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signs@HWUsigns@HWU
SIGNS@HWU is a group of researchers who focus on sign language studies and Deaf Studies. We are situated in the Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies, Heriot-Watt University. SIGNS@HWU was established as a cluster of the Centre for Translation and Interpreting Studies in Scotland, to profile the world-leading interdisciplinary research being conducted at Heriot-Watt University.
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Deaf tourism in Bali
  • Visit the project website
  • Relevance: Completed
  • mobilities
    sign multilingualism
    tourism
    language attitudes/ideologies
  •  

This project examines what it is that makes deaf travel different, what advantages (or disadvantages) deaf people from different backgrounds may have when they travel, especially in terms of communication, language use, and networking with other deaf people, especially on social media. I am interested in deaf travellers who seek out contacts, deaf communities, schools, or clubs in the countries they visit. This project investigates how deaf tourists and deaf hosts/guides connect with each other and experience these encounters, especially given differences such as age, education, and linguistic resources, and how sameness and differences are negotiated. These differences include inequalities in financial capital and the ability to travel internationally. Using the lens of translanguaging, this project also investigates how national sign languages, International Sign, British Sign Language, American Sign Language, gestures, spoken and written English and/or Bahasa Indonesia are strategically used by deaf guests and their hosts, especially those who function as tour guides. Finally, a film was produced about how deaf tourists and their guides communicate with each other, as well as the other people involved in contexts such as transport, markets, and/or restaurants, and how these instances of communication and modality choices are experienced.

 

SIGNS@HWU people on this project:

Dr. Erin Moriarty

Project partners and funders:

This project is funded by the European Research Council, Project ID 714615
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