Challenges in Sign Language Bible Translation

Bible translation into sign languages is a relatively new phenomenon. In the early 1980s the first efforts were made to start a Bible translation into American Sign Language. Many of the challenges in those days were technological. The speed with which technology has developed since then has made Bible translation into sign languages a worldwide possibility. And although some challenges with technology and Scripture engagement remain, the main challenges nowadays are related to factors such as the educational context and the demographics of Deaf communities. Deaf signing communities are the only communities in the world where the majority of children do not learn their first language from their parents, and thus do not learn a first language in a natural way if their parents do not sign. It has been shown that impoverished language in early childhood affects the development of complex sentence structure, resulting in a wide range of fluency among Deaf signers. In addition, in many parts of the world deaf people do not have full access to education in a language they can understand. If there are schools for the Deaf, teachers may not sign fluently, or even sign at all, and often there are no professional interpreters. Similarly, in many places there are no Deaf churches or Deaf pastors. All these factors make Bible translation into sign languages a necessary but also a difficult job. What level of sign language should be used in a translation? How can Deaf people do translation work without knowing a written language well? And how does a predominantly hearing church view or use the translated Scriptures? This article will focus on these challenges, considering both the technological challenges and the headway that has been made over the past decades, and the more fundamental challenges of Deaf education and demography. Finally, the ethical challenges are considered that come into play when hearing organizations get involved in sign language translation work.