Eyasu Tamene
Gallaudet University

Join in person: Room 401B, 3401 Walnut St.
Join via Zoom: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/97106379648

Overview of African Sign Languages
The purpose of this presentation is two: introduce basic facts about African sign languages and their Deaf communities plus sensitize researchers and scholars to focus their research on documentation of African sign languages. It will cover topics of language use, attitude, Deaf education, challenges and opportunities. It will also introduce a new initiative called African Sign Languages Resource Center (ASLRC) as part of the solution to the prevailing challenges of Deaf education in Africa.

Brief Bio
Eyasu Hailu Tamene (Ph.D.) is a Fulbright African Scholar 2021 recipient from Ethiopia. His background is linguistics: BA in General Linguistics (2001), MA in Sociolinguistics (2007) and PhD in Sign sociolinguistics (2015). He joined the Deaf World in 2005 where he got a chance to work for Ethiopian National Association of the Deaf (ENAD), in a position of Lexicographer/ Linguist. It gave him a chance to learn sign language, work with Deaf people and make social acquaintances.

The topic of his PhD was The Sociolinguistics of Ethiopian Sign Language: A Study of Language Use and Attitude which was published by Gallaudet University Press and available on Amazon. He is one of the founders of Africa’s first BA program in Ethiopian Sign Language and Deaf Culture in 2008 at Addis Ababa University. Currently, he is Assistant Prof. of Ethiopian Sign Language and Deaf Studies at the same.