Sign multilingualism

Abstract

This volume shares findings and innovations from the MULTISIGN project ("Multilingual behaviour in sign language users”, European Research Council grant agreement no. 263647). This study encompassed five years of intensive research (2011 to 2016) and laid the groundwork for a new linguistic sub-field, Sign Multilingualism Studies. MULTISIGN contributed toward establishing Sign Multilingualism Studies as a sub-field by demonstrating the array of research questions, methodologies, and findings that scholars can exploit in this area, and collecting large and diverse data sets to examine sign language users’ bi- and multilingual behaviours in various situations. The three strands of the project – cross-signing, sign-switching, and sign-speaking – have several overarching findings in common, including the salience of metalinguistic skills and the role of social learning in communities of practice. Moreover, the typological profile of the languages involved, sociolinguistic norms, individual linguistic backgrounds, and the surrounding linguistic environments all play a role in bi- and multilingual outputs. Findings from this project constitute the main content of this volume. By identifying the scope of Sign Multilingualism Studies and its relationships with other areas of linguistics, MULTISIGN paved the way for further research to be integrated into this sub-field.