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<p>The question is if the article should include signed languages in general (which would probably lead to a major extension of the article if done properly), only ASL or none of them, or just a new link to a new article on signed languages as minority languages.</p>
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<p>For now, the article doesn't say much about the whole issue. If I apply the question to NTS (Norwegian Sign Language) the whole matter looks quite different from ASL (NTS was recognized as a language in the 80s/90s and as part of the Norwegian cultural heritage
by the Norwegian parliament in 2009, now, for the first time the Norwegian language council is preparing a language bill describing the rights for five different languages in Norway, including NTS).</p>
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<p>All the best</p>
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<p>Sonja </p>
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<p>---------</p>
<p>Sonja Erlenkamp</p>
<p>Professor in Signed Language Linguistics</p>
<p>University-College of Sør-Trøndelag</p>
<p>Department of teacher and interpreter education</p>
<p>7004 Trondheim</p>
<p>Norway </p>
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<div style="DIRECTION: ltr" id="divRpF556475"><font color="#000000" size="2" face="Tahoma"><b>Fra:</b> linguists interested in signed languages [SLLING-L@LISTSERV.VALENCIACOLLEGE.EDU] på vegne av Mark A.Mandel [mamandel@LDC.UPENN.EDU]<br>
<b>Sendt:</b> 31. januar 2012 19:42<br>
<b>To:</b> SLLING-L@LISTSERV.VALENCIACOLLEGE.EDU<br>
<b>Emne:</b> statistics on official recognition of SLs?<br>
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<div>The Wikipedia article "Minority languages" includes the paragraph (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_language#Controversy" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_language#Controversy</a>) </div>
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<div>Signed languages are often not recognized as true natural languages even though they are supported by extensive research. In the United States, for example, American Sign Language is the most used minority language yet almost the only minority language
which lacks official government recognition.[citation needed]</div>
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<div>How accurate are these statements? Can the paragraph and the article be improved with reliable and recent data?</div>
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<div><span style="WIDOWS: 2; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; TEXT-INDENT: 0px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; FONT: medium Helvetica; WHITE-SPACE: normal; ORPHANS: 2; LETTER-SPACING: normal; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); WORD-SPACING: 0px" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; WIDOWS: 2; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; FONT-VARIANT: normal; TEXT-INDENT: 0px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; WHITE-SPACE: normal; ORPHANS: 2; LETTER-SPACING: normal; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); WORD-SPACING: 0px" class="Apple-style-span">
<div style="WORD-WRAP: break-word"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; WIDOWS: 2; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; FONT-VARIANT: normal; TEXT-INDENT: 0px; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; WHITE-SPACE: normal; ORPHANS: 2; LETTER-SPACING: normal; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); WORD-SPACING: 0px" class="Apple-style-span">
<div style="WORD-WRAP: break-word">--<br>
Mark A. Mandel<br>
Linguistic Data Consortium<br>
University of Pennsylvania<br>
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