Singapore's sociolinguistic landscape, shaped by its colonial history since 1819, has deeply impacted both society and the local deaf community (Tay & Ng, 2022). The nation's evolution from British colonialism to independence in 1965 has been marked by various political and social transitions. Post-independence, the promotion of English-based bilingualism has been integral to nation-building. While the roles of different languages in Singapore's language policy and planning are widely discussed, historical records overlook their effects on the deaf community. 

The first documented deaf individual in Singapore, a Chinese immigrant from Shanghai, established the inaugural deaf school in 1954, teaching Shanghainese Sign Language (SSL) and Mandarin. This marked the beginning of education for deaf children in Singapore which was later influenced by U.S. deaf education trends. A pivotal moment occurred in 1976 with the introduction of Signing Exact English (SEE), aligning with the English-based bilingual approach. The subsequent decision to replace SSL with SEE had significant consequences, leading to internal divisions within the deaf community, affecting its cohesion and deaf identity development. 

This presentation charts the origins of Singapore Sign Language (SgSL), providing key insights into its history. It explores multilingualism in Singapore, considering both local language dynamics and external forces from a social and historical perspective. Through narrative interviews, the interplay of different language ideologies, including various sign languages, sign systems, and written/spoken languages in Singapore, is examined. The study also delves into how both internal factors, such as the local language ecology, and external factors, including international trends in deaf education, shape the identities of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in Singapore. 

References 

Tay, P., & Ng, B. C. (2022). Revisiting the past to understand the present: The linguistic ecology of the Singapore Deaf Community and the historical evolution of singapore sign language (Sgsl). Frontiers in Communication, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.748578