• In the language itself: Llengua de signes catalana (LSC)
• ISO 639-3 standard: csc

• Classification: Sign Language → French Sign Language family. For more information, see Cata1241 at Glottolog
• Script: No script

As Catalan Sign Language is not a spoken language, it does not have a standardised orthography. Although it does not have a standard variety yet¹⁾, the Government of Catalonia does provide a basic vocabulary corpus in cooperation with FESOCA, the Federation of Deaf People in Catalonia (Federació d'Associacions de Sords de Catalunya).

Catalan Sign Language is used in the autonomous community of Catalonia in Spain. The main variety is centred around Barcelona, where many influential schools, centres and clubs have been established^{2) 3)}. There are four main dialectal areas: Eastern, Central, Coastal and Menorcan⁴⁾. The latter variety has emerged due to a a small number of signers of LSC on the Balearic island of Menorca, whereas on the neighboring islands of Mallorca and Ibiza (Eivissa), varieties of the Spanish Sign Language (LSE) are used⁵⁾.

In contrast with the bilingual situation of the hearing community in Catalonia, who uses Catalan and Spanish, there is no prevalent LSC-LSE bilingualism in the Deaf community: signers in Catalonia almost exclusively use LSC^{6) 7)}.

The LSC movement is influenced by the current sociopolitical situation of Catalonia, as similar beliefs and ideas are applied by the Catalan Deaf community in the strive for sign language recognition^{8) 9)}.

There is no official census for the number of LSC signers. FESOCA estimates that there are around 25,000 users of LSC in the Catalan territory¹⁰⁾, of which around 12,000 are deaf signers¹¹⁾.

The Escola Municipal de Sordmuts de Barcelona (Barcelona Municipal School for Deaf-Mutes) was established at the beginning of the 19th century and existed in the brief period between 1800 and 1802. This institution can be considered pioneer work of the education of deaf children in Catalonia¹²⁾. The establishment of the school was supported by the municipal government of Barcelona (Ajuntament de Barcelona), but not by the Spanish crown, who however gave support to a similar school in Madrid. At the Escola Municipal de Sordmuts de Barcelona, educator Joan Albert Martí used oral instruction methods in order to teach pupils reading and writing¹³⁾.

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, similar schools were installed outside of Barcelona¹⁴⁾. Teaching followed a strictly oralist approach, since the Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf held in Milan in 1880 had led to the agreement to solely focus on spoken language and to exclude sign languages from education^{15) 16)}. In spite of that, the communication among deaf students at these schools in Catalonia ensured the transmission and continuous use of LSC¹⁷⁾.

It was not until the end of the twentieth century that LSC was formally integrated into educational settings^{18) 19)}. In 1994, LSC was incorporated into bilingual education processes in regular education and in special schools, and the first LSC language learning materials were created²⁰⁾.

In the school year of 1997/1998, three different educational models for deaf childrens' compulsory education (age three to sixteen) were approved by the Catalan school administration:

• oral education in mainstream schools
• bilingual education (LSC and Catalan & Spanish) in a specialised centre for deaf students
• bilingual education in a centre of joint education (both hearing and non-hearing learners)²¹⁾

Catalan Sign Language is not protected by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. However, Spain signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007, with Article 12.4 providing the protection of “specific cultural and linguistic identity, including sign languages and deaf culture” and Article 24.3.c urging for the education of deaf persons (especially children) “in the most appropriate languages and modes and means of communication for the individual”²²⁾.

Protection and recognition of Catalan Sign Language have ocurred on the local and national level.

In 1994, the Catalan Government, influenced by the efforts of FESOCA, passed a “Nonbinding resolution on the promotion and dissemination of sign language knowledge” (Proposició no de llei sobre la promoció i la difusió del coneixement del llenguatge de signes). However, its objectives, such as the adoption of LSC into bilingual education and the promotion of LSC research, fell short in reality²³⁾.

The new Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia from 2006 was the first legal recognition of LSC as a language by providing it constitutional recognition within the Catalan autonomous community. Article 50.6 protects, promotes and guarantees the use of LSC: “The public authorities shall guarantee the use of Catalan sign language and conditions of equality for deaf people who choose to use this language, which shall be the subject of education, protection, and respect.”²⁴⁾.

Right after the enactment of the 2006 Statute, the Spanish Courts passed Law 27/2007 ‘By Which Spanish Sign Languages Are Recognised and Means of Support for Spoken Communication by Deaf People Are Regulated’ (Ley 27/2007, de 23 de octubre, por la que se reconocen las lenguas de signos española y se regulan los medios de apoyo a la comunicación oral de las personas sordas, con discapacidad auditiva y sordociegas) on a national level, which recognises the existence of Spanish Sign Language (LSE) and LSC. It acknowledges that LSC is the language used by deaf individuals in Catalonia and that its development was influenced by its geographical, historical and cultural environment. The law only provided regulations for LSE, as the responsibility of regulations for LSC was transferred to the Catalan Government²⁵⁾.

On 3 June 2010, Law 17/2010 on Catalan Sign Language (Llei 17/2010, del 3 de juny, de la llengua de signes catalana) was enacted by the Catalan Parliament. Important regulations of this law include:

• The bilingual model in education is guaranteed as part of the Catalan educational system together with Catalan and the other languages of Catalonia. Guardians of deaf and deafblind children must be informed on this, so they can choose between an oral or bilingual model of education.
• A professional degree in Catalan Sign Language must be made available.
• Educational departments must ensure that teaching staff who work with deaf and deafblind people using Catalan Sign Language have the corresponding training and accreditation.
• The Government must prioritise research agreements on Catalan Sign Language with the Institut d'Estudis Catalans and universities.
• The educational departments must establish professional qualifications for Catalan Sign Language interpreters²⁶⁾.

The Consell Social de la Llengua de Signes Catalana (Social Council of Catalan Sign Language) is an assessment and consultancy organ which supports the Catalan Government in the following areas:

• questions related to the fostering of LSC, also taking into account the prevention of sexist language
• adequate measures to comply with the objectives of the Law on Catalan Sign Language
• evaluation of the objectives and results of actions related to LSC by the Governmental Administration (Administració de la Generalitat)²⁷⁾

Although there are some teaching materials edited by the DOMAD (Departament de Documentació i d'Elaboració de Materials Didàctics, i.e., Department of Documentation and Elaboration of Teaching Materials) of FESOCA, most LSC teachers tend to create their own educational materials²⁸⁾.

Some bilingual educational centres employ at least one qualified deaf teacher who is authorised to teach regular subjects and LSC, and give speech therapy (for example in the primary education centres Escola Municipal Tres Pins, Escola Bressol Municipal Forestier and Centre d'Educació Especial Josep Pla in Barcelona). Some of these teachers, however, are employed by multiple schools at the same time. Moreover, some centres collaborate with so-called 'deaf advisers', unqualified individuals with a high proficiency in LSC, whose function is to support the sign language learning process of deaf students and to be their role model²⁹⁾.

At Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), there is a Centre for the Study of LSC called LSC-UPF Actua. This centre is dedicated to the study, teaching, knowledge and transmission of LSC on a global level. Its main objectives include the contribution to the amplification of avilable teaching and learning resources and the participation in training activities³⁰⁾. In terms of resources and training, LSC-UPF Actua is involved in experimental research, the development of new teaching materials, and teaching innovation projects in various areas of LSC and conducts internal and external training sessions at UPF directed at deaf teachers, other professionals from the field, and sign language interpreters³¹⁾.

Members of FESOCA, the Catalan Association of Families of Deaf Children APANSCE (Associació de famílies d’infants sords de Catalunya), and the collective platform Volem Signar i Escoltar (We Want to Sign and Hear) have expressed the need for more measures guaranteeing educational language rights. The current educational environment is criticised as inaccesible in terms of administration and linguistic support for deaf students in educational institutions at all levels³²⁾.The perceived ineffectiveness of LSC education could be attributed to a lack of budget, as the LSC-Law was passed during an economic crisis and no budget has previously been ascribed to the legislations³³⁾.

Volem Signar i Escoltar criticised the fact that only four educational centres, among which only one mainstream school, guaranteed LSC interpretation in all school hours in 2020³⁴⁾. Besides, associations Volem Signar i Escoltar and APANSCE collected signatures demanding Escola Municipal Tres Pins in Barcelona (Poble Sec) to offer bilingual secondary education. In 2023, there were a total of 19 deaf children enrolled at this school, and for the first time in 30 years, none of them at the pre-school level. The president of Volem Signar i Escoltar, Marian González, criticised the approach of bilingual kindergarten Escola Bressol Municipal Forestier, located in the same area as Tres Pins. According to her, this centre views LSC as a “plan B” for deaf children and does not grant them their full rights to first language education in sign language³⁵⁾.

Members (or guardians) of the Deaf and Deafblind community in Catalonia are allowed the choice of educational modality including bilingual (both oral and signed) or cross-modal educational programmes, in which both LSC and Catalan are used as teaching languages³⁶⁾.

In the school-year of 2019/2020, 185 deaf children in Catalonia were educated in a bilingual education programme, while the rest of the deaf students, approximately 1700 children and young adults, were schooled only through an oral education programme³⁷⁾.

In the school year of 2022/2023, Escola Municipal Tres Pins in Barcelona was the only Catalan school where deaf and hearing students were educated together during the six years of primary education, until reaching secondary education (Educació Secundària Obligatòria/Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, short ESO). ESO needs to be attended by students aged twelve to sixteen. However, in 2022/2023, no educational centre in Catalonia offered the bilingual model at the ESO-level³⁸⁾. Therefore, when moving from primary education to ESO, students either need to opt for special needs centres or mainstream oral language schools.

After completing ESO and moving on to Batxillerat/Bachillerato, the level where the secondary school diploma required for higher education is obtained, deaf students can be accompanied by a LSC interpreter paid for by the Catalan Government³⁹⁾.

In higher education, the presence of sign language is very limited, although interpreters may be available⁴⁰⁾. Since 2008/2009, the first university BA degree in LSC interpreting has been offered in Barcelona⁴¹⁾. A training course for Catalan sign language teaching specialists (LSC) began at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) in September 2017⁴²⁾.

Various LSC classes are offered for hearing adults. The language can be studied in associations of the Deaf community, for example in 17 of the 27 associations of the FESOCA. In 2016, 703 people registered for classes at one of these FESOCA centres. Usually, classes are conducted by deaf teachers⁴³⁾.

• FESOCA is the Federation of Deaf People in Catalonia. They offer LSC classes ranging from CEFR-level A1 to B2, as well as introductory LSC workshops and talks on the Deaf community. On their website, they explain their educational offers.

• AGILS Accessibilitat is a consultancy dedicated to accessibility for people with sensorial (auditive and visual) disabilities. They provide information on (current) LSC courses on their website.

• Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona) offers a 6-week introduction to Catalan Sign Language.

• The Government of Catalonia provides an interactive map of LSC course centres, a basic vocabulary corpus and special terminology resources.

• The Portal de la Llengua de Signes Catalana (Portal of the Catalan Sign Language) provides introductory grammar lessons.

• AGILS Accesibilitat teaches the LSC manual alphabet.