often a first step in the official recognition of a language is the formalization of a grammar and a lexicon, the latter in the form of a dictionary. It is unclear when the first full LIS dictionary was produced, but at least by now various LIS dictionaries exist. For example, one not-for-profit foundation aimed at improving the living conditions of the deaf and deaf-blind offers a bilingual dictionary with both written Italian and visual depiction of signs in book form. Another notable example is an online electronic dictionary where the meanings of all the signs are both written down in Italian and signed in LIS using video. This particular dictionary is a project of the European Academy of Bozen/Bolzano, an independent research institute with linguistic research as one of its five main goals. The formalization and recognition of an official grammar is, nevertheless, somewhat more problematic. Even today, people usually consider LIS "a 'grammarless' language," necessitating a scholar to write his dissertation in 2006 with the aim "to provide evidence that LIS . . . does have its own grammar" (Brunelli, Michele (2006) "The Grammar of Italian Sign Language, With a Study About its Restrictive Relative Clauses" Unpublished Master's Thesis, Venezia: Università Ca' Foscari. p. 1). That is not to say, however, that academics are generally passive in the study of LIS. Porcari and Volterra published an extensive overview of academic literature related to LIS covering all possible fields from history to psychology, revealing an active role of the academic world. Until 2021, LIS was not officially recognized ( p. 1) even though the state of Italy has a tradition of recognizing minority languages. In 1999 the following minority languages were officially recognized: Albanian, Catalan, German, Greek, Croatian, French, Franco-Provençal, Friulian, Ladin, Occitan, Sardinian and Slovene. Also, Italy signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 2000, although it has not as yet ratified it and it is also not clear which specific languages Italy considers for inclusion in the ratification. Nevertheless, the Italian state has indirectly recognized LIS in acts and laws. For example, there are two laws (no. 104/92 and no. 17/99) in which sign language and sign language users are indirectly referred to (Timmermans, Nina (2003) "A comparative analysis of the status of sign languages in Europe" Strasbourg. p. 3, 19). There is, however, an official qualification awarded by the Ministry for Public Instruction for Support Teachers for teachers of LIS. Teachers qualify if they have a certain degree of knowledge of LIS (as set down in law no. 104/92). These communication assistants have to facilitate communication between deaf students, their classmates and teachers and is part of a broader European project to better the position of the deaf ('''' p. 30-31). In April 2003, the Council of Europe encouraged the 45 member states to improve the position of sign languages in television broadcasting and to stimulate the subtitling of television programs. In Italy this has resulted in the closed captioning of two national television programs and that daily three news segments are interpreted with LIS ('''' p. 39-40)Education
There are three possible approaches education policy for students with 'special' education needs: firstly, a one-track approach where it is attempted to include all pupils within mainstream education, secondly, a multi-track approach where mainstream and special needs education systems exist next to each other with an attempt to link the two and, thirdly, a two-track approach where two distinct education systems exist and in which pupils with special educational needs are placed in special schools ( p. 24-5). As noted earlier, the recent trend in Italy, in line with the trend in the European Union, is the first approach – to include deaf students in mainstream schools. In Italy this is facilitated by providing teacher with supplementary materials and training. Relatively speaking, Italy started much earlier with developing and implementing inclusive policies than most other countries, resulting in a relatively mature program ( p. 24-5). However, learning LIS is generally not part of following mainstream education, but is only offered by private or state-owned schools specifically for the Deaf. "No opportunity is granted to the Deaf to learn Italian Sign Language, or especially to know other Deaf persons, while they attend the hearing school" (Fischer, Renate and Harlan L. Lane (1993) "Looking Back: A Reader on the History of Deaf communities and their Sign Languages" Volume 20 of the International studies on sign language and the communication of the deaf, Signum Press. p. 227). However, law no. 517/1977 guarantees parents the freedom to choose to which school they send their children, be it public schools together with hearing children or to schools specifically for the deaf (Corazza 1991). In total 25 deaf schools exist in Italy, offering various different teaching methods, depending on the school: sign language, oral and bilingual education.European Union of the Deaf (2011) "Italy" <Signing community
An important marker for the status of a signing community is the existence and viability of a national association for the deaf. An Italian National Association of the Deaf (''Ente Nazionale per la protezione e l'assistenza dei Sordi'') was founded in 1932 and became a full member of the European Union of the Deaf in 1985. Objectives of this not-for-profit foundation include promoting social inclusion, protecting their moral, civil, cultural and economic rights and promoting their dignity and full autonomy in all matters of life. The president and all six board members are deaf, though the only staff member, the executive director, is hearing. The foundation estimates that about 60,000 deaf live in Italy of which 32,000 are member of the foundation. On the strength of the community the Italian National Association of the Deaf reports the following facts. The foundation proposed draft bills to the government to recognize LIS as an official language and this was actually pre-approved by the Council of Ministers, but it was later suspended due to a political crisis. Moreover, two main sign language interpreter associations, ANIOS and ANIMU, co-exist in Italy that offer 82 and 200 interpreters, respectively. Furthermore, there are 103 provincial and 19 regional deaf clubs and there is a separate youth section within the foundation. Furthermore, the activities of several other parties for the Deaf are notable. Firstly, a website offering an encyclopedic service, comparable to Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia, based on LIS video lectures is available. Although somewhat outdated due to the rising popularity of mobile phones, a text-to-speech telephone service is still available in most parts of Italy as of 2011.MondoENS (2011) "Servizio Ponte Telefonico Regione Piemonte" <References
Relevant Literature
*Volterra, Virginia, Maria Roccaforte, Alessio Di Renzo, and Sabina Fontana. ''Italian Sign Language from a Cognitive and Socio-semiotic Perspective: Implications for a general language theory.'' (2022). John Benjamins.External links