3.3. Language attitudes
In the past, LSC used to be named with the terms mimics or gestural language. It was not until 1988 that the term llengua de signes catalana (Catalan Sign Language) started to be used. However, it was much before 1988 that Catalan signers started being aware that they were using a different language than the one used in the rest of the Spanish territory. In 1978, the first National Theater Week was organized by the State Confederation for the Deaf (back then named FNSSE). A group from Barcelona performed a play that week, which was not understood by the rest of the participants coming from other areas of Spain. Moreover, a Catalan association that was dedicated to the creation of videos in sign language for the purpose of sales realized that sales outside Catalonia were not possible because the sign language they were using was not understood. Later on, a scientific study on variation of sign language in Spain was done in 1998 by Parkhurst & Parkhurst. Based on linguistic criteria, these authors classified LSC as a different language from the rest of the varieties used in the Spanish territory.
The use of the term LSC to differentiate their own language from LSE highlights the importance for the Catalan Deaf community to recognize LSC as a separate language connected to a different identity and culture. Catalan deaf signers see LSC as their natural way of communicating with other deaf people. Thus, LSC is the language that allows them to strengthen social relations.
Regarding education, among signers there is a general rejection of mainstream schooling that sometimes isolate them amidst hearing peers with the alleged aim of integration in mainstream society. This integration in practice isolates them and prevents them from using LSC with other deaf children in their daily lives.
With respect to the standardization of LSC, there was some disagreement with the way in which neologisms are introduced in the language. Unlike what happens with spoken languages, sign creation in LSC were sometimes made on an ad hoc basis and separately from everyday use. These changes come mainly from LSC teachers or interpreters in order to fulfill a specific need in their classes. This way of introducing neologisms has not always been welcome by the rest of the community, as these changes do not always reach all members of the Deaf community, and some LSC signers may feel left aside in these decisions.
Nowadays, however, the standardization process is being led by the Catalan Academy of Sciences and Humanities (Institut d’Estudis Catalans) [SOCIOHISTORICAL BACKGROUND 3.1] that takes as an example the process carried out for the normalization of spoken Catalan. The starting point of standardization of LSC is the creation corpus project [SOCIOHISTORICAL BACKGROUND 3.1] that takes into account signers from all over the Catalan territory in order to offer a representative sample of the language. Normalization of LSC, thus, will help to raise awareness about the own language among its users.
In Catalonia (as well as in most western countries), only the 5-10 % of deaf children have deaf parents and can acquire sign language in a natural environment during the first years of their lives. The rest, 90-95 % of deaf children, are born in hearing families where spoken language is the language for communication, and sign language is an unknown language. These hearing families are often advised by doctors that see deafness as a medical issue that needs to and can be healed, and thus cochlear implants are recommended to these families in every case. Moreover, most of the speech therapists that will treat these children share the view that integration in society is strictly dependent on the use of spoken language. Professionals working within this perspective (the oralist perspective) reject the use of LSC since they argue that sign language interferes in a negative way with the acquisition of spoken language. However, cochlear implants are not a guarantee of success for all deaf children. In many cases, it has been attested that the acquisition of spoken language in a deaf child is not enough for his/her complete linguistic and cognitive development. LSC is thus primarily seen as a technical help for hearing impairment, mostly when spoken language acquisition turns out to be insufficient, and not as a natural language worthy of being acquired in parallel.
Nevertheless, reality is different. Many scientific studies show that the acquisition of two or more languages is not an obstacle for the linguistic development of a deaf child. Based on these studies, sign language is a benefit, a safety net for natural language acquisition during the first years of life. Sign languages are easily and naturally acquired by deaf children and serve as a base for the acquisition of other languages (spoken or signed).