A Study Of Sign Language Services In The Medical Field

Attention to the language needs of special groups has become an important part of the national language policy.Sign language services are an important part of the needs of special populations.It covers a range of language service measures provided by the government,society,and enterprises to eliminate communication barriers for people with hearing impairment and to promote better integration of people with hearing impairment into society.Deaf-assistance Clinic is one of the core hospital sign language services and is gradually becoming an important place for deaf people to seek medical treatment.In this context,it is of great practical significance to explore the content of sign language services in Deaf-assistance clinics.This study uses an ethnographic approach to conduct year-long field research,collecting a rich type of data,including interview texts,field notes,photographs,educational materials,and policy texts through three main methods: participant observation,interviews,and text collection.In analyzing the data,this paper selected Language Management Theory to analyze the language practice of multiple actors in the Deaf-assistance Clinic,further to explore the current language management behaviors in the Deaf-assistance Clinic,and to summarise the sign language service models behind them.This study found that the Deaf-assistance Clinic has a system in place,with specific management mechanisms and teams.Secondly,the language practices in the Deaf-assistance Clinic are very diverse: the sign language interpreter is the central role and needs to be highly motivated to deal with the complex language environment.Deaf patients have very different language needs and language problems due to their sign language ability and personal experiences.Volunteers play an important supporting role in the whole process of sign language services.Each medical staff has their own way of language practice when facing deaf patients alone.The study also concluded that the linguistic environment is complex in the Deaf-assistance Clinic and significant differences exist in language practice behaviors within and outside the unit.In addition,the Deaf-assistance Clinic,as an independent organization,has developed a unique language management model,including the simple language management of sign language interpreters,the organized language management of the Deaf-assistance Clinic,and its own unique sign language services.This study takes the less-noticed sign language services for the deaf community as an entry point and explores the content of their sign language services at the organizational level as well as at the micro-individual level by combining Language Management Theory,which has some theoretical value.It also has some reference value for the construction of Deaf-assistance Clinics in hospitals in the future.