Contribution of Deaf Researchers of Ukraine to the Development of the National Sign Language

Abstract

The paper traces the development of the Ukrainian National Sign Language. It highlights the challenges relating to the introduction and application of national sign languages in former Soviet republics, and gives an account of the painstaking activities of the Ukrainian Society of the Deaf and the Sign Language Laboratory. The SL Laboratory, which includes deaf members as well as members belonging to deaf families, widely engages in research, USL teaching and teacher training. It organizes regular nationwide conferences on SL issues and actively collaborates with local, regional and international organizations. The current objective of the Laboratory is to promote the linguistic study of SL aimed at the development of the national academic sign language – the language of the Deaf. The paper is introduced by a note from Professor Tamar Makharoblidze of Ilia State University (Tbilisi, Georgia).