Speakers
Description
Sign language lexicography, a nascent subfield, remains relatively unexplored, primarily owing to the unique attributes of sign languages (McKee & Vale, 2017). The scarcity of sign language dictionaries is attributed to linguistic, financial, and social challenges (Vacalopoulou, 2020), with limited resources available since the pioneering Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles (Stokoe, Casterline, & Croneberg, 1965). This scarcity is particularly pronounced for Greek Sign Language (GSL) (Vacalopoulou, Efthimiou, & Vasilaki, 2018), leading to accessibility issues for GSL-native children. Addressing the dearth of resources for Greek Sign Language as the primary language (L1) in Greece, this presentation details the development of an online bilingual Modern Greek—Greek Sign Language school dictionary catering to senior elementary deaf children in Greece. To effectively facilitate Greek language education for deaf and hearing-impaired students, the dictionary establishes semantic links between words and signs, offering comprehensive translations and definitions in Greek to mitigate language ambiguity encountered by this student demographic. Developed as an online resource, the dictionary utilizes web technologies, ensuring accessibility for school and university students seeking proficiency in both Greek and Greek Sign Language through a userfriendly interface. The paper unfolds in several sections: firstly, a comprehensive description of sign language, with a focus on GSL, is presented along with a review of existing GSL lexicographical products. Subsequently, the paper advocates for the importance of lexicographic protocols in dictionary creation, referencing established protocols (Gouws & Prinsloo, 2005; Klosa, 2013), and delineates the criteria influencing the choice of the lexicographic protocol for this dictionary. An overview of the organizational plan is provided, followed by an exploration of the five conceptualization plan phases and a detailed presentation of the dictionary’s macrostructural, microstructural characteristics, and general features. The paper meticulously outlines the procedural aspects, lexicographic functions, and the challenges encountered during the dictionary creation process. It is a pedagogical dictionary that aims to strengthen students’ speech and is based on didactic approaches. The layout of the electronic dictionary will be alphabetical as well as thematic, icons will be used instead of lexicographic signs and illustrations will be used to make the environment friendlier. Besides, we must not forget that deaf and hard of hearing students, with natural sign language, are familiar with imagery. Lexicographical information is rendered in color. In terms of its macrostructure, it is a multifunctional pedagogical dictionary suitable for school use (children aged 9–12 years) and emphasis is placed on distinguishing the metaphorical from the literal meaning. Usage examples, synonyms and antonyms are also provided. Compilation of dictionaries must be a transparent process that follows strict lexicographic protocols, so that dictionaries are valid and reliable. Arbitrary dictionary style is often due to a lack of organization and coordination. However, the lexical graphic protocol is not a frequent practice because it is a timeconsuming process and therefore a reduced number of researchers follow it. This results in the production of dictionaries of low quality or those that do not meet the needs of the user (Tarp, 2009). The dictionary production process leads lexicographers to adhere to defined criteria of design and organization. A dictionary graphic protocol is a series of simple and defined evidence-based steps and choices that are recorded and applied consistently during dictionary development and are available to the scientific community to ensure transparency in dictionary compilation. It is essentially a process that determines the criteria of macrostructure, microstructure and mesostructure and all the theoretical issues related to the metalinguistic information of the dictionary. Following are some specific design steps for the dictionary. The lexicographic design of the dictionary was designed following the below phases: 1. preparation 2. data acquisition 3. computer processing 4. data analysis 5. release preparation. This research addresses pressing issues and augments existing knowledge in inclusive and pedagogical lexicography. The proliferation of resources such as the presented dictionary is pivotal in fostering equality and inclusivity within the Greek education system for the deaf community.
