Phoebe Tay - In the Public Eye: Media Narratives of Deaf Identities and Sign Language(s) in Singapore

This talk explores how deaf identities and sign languages have been represented in Singaporean media from 1945 to 2025. Drawing on newspaper archives, Phoebe Tay examines the narratives and ideologies that have shaped public perceptions of deafness, disability, and sign language over the past eight decades. As a deaf researcher, she brings both scholarly and lived perspectives to this analysis.

She will discuss how media portrayals have framed deaf people and sign languages, highlighting recurring themes such as disability stereotypes, inspiration porn, benevolence narratives, and diversity tokenism. The talk will also explore how these representations influence societal attitudes towards deaf people, sign languages, and disability.

Phoebe will share insights into her research methods, including qualitative content analysis and archival research, and discuss how she used resources from the National Library Board and National Archives of Singapore to trace changing public discourses surrounding deaf people and sign languages. She will also reflect on how this project complements her doctoral research on the language teacher identities of deaf sign language instructors by providing a broader historical and societal context for understanding deaf experiences in Singapore.

Note: This talk will feature Singapore Sign Language (SgSL) interpretation and live note-taking to ensure accessibility for deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing audience members.

About the Speaker

Phoebe Tay received her PhD from the Interdisciplinary Graduate Programme – Global Asia at Nanyang Technological University in 2026. Her research interests include education pedagogy, multilingualism, the politics of language, and linguistic justice, particularly in relation to sign language communities.

Her current research examines how deaf people, sign languages, and disability have been represented in Singapore’s media over the past eight decades. Through the analysis of newspaper archives, she explores the narratives and ideologies that have shaped public understandings of deafness, sign languages, and disability, and how these representations continue to influence contemporary discussions on inclusion, accessibility, and language rights.