Singapore Sign Language
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A language of Singapore
Alternate Names
SGSL, SgSL
User Population
6,000 (2021 DBS/DOOR/SIL). Estimated signing deaf, assuming 0.1% of total population. Very few monolinguals.
Location
Scattered.
Language Status
5 (Developing).
Dialects
None known. Strong influence from sign language in Shanghai, American Sign Language (ASL) [ase] and systems of signed English, with some locally-developed signs.
Language Use
Vigorous. Home, church, commerce. Used by all. Positive attitudes. All also use English [eng].
Language Development
Literacy rate in L2: 70% estimated in English [eng] and (or) Chinese. It is difficult for the deaf to learn to read and maintain their reading skills. Agency: Singapore Association for the Deaf.
Singapore Chinese Sign School for the Deaf (SCSSD) founded 1954, using Shanghainese Sign Language (SSL), a variety of Chinese Sign Language [csl]; it merged with the oral deaf school in 1963 to form Singapore School for the Deaf (SSD). Strong oralist influence in language policies and education starting 1983 (Low and Tay 2016). American Sign Language (ASL) [ase], Signing Exact English (SEE2), and Total Communication introduced in schools in the 1970s, but since 2014, SSD uses SgSL for instruction and teaches English as a second language; other schools use other approaches. Interpreters and sign language classes available through Singapore Association for the Deaf (Singapore Association for the Deaf 2016).