Benin

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Basic information of the country/area
Name of the country/area Benin
Formal name of the country/area Republic of Benin
Country/area information The World Factbook (CIA)
Wikipedia (English)


Contents

Local sign for "Benin"

sign for Benin

Spoken languages

French


Sign languages

Francophone African Sign Language


Related sign languages:

American Sign Language


Population of Deaf/deaf people

The National Government’s official number of Deaf people : 12,512.  (WFD. 2008. Global Survey Report. : See Bibliography below.)


Legal status of sign languages

  • Status of the National Sign Language(s) from WFD. 2008. Global Survey Report. (See Bibliography below).

1. The country’s government does not formally recognise the country’s sign language(s).

2. Deaf Association/Deaf Group does not lobby the government for the recognition of the country’s sign language(s), because, American Sign Language is accepted tacitly in education, information and communication. There is no opposition to this from the authorities.



Organizations and associations of the Deaf/deaf

Association Nationale des Sourds du Benin (WFD member; established in 1988. (WFD. 2008. Global Survey Report. : See Bibliography below.))


Institutes, associations and universities for sign language studies

Education for the deaf

  • Access to Education from WFD. 2008. Global Survey Report. (See Bibliography below).

1.The government recognizes that Deaf children and Deaf students have the right to receive an education.

2.Legislation or policies on Deaf Education:

None

3.The government provides those educational settings for Deaf children and Deaf students:

Early intervention (Up to 5 years old)
Kindergarten (Between 3/4 years old to 5/6 years old)
Primary (From 5/6 years old to 12/13 years old)
Secondary (From 12/13 years old to 17/18 years old)

4.The government provides bilingual education using the country’s sign language(s) for Deaf children and Deaf students in those educational settings:

None

5.Total number of schools specifically for Deaf children and Deaf students in the country, and the educational approach for communicating with Deaf children and students at the Deaf School:

One state Deaf school, Five private schools for Deaf : Oral and Sign Language (Total Communication)

6.Deaf people’s access to a University education and sign language interpreting services at University:

The only national university accepts Deaf students without discrimination as long as their disability doesn’t constitute a barrier to their education.
Sign language interpreting services are not available.


Sign language interpretation

  • Status of Sign Language Interpreting Services from WFD. 2008. Global Survey Report. (See Bibliography below).

1.The number of sign language interpreters in the country:

None: Teachers of the Deaf are used as voluntary interpreters but there are no qualified interpreters

2. Sign language interpreting qualifications.

None

3.The provider of the sign language interpreting services:

None

4.The payment for interpreting services, and those who are responsible for paying:

Sign language interpreters do not receive payment for interpreting services

5.Sign language interpreters do not provide voluntary service for all sign language interpreting assignments.

6.National Association of Sign Language Interpreters:

None

7.National Code of Ethics for sign language interpreters:

None

8.Legislation or policy in the country which states that the government has a responsibility for the provision of sign language :

None


Deaf communities and cultures

Ahoe, Abou. 1999. "Benin Hosts Visitors from Gabon Observes Week of the Deaf." WFD News 12(1): April 1999. 30

Religious activities by the Deaf

Famous Deaf persons and hearing persons concerned with sign languages

Sign language dictionaries

The country does not have a sign language dictionary ( WFD. 2008. Global Survey Report. (See Bibliography below)).


Bibliography

World Federation of the Deaf and Swedish National Association of the Deaf. 2008. Global Survey Report. WFD Regional Secretariat for Western and Central Africa Region (WFD WCAR). Global Education Pre-Planning Project on the Human Rights of Deaf People. World Federation of the Deaf. Finland.

Kamei, Nobutaka. 2006. Liberty of sign language in the development process: A paradox of language liberty of the Deaf and the economic affluence. In: World Trend (Institute of Developing Economies). 135 (December 2006): 16-19.

Kamei, Nobutaka. 2006. History of Deaf people and sign languages in Africa: Fieldwork in the "kingdom" derived from Andrew J. Foster. Tokyo: Akashi Shoten. [2007 JASID Award for Excellent Work by Young Researchers, Japan Society for International Development, November 2007]

Kamei, Nobutaka. 2006. The Birth of Langue des Signes Franco-Africaine : Creole ASL in West and Central French-Speaking Africa. In Sign Language Communication Studies (Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies, Japanese Federation of the Deaf) 59(2006.03):67-68.[ Report of the session at the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington DC Dec. 1. 2005 7:45 PM–9:30 PM. "Endangered World Languages : Sign Languages and Their Variations". Including information of Benin, Cameroon and Gabon ]

Kamei, Nobutaka. 2005. The Deaf in Africa (10) Teacher training by the Deaf Foster generation of today. In: Sign Language Communication Studies (Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies, Japanese Federation of the Deaf) 57(2005.09):41-47.

Kamei, Nobutaka. 2005. The Deaf in Africa (9) Teacher training by the Deaf. In: Sign Language Communication Studies (Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies, Japanese Federation of the Deaf) 56(2005.06):45-52.

Kamei, Nobutaka. 2004. The Deaf in Africa (7) Expansion of missionary education for the Deaf. Appendix : A letter from Benin. In: Sign Language Communication Studies (Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies, Japanese Federation of the Deaf) 53(2004.09):56-62.

Kamei, Nobutaka. 2004. The Deaf in Africa (5) Deaf views of America In: Sign Language Communication Studies (Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies, Japanese Federation of the Deaf) 51(2004.03):55-62.


Researchers

History of sign language research

Events

Links

Deaf cultures and Sign Languages of the world: Benin


Notes

Countries and areas of Africa
Africa (general) Africa (general)
North Africa Algeria | Egypt | Libya | Morocco | Tunisia
West Africa Benin | Burkina Faso | Cote d'Ivoire | Gambia | Ghana | Guinea | Guinea-Bissau | Liberia | Mali | Mauritania | Niger | Nigeria | Senegal | Sierra Leone | Togo
Island states in the Atlantic Ocean Cape Verde | Sao Tome and Principe
Central Africa Burundi | Cameroon | Central African Republic | Chad | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Equatorial Guinea | Gabon | Republic of the Congo | Rwanda
East Africa Djibouti | Eritrea | Ethiopia | Kenya | Somalia | South Sudan | Sudan | Tanzania | Uganda
Southern Africa Angola | Botswana | Lesotho | Malawi | Mozambique | Namibia | South Africa | Swaziland | Zambia | Zimbabwe
Island states in the Indian Ocean Comoros | Madagascar | Mauritius | Seychelles
Areas and others Western Sahara
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