UNIT: 11 INTRODUCTION TO RWANDAN SIGN LANGUAGE AND DEAF EDUCATION
Key Unit Competence: Use Rwandan Sign Language as alternative
communication used by learners withhearing difficulties.
Introductory Activity
Use of Rwandan Sign Language as alternative communication used by
learners with hearing difficulties.
Read the following text and answer the questions that follow:
Sign language (also known as signed language) is a language that
uses the visual-manual modality to convey meaning. Sign language is
expressed through manual articulations in combination with non-manual
elements. Sign language is a full-fledged natural language with its own
grammar and lexicon. Sign language is not universal and not mutually
intelligible with each other, although there are also striking similarities
among sign languages.
Linguists consider both spoken and signed communication to be types
of natural language, meaning that both emerged through an abstract,
protracted aging process and evolved over time without meticulous
planning. Sign language should not be confused with body language, a
type of non-verbal communication.
Wherever communities of deaf people exist, sign languages have
developed as handy means of communication and they form the core of
local deaf cultures. Although signing is used primarily by the deaf and hard
of hearing, it is also used by hearing individuals, such as those unable to
physically speak, those who have trouble with spoken language due to
a condition (augmentative and alternative communication), or those with
deaf family members.
It is unclear how many Sign Languages currently exist worldwide. Each
country generally has its own native sign language, and some have
more than one. Some Sign Languages have obtained some form of legalrecognition, while others have no status at all.
Questions:
1. Describe Sign Language as a medium of communication.
2. Linguists consider both spoken and signed communication to be
types of natural language. What does this mean to you?
3. Wherever communities of deaf people exist, sign languages have
developed as handy means of communication and they form the
core of local deaf cultures. Discuss.
4. The way to educate deaf student is the same way to use wheneducating students with hearing impairments. Discuss.
11.1. History of Sign Language in Africa and in Rwanda
(Andrew Foster)
Activity 11.1.
Use books or other sources of information to answer the following
questions:1. What do you understand by Sign Language?
2. What is deaf education?.
3. What do you think is the best way to teach Deaf student?
a. Brief history of Sign Languages in Africa, in Rwanda and Deaf
Education
Sign Language is a system of communication using visual gestures and
signs, as used by deaf people. Sign languages arise almost anywhere there
are deaf people. By definition, deaf people cannot hear, but most have
an intact capacity for language, and language will out one way or another.
While there are a few documented instances where sign languages have
been invented, their emergence is generally spontaneous. When there is a
critical mass of deaf people, as often occurs at school, the emergence of a
fully developed sign language can be extremely rapid.
Sign languages are relatively young. The earliest systematic description of a
sign language occurs in the late eighteenth century, when L’Abbé de l’Épéefounded the first school for the deaf that used sign language. L’Épée took
signs that already existed in Paris and added what he called ‘methodical
signs’ for use as both metalinguistic devices and ways of tying the signing
to French grammar. The founder of the first school for the deaf in the
United States, Edward Miner Gallaudet, visited L’Épée’s school and hired
its star pupil, Laurent Clerc, to come and teach at his school in Hartford,
Connecticut. Children from Martha’s Vineyard, where a descendant of British
Sign Language was used, attended the school and had some influence over
the development of American Sign Language.
The History of Sign Languages in Africa is associated to Dr. Andrew J.
Foster. Andrew Foster was intelligent, talented and dedicated to bringing
deaf education to so many, he was the first African American to graduate
from Gallaudet with a Bachelor of Arts Degree. Foster has been referred to
as the father of Sign Languages in Africa because he established 32 schools
for the deaf in 13 different African countries.
Andrew Foster and his brother contracted spinal meningitis at 11 years
old and became deaf. At that time, African Americans were only formally
educated through the sixth grade. He attended several different schools
for the deaf until finally receiving his high school diploma at the age of
26. Because he was African American, Foster tried repeatedly to get into
Gallaudet but was denied admittance due to his race. Never one to give
up on something he set his mind to; he was finally accepted into Gallaudet
with a full scholarship in 1951. Foster continued with his education after
graduating from Gallaudet, earning two master degrees before focusing on
his true life’s calling “missionary work”
With the help and encouragement of then Gallaudet President, Leonard
Elstad, Foster established what is now known as the Christian Mission for
the Deaf in Detroit (1956). He then went on speaking tours across the globe
and to 25 different African countries in an effort to raise funds for schools for
the deaf in Africa. When Foster first arrived in Africa in 1957, there were 12
schools for the deaf in Northern Africa and in Apartheid South Africa. He set
up his first school in Western Africa in Ghana of that same year and by 1972,
he had established another 29 schools for the deaf all over Africa.
Dr. Andrew Foster taught students, trained teachers, educated the public
about the needs of deaf Africans, and advised government officials about
the need for more schools for the deaf. Gallaudet also educated many of
Foster’s former African students. In 2004, Gallaudet University named an
auditorium after him in honor of his role as the “Father of Deaf Education” inAfrica.
In Rwanda, the history of special education can be traced back in the year
1962 when Father Joseph Fraipont Ndagijimana opened the first centre for
medical, education and reintegration of persons with Disabilities in Gatagara.
The school received children with varying disabilities including those with
hearing impairments. The Rwandan National Union of the Deaf (RNUD)
was then established in 1989 and leads to advocate for the recognition
of Rwandan Sign Language as an official language. They are currently
developing a Rwandan Sign Language dictionary.
Deaf education is the education of students with any degree of hearing loss
or deafness which addresses their differences and individual needs. This
process involves individually-planned, systematically-monitored teaching
methods, adaptive materials, accessible settings and other interventions
designed to help students achieve a higher level of self-sufficiency and
success in the school and community than they would achieve with a typical
classroom education. A number of countries focus on training teachers to
teach deaf students with a variety of approaches and have organizations to
aid deaf students.
Deaf history greatly affects how deaf people live their lives today. And not
only do deaf people have a history, they have a culture. Deaf culture is
culture like any other. Deaf people share a language, rules for behavior,
values, and traditions. The way the Deaf culture is living today is a direct
result of the Deaf history that preceded it. The Deaf culture is a culture thatis centered on sign language and relationships among one another.
b. Deaf community and deaf culture
In Rwanda, like in many other African countries, children with hearing
impairments encounter challenges as regard to education. Social culture
barriers are hindering their participation to education and therefore have no
chance to live a meaingful life.
According to the World Federation of the Deaf: “Language and culture are
inseparable, and sign language(s) are a critical component of deaf culture
and the deaf identity. Sign language is vital to every deaf person’s cognitive,
social, emotional, and linguistic growth. Without early sign language
exposure, deaf children are deprived of a strong language foundation.”
With a grant from the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund (DRAF), the Rwandan
National Union of the Deaf (RNUD) leads a coalition with Media for Deaf
Rwanda and the Human Rights First Rwanda Association to advocate for
the recognition of Rwandan Sign Language as an official language. They are
also developing a Rwandan Sign Language dictionary.
• What is the Deaf Community?
Some people with profound hearing loss embrace their deafness as part
of their cultural identity, and sometimes captalize the “d” in Deaf. Some
members of the community do not consider themselves disabled and feel
that they don’t need to be “fixed” by doctors through medical interventions
such as cochlear implants. Instead, they see themselves as a part of a unique
linguistic group with a distinct culture. Deaf people prefer to be called deaf,
and dislike the term “hearing-impaired,” according to several deaf groups and
agencies such as the National Association of the Deaf, The term “hearing
impaired” is vague and tends to lump diverse groups such as the hard of
hearing, late-deafened, and deaf into one category. The Deaf also dislike the
“impaired” label, since deaf people do not consider themselves deficient or
disabled in any way. The nature of sign language has created some unique
cultural norms. For example, when deaf people sign to each other, they
stand further apart than hearing people would during a conversation. It is
difficult to go around deaf people signing to each other in narrow places like
hallways, so it is not usually a big deal if a person walks quickly between
two signing people. The person needs to go through fast enough so that the
Deaf people don’t miss any signs. Interrupting the conversation by saying
“excuse me” before going through two signing people may be considered
rude in the deaf community.
Hearing people tend to let their eyes rove during conversations. In deaf
culture, constant eye contact is essential for communication. Deaf people
feel that breaking eye contact is rude.
Many members of the community consider sign as their first language and
prefer to communicate with hearing people via a sign language interpreter.
Interpreters are highly-trained professionals who can assist either in person
or through a video relay service (VRS) or remote interpreting services (VRI).
VRS services help hearing and deaf people to communicate by phone
through a sign language interpreter who is seen on a computer screen or on
a videophone. VRI interpreters can serve from another location via a video
camera. The hearing person, and the deaf person can be broadcast live onto
a screen to watch each other communicate.
• Attention-Getting Behaviors
Deaf people have developed various ways of getting people’s attention in
their silent world, such as:
• A gentle touch - usually a tap on a shoulder
• Handwaves
• Vibration, such as a foot stomping or a knock on a table
• Turning a light-switch on and off
• Adapting to Activities of Everyday Living
Because Deaf people communicate visually with their hands, they adapt to
daily life in unique ways. For example, a Deaf driver may wait until traffic
stops to sign to a passenger or will sign to him briefly with one hand. They
may chose to sign with one hand during meals or when they are holding
something. At a performance, Deaf people may show their appreciation by
raising their hands and twisting them in the air instead of clapping. The deaf
community is extremely close-knit and ending a visit can be difficult. A «Deaf
goodbye» is notorious for being long, with people saying bye numerous
times and then continuing to talk.
SELF Assessment 11.1
1. Who is the father of Sign Language in Africa?
2. Deaf people have their own culture. Explain?
3. Briefly explain the contribution of Andrew J. Foster to thedevelopment of Sign languages in Africa?
11.2. Rules of Rwandan Sign Language
Activity 11.2
1. How would you behave if you are to communicate with a Deaf
person?
A Deaf person is someone who has difficulties in hearing. The following are
rules to consider when teaching or communicating with a Deaf person :• Maintain eye contact when talking to the person or learner with hearing
difficulties.
• Always face the source of light for visibility.
• Do not talk while the face is turned away.
• Keep your face at the same level with the learner.
• Don’t be more than 2 meters away from the learner.
• Do not cover your mouth while speaking.
• Speak naturally without exaggerating lip movement .
• Remember that sign language grammar is different from spoken
language grammar.
SELF Assessment 11.2
1. List five rules to consider when you are communicating with deaf
person?
11.3. Basic Rwandan Sign Language
Activity 11.3
1. Imagine you are with a deaf person and you want to say good bye.
What sign would you use?
2. Suppose you get an accident and become deaf, how would you
tell your parent that you want to eat?
3. Deaf people use body parts to communicate. What is the mostlyused body part?
11.3.1 Sign Language Alphabet and the basics of Sign Language
Learning to sign the alphabet (known as the manual alphabet) is usually
the first place to begin. Each of the 26 letters in the English alphabet are
represented with a unique sign relatively easy to understand and some even
mimic the shape of the letter they represent as shown here below. Practice
these and commit them to memory and you will have a good foundation for
signing.Rwandan finger spelling alphabet.
• Five basic ways for signing
1. Handshape
2. Movement
3. Palm direction
4. Location
5. Facial expression
• The ways to learn sign language:–– Take a sign language class• Position to take when signing
–– Learn online by watching videos
–– Join a sign language group, deaf club
–– Hire a private, qualified sign language tutor
–– Watch and mimic interpreters
When communicate with Deaf person you must take position in front of him/
her, face to face. It is good to stand and when using arms, they must be atthe position of your chest.
While doing fingerspell the palm of your hand must be facing the audience.
This instruction is mandatory to avoid the confusion from numbers.
E.g.: If you fingerspell letter F your palm must be facing the follower, otherwise
if it is facing the user it will mean number 3.
There are several letter that can become member when you change the
position of your palm.
e.g. :• Table of basic Sign Language and their meanings
11.3.2. Structure of Sentences in Sign language.
In Sign Language, you can choose to assemble the words in your sentence in
different orders, depending on the content of your dialogue. Some sentences
should be signed in a natural English order because rearranging them would
causes confusion. However, most of the time, you can get your point across
in a variety of ways without worrying about the word order. Unlike English
grammar rules, which dictate that the subject must go before the verb, Sign
allows you to put the subject before or after the verb when dealing with
simple sentences; it doesn’t matter which word comes first.You can sign
either in subject-verb or verb-subject order. Here are some examples:
English: He sellsSign: HE SELLS
English: I eat.
Sign: ME EAT
Self Assessment 11.3
1. Is the sign language used only by the deaf people?
2. Fingerspelling the following words:
• Chidren,
• Sister,
• To write
3. Sign the following words:
• Name
• Book
• To learn4. Fingerspelling any 5 letters of your choice.
END UNIT ASSESSMENT
1. Write down any 2 characteristics of the Deaf community.
2. What are the signs of these words : -Love, who, Jesus, Big, Family
3. Sign the following sentences then Change them into Sign
Language :• I eat.4. Who is the father of Sign Language?
• He sells.
5. Write down 4 rules to consider when using Rwandan Sign
Language?
6. Is Sign language only used by the Deaf people ?
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