Interview with the sign language teacher

Teaching sign language at the schoolThe sign language teacher used to be the speech therapist, but since a couple of years she is focusing on the use of sign language as a support for the normal themes of the lessons. Many deaf children have difficulties understanding the lessons because they find it difficult to understand spoken/written language. These children are guided by sign language teacher who discusses the themes of the lessons by using both spoken/written language and sign language. She is the only sign language teacher, so the time she can spend with each child is limited.

sign language teacher emphasizes the fact that she doesn't actively teach the children to use sign language. She also refers to the taboo on the use of sign language at schools that was the dominant view on education for deaf people for a long time. Only since a couple of years she is allowed to use sign language with the children, but she is not allowed to explicitly teach sign language.

Sign language and spoken/written languageThe sign language teacher explains that the structure of sign language is completely different from the structure of spoken/written language. Translating spoken/written language into sign language literally would make sign language way too slow. In addition, our visual memory has less capacity than our verbal memory, so it is harder to remember a long sentence in sign language than it is in spoken/written language. An example of a difference between sign language and spoken/written language is that in sign language elements from a sentence (mostly objects and subjects) are assigned a location in space. These locations are pointed at when referring to the original elements. This allows for a more speedy use of language and requires less visual memory than constantly repeating the names of the elements.

According to the sign language teacher, the most important reason for deaf children to learn sign language, is that you need to have a strongly developed native language in order to learn other languages later in life (including spoken/written language for deaf children). Children go through a critical period for language learning between the ages of 0 to 5/6 years. In this period, children are able to learn a native language, build their vocabulary, learn to use refined language, start to understand humor, etc. At later ages this is more difficult.

Problems with spoken/written languageEven though almost all deaf children have CI's nowadays, the need to learn sign language is still there. Because even with a CI, deaf children don't hear as much as we do, they miss a lot of auditory information. As a result, deaf children tend to think more black & white, with less nuances. Common language problems for deaf children include sentence constructions, wish expressions ("I wish I had brought my umbrella" includes the past tense (had), which is confusing because a wish is expressed) and the use of articles. Also, text comprehension is very difficult.

Identity and deaf cultureThe sign language teacher emphasizes the importance of the clubs for deaf people, especially for the children's sense of identity and their self confidence. She mentions that for deaf people it is not uncommon to show a lack of perseverance and to "play the victim". By stimulating deaf children to be proud and to fight for their rights, they become more assertive. The teacher gives an example of a girl of whom the teachers thought she was not too bright because she was very introvert and appeared to learn little. After participating in the lessons about deaf culture, this girl became much more assertive and asks for a translator if she needs one. She mentions the term Deaf Proud, which is used in English a lot by deaf communities. Also, the distinction between deaf and Deaf seems to be quite common (deaf refers to physical issues related to being deaf, Deaf refers to identity of deaf people).

Karin

Interview with the school's psychologist

In July 2nd we had three interviews at the school. One with the psychologist, whom we had met twice before, one with the sign language teacher, and one with the head of the boarding school department. I'll try to list the most remarkable issues raised by the interviewees, starting with the psychologist.

Taboo of using sign language at school
The psychologist's main job is to monitor the development of the elementary school children. An important topic for her is the use of sign language at school. Until a couple of years ago, using sign language was not allowed at the school (as it wasn't at many schools for deaf children). The general opinion in the field of deaf education was that learning sign language would interfere with learning spoken/written language. The idea behind this was that learning spoken/written language is much harder for deaf children, so it was feared that deaf children would choose to learn sign language only. The psychologist put a lot of effort in making sign language less of a taboo at the school. At the moment, she is quite satisfied with the situation. Sign language is not prohibited anymore and sign language is used during classes more often, next to spoken/written language.

Development
The psychologist tells us that most children at the school come in via the nursery school. Some children (mostly those with progressive forms of hearing impairments) start at the school when they are older. Each child is individually discussed every year by the whole team of the teacher, the psychologist, the speech therapist, etc. the psychologist informs the parents about the development of their children. A common worry amongst parents is the speech development of their children. the psychologist mentions that for the parents, being able to speak is a sign that their child is doing well. Usually the psychologist gives the parents some advice and some tips to playfully work with their children on their speech development at home. Such tips include giving positive feedback on articulation errors, reading books, replicating the visualisation methods used at school, etc.

Another problem that the psychologist raises is the fact that many parents are told that their child's hearing impairment is solved after they get a CI. Unfortunately, this is not true and the school has to disappoint many parents. Children have to learn to hear after getting implanted and have missed an important period in their auditory development (more on this in the interview with the sign language teacher).

Assistive technology & translator
The psychologist mentions assistive technologies used by the children at school. Besides the CI and the audio induction loop used in the class rooms, a few additional tools are used: a flash alarm on the play ground and in class, and vibration alarm clocks or flash alarm clocks. The psychologist also mentions the sign language translator as an aid for deaf children. Deaf people are entitled to hire a translator for school (5 hr. per week per child, at secondary school) and for private matters (e.g. doctor's visit, ceremonies, for 18 hr per year). However, to be able to understand a translator, you have to 'speak' sign language, another reason for the psychologist to emphasize the importance teaching sign language to deaf children.

Awareness of being deaf
The psychologist tells that the school tries to work on the children's awareness of being deaf. This is important, because the children grow up in a environment where being deaf and wearing a CI is normal. "It is very, very, very important to show the kids that there are deaf adults as well, and that their impairment will not go away when they grow older." A deaf role models sits in the classes regularly to work with the children. Unfortunately, there are very limited resources for this.

Deaf culture
Next to this awareness, the school tries to introduce the children to the so-called deaf culture. Children talk about their identity as a deaf person, sign language, growing up in a hearing or in a deaf family, hearing aids, clubs for deaf, culture, etc. the school aims to integrate the children as much as possible in both the hearing world and in the deaf world. The deaf see themselves as a cultural minority, not as a handicapped group. The deaf have their own culture, with their own rules. The psychologist compares it to Black Power: Deaf Power.

Karin