Deaf Education and the Use of Sign Language in Mainland China

Abstract

This chapter discusses the Chinese government’s policies and laws dealing with the education of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students. In policy, priority is given to placement of DHH learners in mainstream education. Listening and speech rehabilitation services for DHH preschoolers are discussed. These have been developed and provided for a long time. Currently, approaches to language teaching for students at schools for the deaf are diversifying because the initiative focusing on Chinese General Sign Language will be applied nationwide in 2018. However, due to Chinese culture and traditional education practices, teachers who work with DHH students find themselves culturally at odds with the use of sign language and tend to stick to their own, different views on the “Learning in Regular Classrooms” policy.