Mary's Take (Linguistics and More)

I’m delighted to share that my latest co-authored chapter with Dr. George Akanlig-Pare has been published by Oxford University Press in The Oxford Handbook of Language and Prejudice, edited by Jane Setter and colleagues. Chapter Title: Cultural Stigmatization and Linguistic Prejudice in Deaf Education in Ghana Read the chapter here Understanding the Context Across the world, Deaf communities have long faced linguistic prejudice and cultural marginalization, often driven by misunderstanding and neglect of sign languages. In Ghana, this challenge is compounded by educational policies that fail to recognize sign language as a legitimate medium of instruction. Our chapter situates this issue within a historical and sociolinguistic framework, showing how colonial education systems, societal perceptions of deafness, and policy gaps have shaped the experience of Deaf learners in Ghana. We trace this trajectory from the early missionary schools founded by Andrew Foster in the 1950s, through ye...