Deaf School Sign Language Vocabulary Handbook: Grades 4-6

Author: Zhang Yuman (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: Sign language is the language of the deaf, and its impact on the deaf is multifaceted. Since the emergence of sign language and the deaf community, sign language has played a significant role in the deaf community. As the deaf community has developed, the influence of sign language on the deaf community has become increasingly profound. In deaf schools, sign language serves as an indispensable tool for education and teaching. How to enable deaf students to learn written language through the use of standardized sign language is a crucial issue facing educators in the field of deaf education. Let us briefly review the history of deaf education. In the mid-18th century, deaf individuals played a dominant role in deaf education, primarily using pure sign language for teaching. However, by 1880, at the International Congress of the Deaf held in Milan, Italy, it was believed that the use of sign language hindered the development of spoken language and language skills. As a result, oralism (using spoken language, lip-reading, and residual hearing without manual communication) gained prominence and continued until the mid-1960s. In the mid-1970s, influenced by the traditional emphasis on oral teaching for deaf children, the "total communication" (or "simultaneous communication") teaching method was proposed. This approach integrates various forms of communication, such as speaking, lip-reading, guessing gestures, body language, and gestural language, aiming to develop the language skills of the deaf. However, research has shown that "total communication" still has several inherent issues: First, despite the recognition of the rights of the deaf, the expected changes in teachers' communication abilities are often overlooked. For example, there is little emphasis on improving teachers' skills in using sign language to express and receive information. Second, the language ability in total communication is often understood as the ability to use grammatically standardized language. This understanding overlooks the need for comfort in communication for deaf children and ignores the communicative function of language—emphasizing meaning over form. This teaching method remains trapped in the limitations of oral teaching. Looking at the history of deaf education, we can draw the following conclusion: oral teaching methods emphasize mastery of monolingual (written language) and identification with monocultural (hearing culture), highlighting the importance of hearing culture and written language while indirectly denying some deaf children their right to choose and access their own language and culture. Similarly, pure sign language teaching merely shifts learning to an environment of deaf culture and sign language, hindering deaf students' importance in learning hearing culture and written language. To achieve balance and provide deaf children with exposure to two languages and cultures, the bilingual and bicultural teaching approach was proposed in the 1980s. Research also shows that bilingual and bicultural education does not hinder but rather enhances deaf children's spoken language skills, reading and writing abilities, learning levels, social academic performance, cognitive functions, and self-awareness. Bilingual and bicultural education emphasizes: First, moving away from the idea of expecting deaf children to fully adapt to hearing society and culture. Second, promoting the natural interconnectedness of bilingual and bicultural education. Third, recognizing sign language as the fundamental language of the deaf. Fourth, acknowledging the existence of deaf culture. Bilingual and bicultural education is a reflection of human civilization and a sign of progress, and it has been widely adopted in foreign countries for deaf education research, supported by the deaf, deaf educators, and their families. In China, the bilingual and bicultural teaching approach has begun to emerge in deaf schools. To implement this teaching method, it is essential to first consider improving the current teaching environment in deaf schools based on existing theories of bilingual and bicultural education abroad and the realities of China, establishing a new mechanism. For example, offering standardized sign language courses in deaf schools, researching the grammar of deaf sign language, developing appropriate teaching materials, and completely transforming the current chaotic state of sign language to ensure that both deaf school teachers and students master sign language and continuously improve their ability to use it.