UNIT 12 INTERMEDIATE RWANDAN SIGN LANGUAGE AND DEAF EDUCATION
Key Unit Competence: Interpret and use intermediate Rwandan sign
language
INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITY
Read the following text and answer the questions that follow:
Ishimwe became deaf at the age of 5 as a result of meningitis. She could
not communicate using Sign Language because her vocabulary was very
limited. She could not express herself and it was extremely difficult for
her to survive as she had to live with her siblings, parents and peers who
had no knowledge in Sign Language. With the help of her teacher who was
trained in Sign Language, Ishimwe started to learn simple vocabularies. She
can now ask for food, greet people, ask for help, count, etc. with confidence.
As she progresses in school, she become fluent in Sign Language. She can
now construct meaningful sentences using Sign Language grammar. Though
Sign Language grammar is different from English grammar, her peers and
teachers are able to understand what she says and write. Ishimwe is a smart
learner, bright and now ready to sit for national exam. He is confident that he
will pass the exam with excellency.
Questions:
1. Which areas that Ishimwe encountered difficulties after she became
deaf?
2. Why do you think Sign Language grammar is different from Englishgrammar?
12.1. Sign Language vocabularies
ACTIVITY 12.1
Sign Language vocabularies
1. How would you sign number “ 1 , 2,3” in Sign Language?
2. How do you think we should sign the following words: Farther,
mother, baby?
3. How would you sign” Good Morning in Sign Language?
4. If you want food, how would you sign” Cassava, chicken in Sign
Language?
5. If you are attacked by an animal, how would you sign: “Animal,
Giraffe”?
6. You attend a conference and you introduce yourself and have to
say that you are from Rwanda. How would you sign it?
7. You are sick, and you want to go to the hospital, how would you
sign the words” Hospital, doctor”?
Numbers in Rwandan sign languageVocabularies related to sign language of numbers and their meaning
Greetings related vocabularies
Family related vocabularies
Food and drink related vocabularies
Animals related vocabularies
Countries related vocabularies
Education related vocabularies
Health related vocabularies
SELF-ASSESSMENT 12.1
1. How would you sign the following words:?
• Doctor, Hospital, Book, Remember, Uganda, Rabbit, Water, Aunt
12.2. Sign language grammar rules
ACTIVITY 12.2
Sign Language grammar rules.
1. What do you understand by the word “grammar”?
2. Sign Language grammar is different from English Grammar. Givean example that can explain this statement.
The ten grammatical rules in Sign Language
Grammar in any language is a set of rules about how that language may be used.
These rules guide users in the correct speaking or signing of a language.Just
like most other languages, Sign Language has a set of rules that it follows when
being signed. A tool you can use to remember the rules is “TRIPSTONCL”, you
have probably heard about it, and it goes like this:
1. Topic/Comment
2. Rhetorical
3. Information Seeking
4. Pronominalization
5. Simple Yes/No
6. Tense With Time
7. Ordering of Simple Sentences
8. Negation
9. Conditional
10. Long Yes/No
Below are the definitions of each grammatical rule, and an example of each
written in Sign Language grammar and then put into English grammar.
1. Topic/Comment: In a simple topic/comment sentence, the topic is
described first, followed by the comment.
Example: HER MONEY LOST, SHE UPSET
English: She’s upset that she lost her money
The topic was described first (her money was lost) and then the commentfollowed (she was upset).
2. Tense with Time: The time sign is placed at the beginning or near the
beginning of a sentences.
Example: YESTERDAY, ME STAY HOME
English: I stayed home yesterday.
The time sign was “yesterday” and was located near the beginning of thesentence.
3. Simple Yes/No: Short sentences that ask a yes/no question. The order
of the signs varies.
Example: EXERCISE YOU WANT YOU? with eyebrows raised
English: Do you want to exercise?
The sentence given was short and the answer would be a yes or a no; the orderof the signs could be moved around as well and mean the same thing.
4. Long Yes/No : Long yes/no questions, sometimes they use a topic/
comment format.
Example: CAT BLACK TREE CLIMB, YOUR? with eyebrows raised
English: Is that black cat climbing the tree yours?
The question was longer than that of a simple yes/no; the topic was describedbefore the comment (which was the “your” part).
5. Information Seeking: Simple questions that ask for information. They
can have variable sentence structures, and rely sometimes on nonmanual
signals to distinguish them from a declarative sentence.
Example: OLD++ YOU? with eyebrows squeezed
English: How old are you?
The question was short and simple, the sentence structure doesn’t really have
much to change though. Normally, non-manuals would be used in all threequestion situations.
6. Pronominalization : Pronouns are indicated by pointing to either a
person or thing that is present, or a place in the signing space that is used
as a referent point for a person or thing. Pointing is mostly done with the
index finger, but eye gazing and other handshapes are sometimes used.
Example: MY BROTHER VISIT-MEEnglish: My brother is visiting me.
In this case, the pronominalization was when “he” was used; you could eitherbe pointing at the brother or a spot in your signing space to refer to as “he”.
7. Rhetorical: In a rhetorical question, the signer asks a question and then
answers it.
Example: ME KNOW SL? YES.
English: I know SL.
The signer asked his or her question, and then answered it; by doing so, weknew he or she knows SL.
8. Ordering of Simple Sentences: In simple sentences, the verb can be
placed before or after the object of the sentence.
Example: GAME ME PLAY
English: I’m playing a game.
The sentence was short and simple, and we were allowed to move around theverb and not have it change the sentence.
9. Conditional: In a conditional sentence, the condition is described first,
then the outcome of the condition is described.
Example: SUPPOSE SHE SEE ME, ME HAVE-TO LEAVE
English: I will have to leave if she sees me.
In most conditional statements, the word “suppose” is used; the condition was
said first (suppose she sees me), and then the outcome came afterward (I’llhave to leave).
10. Negation: You can negate a thought by placing a negative sign before
the verb or by first describing a topic and then signing the appropriate
negative sign, or by giving a negative head shake.
Example: ME NOT WATCH FOOTBALL GAME.
English: I’m not watching the football game.
In this case, the word “not” was the negation portion of the sentence, makingthe sentence negative.
SELF-ASSESSMENT 12.2
Give the correct sentence and it sign language
1. My brother visit-me
2. Yesterday, me stay home
3. Exercise you want you?
12.3. Approach of teaching and learning for deaf and hard
of hearing learners
ACTIVITY 12.3
1. Teaching deaf require a particular method and techniques.
Discuss
Approach used in education of deaf children
Before putting into action any kind of educational approach it is better to firstly
assess the severity of the hearing loss. After, you can pick a method for each
individual child. There are three primary communication methods used in
education of deaf children. These are:
a. Oral/aural:An approach to deaf education that emphasizes auditory
training, articulation ability and lip-reading.
b. Total communication: A method of interacting with individuals with
language impairments using a combination of spoken language and
signs, which includes sign language, voice, finger-spelling, lip-reading,
amplification, writing, gesture and visual imagery (pictures).
c. Bilingual/bicultural (bi-bi):This is a philosophy of teaching that
recognizes the authenticity and importance of both hearing and Deaf
cultures, and that incorporates elements of both in the classroom.
Techniques that are used to help the child with a particular method
In these methods there may be techniques that are used to help the child with
a particular method, such as:
a. Cued Speech:A manual used by some deaf children and their teachers/
parents, that uses hand shapes near the mouth to help make lip-reading
easier.
b. Lip-reading (Speech-reading):Decoding the language of a speaker by
paying close attention to the face and mouth, without being able to hear
the speaker.
SELF-ASSESSMENT 12.3
1. Explain trees approaches used to teach deaf learners?2. Discuss on at least 2 techniques of teaching deaf learners
SKILLS LAB
1. You are invited in a meeting to interpret for deaf persons. How
would you interpret the following sentences:
• I am eating two chapattis
• I will see my father tomorrow
• My country is Rwanda
• I sell chicken
• I have two sisters
• I saw a doctor yesterday
END OF UNIT ASSESSMENT
1. What is the sign language of the following numbers: 1,3,4?
2. What is the sign language of following family members: Father,
Mother, grandfather, woman?
3. What is sign language of the following greetings?
a. Good Morning b. Good Afternoon c. Good Evening d. Goodbye
f. nice to meet you
4. What is the sign language of the following food?
1. Water 2. Meat 3. Cassava5. 4. Mango
5. Give the correct sentence and it sign language
1. My brother visit-me
2. Yesterday, me stay home
3. Exercise you want you?
6. Discuss on the techniques and approaches of teaching deaflearners.