Citizenship and Sign Bilingualism: “…There is nothing wrong with being bilingual…it’s a positive and fantastic thing!“

The issue of the education of deaf children is addressed in relation to citizenship and sign bilingualism. Citizenship is a contested concept and those who advocate a sign bilingual approach use the discourse of citizenship when arguing for the value of their method, but so too do other approaches. The sign bilingual approach may benefit from a deeper exposition of the ways in which the concept of citizenship is being shaped, particularly by revealing the phonocentric nature of citizenship and the non-statist values of sign bilingualism. Citizenship, however, does not inevitably have to be phonocentric; sign bilingualism can draw on the concept of social justice to pursue the case for a holistic approach to the education of deaf children.