Toward the Creation of a Large-Scale Moroccan Sign Language Corpus

Abstract: This article reports on an ongoing research project that aims to build a foundation for research on Moroccan Sign Language (MSL) by creating a large-scale MSL corpus. The research results of a feasibility study are provided. MSL is largely understudied, and there is considerable stigma against deafness and sign language use in Morocco. This work addresses these issues by engaging community members in the documentation process. A major social benefit of the development of this corpus relates to equity and the status of deaf people in Moroccan society. Ultimately, this project can lead to the creation of more appropriate resources for the bilingual education of deaf children (in MSL and Standard Arabic) and for sign language teaching, which will, in turn, improve the quality of educational and interpreting services for deaf people and provide more opportunities for self-development and employment. The creation of an MSL corpus is also crucial for a better understanding of MSL grammar and the sociolinguistic situation of MSL, as this will lead to more studies investigating factors such as the multilingual linguistic environment, gender, regional variation, family, and education.