ABSTRACT
This chapter explores participants’ attitudes towards the Myanmar Sign Language Standardisation Project. Perceptions of language standardisation are shown to be grounded in the realities of community life, influenced by a diverse array of experiences, values, ideologies and agendas. As a result, responses to the Standardisation Project were multifarious, complex and at times conflicting. The discussion demonstrates how participants in the younger generation at times appropriate the standardised language as a useful expedient for achieving linguistic citizenship and fostering respect for their own language and culture. However, the findings further show that participants seek to safeguard the vitality of YSL and their unique linguistic identity by articulating their own unofficial policy regarding community use of the standardised language.
