Most human beings are bilingual or multilingual, a fact often not clearly recognized in more monolingual settings, especially in the West. Even in settings in which this is not obviously the case, there are numerous exceptions: immigrants, heritage language speakers, those individuals who have chosen to acquire second or additional languages, and, far from the least important, users of sign languages. Hearing people who sign inevitably function in a bilingual world, moving between spoken and sign languages in a wide variety of settings and for an array of purposes. To an even greater extent, however, the Deaf function in ways that fall along a continuum of bilingualism—albeit their degree of bilingualism both in the surrounding spoken language and in the use of sign languages can vary dramatically. In fact, in a typical hearing-impaired community, the communicative options are as follows: (a) those who use a natural sign language as their primary language and identify with the Deaf cultural community; (b) those who communicate primarily through speech (i.e., in a spoken language) and identify with the surrounding hearing community; (c) those who became deaf later in life, typically as a result of the aging process (i.e., the elderly deaf) and rely on technological aides to supplement their hearing but who continue to identify with the hearing population; (d) those who do not know either a natural sign language or a spoken language but rather communicate through gestures, mimes, and their own home signing systems; (e) those who have normal hearing but use a natural sign language (generally as a result of family ties to Deaf people); and (f) those who understand and use a natural sign language and integrate with the Deaf cultural community.

This diversity in communication patterns inevitably leads to unique aspects of bilingualism and multilingualism in various Deaf communities, and it is this diversity that is largely the focus of this book. More to the point, this is a volume with an explicit and articulated common theme, as noted by the editors:

This book includes 11 chapters that deal with a wide range of topics and different sign languages. Among the national settings examined are those of Argentina, Austria, China, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Quebec, and Spain. Among the more interesting issues that emerge from the chapters are those of bilingual education, the status of natural sign languages, issues of language planning and language policy for sign languages, and the roles of deaf people in making policy decisions about all of these matters in their own countries. In almost every instance, evidence of progress in terms of all of these issues can be seen; the example that stands out as the exception is that of Argentina. In her powerful chapter, “Ideological Signs in Deaf Education Discourse,” Massone presents a powerful critique of the status quo in Argentina—a critique that has powerful implications for the study of the marginalization of the Deaf both historically and today.

This volume constitutes an important contribution to a substantial and growing body of literature. Most significant of this literature has been the “Sociolinguistics of Deaf Communities Series” edited by Lucas and published by Gallaudet University Press; the current work by Plaza-Pust and Morales-López is appealing because it appears as part of the Studies in Bilingualism Series published by Benjamins and is thus incorporated into a series not entirely (or even primarily) devoted to issues of sign language and deafness. This seems to be an indication that the study of sign languages sociolinguistically has come of age and is no longer a marginalized area of study—a development that will benefit both those who work in sign language linguistics and those who work in other areas.