La comunidad sorda colombiana y el discurso de la lengua como derecho humano: problematizando una dicotomía de inclusión-exclusión

Abstract

With the expectation of raising social awareness about the invisibility and general disregard for diverse linguistic communities in Colombia, this research explored the official discourse of language as a human right of the Colombian MEN and UNESCO about its positioning of the Colombian Deaf Community (CDC). Issues associated with the dichotomy of inclusion-exclusion of CDC as a linguistic minority were discussed from a theoretical perspective. Such discussion was in the light of the theoretical constructs of language as a human right and the construction of the Other (Foucault, 2008; Riggins, 1997; Phillipson & Skutnabb-Kangas, 2017a). The study used principles of Fairclough & Fairclough’s (2012) CPDA model, which in turn was framed within the qualitative and interpretive paradigms. The focus of analysis was on two official documents: National Ten-year Education Plan 2016–2026 (Colombian MEN) and Education in a Multilingual World (UNESCO); research methodology and data analysis followed Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday, 1985, 1996; Flowerdew, 2013) at one initial and descriptive stage in preparation for a second interpretive and a third explicative stage of CPDA (Fairclough & Fairclough, 2012). Findings revealed that the inclusion-exclusion dichotomy is characterized by the continuous dual re-construction of the CDC in official and non-official discourses, as well as the continuous struggles in the construction of language (as a human right).