Specialized sign language dictionaries of DGS

1 July 2010

Since 1994, specialist sign language dictionaries covering various fields have been published in the Fachgebärdenlexika series by Signum-Verlag. The specialist sign language dictionaries were compiled at the Institute of German Sign Language and Deaf Communication (IDGS) at the University of Hamburg and funded by the German Society for the Promotion of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the Department of Social Affairs, Family, Health, and Consumer Protection of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, and the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.

Specialized sign language dictionaries are intended to lay the foundation for more effective vocational training for the hearing impaired, incorporating sign language. Since the 1980s, the worldwide recognition of sign languages has opened up new opportunities for vocational training and further education for deaf people. Regardless of the still controversial discussion about the education and training of deaf people in the family and at school, there is no question today that the use of sign language in vocational training is a great enrichment for deaf young people and adults. Complicated issues can be communicated to hearing-impaired people who are proficient in sign language in their visual language just as differentiated and effectively as to hearing people in spoken language. This can be done by trainers who use sign language or by sign language interpreters who work in regular vocational training institutions for hearing-impaired people. In this way, the deficits in vocational training for deaf people that have been repeatedly identified can be largely eliminated.

Further information:

Research projects: Specialized sign language dictionaries