Here are some general questions about language in the classroom:

My students can't read, but I find myself fingerspelling. Is this a problem?  

My students can't read, but I find myself fingerspelling. Is this a problem?

There is a common perception that fingerspelling is associated with the ability to spell a word. This is not necessarily the case. Both hearing and deaf children of deaf parents frequently learn how to "fingerspell" words before they learn how to spell them. Deaf children will understand that they can associate ideas with movements of the hand, including fingerspelling. Children of deaf parents frequently try to fingerspell before they ever even learn the manual alphabet-just like a hearing child babbles before learning how to talk. They already understand that those hand movements create meaning, even if they don't yet know how to express it themselves.

Many deaf children are born without name-signs and only obtain them once they enter school. Their parents may refer to them only through fingerspelling (waiting to personalize a sign name according to the child's appearance, demeanor, or personality) and the children are able to associate one another with their fingerspelled names. Also, children are able to fingerspell words before they are able to write them. In this sense, they are like children who are able to speak, but not write. They understand how to express information, but not how to represent it in a written form.

What all of this means is that teachers should fingerspell to their students, and do it often. Once a child learns to transcribe what is fingerspelled, a whole world of literacy is opened up to them. It also helps children more readily understand how ideas can be transferred into another language.

Of course, none of this means that teachers should rely on fingerspelling instead of signing. KSL is the students' first language (usually) and they should be taught to respect it as a valuable and capable language. Furthermore, to clearly elucidate ideas, all teachers of the deaf must learn to present information to their students in an interesting and comprehensible fashion. KSL certainly plays an essential role.

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What are Signed English and Signed Exact English?

Signed Exact English (SEE) and Signed English are still utilized in some Deaf schools in America and these artificial language systems can be at the center of many heated debates.

Signed English includes modified signs designed to connect signs with words, such as using the I-handshape when signing ME to indicate "I". Its major departure from sign language, however, lies in its mandate to sign all the English words following an English word order. SEE differs from Signed English because it attaches the English affixes to each sign. More specifically, it will add -ed to a sign to show past tense, -ing to the continuous tense, and -s to show plural. While KSL can express these tenses, it does not use English (or any other language's) affixes.

These languages were created 30 years ago for two main reasons:
Sign languages were thought to be inferior to spoken languages
Educators saw how hearing children learned languages in both a spoken and written format and wanted to design a way for deaf children to "speak" (and therefore learn) English by signing it exactly.

Over the past 20 years, linguists have effectively demonstrated that a sign language, such as ASL or KSL, fully meets all the criteria of a true language. They are complex, yet flexible languages that have their own structure and grammatical features. Sign languages are equal, not inferior, to spoken languages.

Secondly, we know that English can be both voiced and written. But simply because a language can be voiced and written, it does not follow that it can be signed. Well-meaning professionals created artificial sign language systems to give Deaf children access to spoken English. The result, however, was total confusion.

Moving English into the signing space simply did not make sense to deaf children. The introduction of new, seemingly arbitrary signs confused children and signing every English word was frustrating, clumsy and ineffective. It forced children to learn another sign language system that followed rules that did not make sense in the spatial medium.

Today, most American schools recognize the importance of a bilingual classroom, using both ASL and written English (on paper and the blackboard) to help students to see how to move between the two languages.

Many Kenyan teachers seem to like SEE and Signed English because they can be written as they are seen. Many teachers don't feel comfortable with their fluency in KSL, and believe that the artificial sign systems reinforce English.

While transcribing a signed language into a written one may seem like a good idea, what often happens is that the children watch a SEE or Signed English sentence having little idea of the concept being shared, and focusing only on how to spell each individual sign.

In order for children to learn a language, they must move beyond transcription and learn to translate concepts. Translating from Swahili to English requires the individual to respect the rules of each language and convey the concepts within those limits. If it does not, the result is either broken language, or gibberish. It is the same for KSL and English.

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How should I respond to children's sign variation? Should I standardize or should I just accept theirs?

The most important thing is that you do not tell the children they are signing the wrong thing. It is the children's language and they should feel comfortable about using it, not feeling like their every word is waiting to be criticized. One role of a teacher is to model appropriate language use.

If students sign "mango" or "maharagwe" in a different way, teachers can either accept their sign and use it themselves, or they can simply model what they were taught. It does not hurt deaf students to be familiar with different KSL signs for the same concept. If students sign something that does not feel right, does not follow rules of signing (outside the signing space, for example), or is actually the sign for a different concept (signing HOT DOG for HOTDOG would be an example in ASL), teachers should respond to the child using the appropriate signs.

It is wrong to force students to change their language according to the teacher's desires. But it is important that students know the correct signs especially if they are signing something inappropriate. So again, teachers should model the correct signs. Teachers should feel comfortable in their own language use and provide students with a broad vocabulary that they can use to express themselves.

Efforts to standardize KSL are currently underway, with many schools having "KSL" classes and with the development of a KSL dictionary and interactive CD-ROM. While a lack of standardization can be frustrating for teachers, it should be recognized that the variation just contributes to broadening the vocabulary, with different children choosing different words to express similar ideas.

As PCV Julie Guberman (2002-2004) emphasized in her April 2004 presentation at a Mombasa workshop, variation does not create confusion. Language is a self-regulating communicative system, designed to be understood by its users. A dictionary is not a list of "correct" signs; they are simply recorded signs. The dictionary, therefore, simply reflects the vocabulary observed of deaf communities-not what other communities' vocabulary ought to be. Variation is perfectly natural and appears in every language. It strengthens the language by expanding the vocabulary and offering users more flexibility in word choice.

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What do I do when I don't know the sign for a word?

Maybe you forgot the sign for "parliament," were never taught it, or it doesn't exist. Does that make this topic impossible to teach? Not at all. (And by the way, the sign for parliament is made with a flat B hand, palm facing down, in front of the body, that moves in a U-shape).

The most appropriate thing is to ask the deaf adults that work at your school. If you don't have deaf adults, note that word and ask deaf adults the next time you are in Nairobi.

Ask another teacher at your school who knows KSL and ask what they sign or what the acceptable sign is at your school. Remember the sign and ask deaf people the next time you meet them.

Fingerspell the word every time you use it. It's probably best that as you fingerspell it, you remind your children through explanatory signs of what it means (example: GOVERNMENT GROUP KENYA MANY DISCUSS VOTE VOTE APPROVE APPROVE)

In class discussions, you can use the "sign description" but make sure your students understand that what you are using is not THE sign. We encourage you to always fingerspell the word in addition to the descriptive signs. Kenyan students need more exposure to fingerspelling anyway.

We strongly recommend that you do not make up a sign for the word. You would not just make up a Swahili word when you don't know the appropriate word.

If you are teaching a subject where there are many concepts you don't know how to sign, talk to your head teacher about the possibility of a different assignment or about partnering with a Kenyan teacher. You will still have great teaching strategies and ideas to share.

Whether you are a fluent signer or not, use lots of visuals with your students. Write words on the board and around your classroom. Draw pictures to display. Take photos and label them. There are many other types of visual representations and graphic organizers.

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My students don't understand the concept of "bado." How can I explain this to them?

This question actually touches on a heated subject of debate in linguistics and neurosciences. Are people genetically programmed to understand certain concepts? Or do they have to be taught? We don't claim to have the evidence to answer such a question. We are more interested in what this means for the classroom setting.

What is clear is that through modeling, children will learn to effectively use language that they previously did not know. If your students don't understand "bado," the best way to teach it is not to explain to them that it means "something that has not happened, but will possibly/probably happen in the near future." The easiest way is just to continually use it. Just as hearing children aren't taught the underlying concept behind every word that they use, so too with deaf children. Through repetition and context, your students will be able to expand their vocabulary.

This technique is effective in many different areas. Whether one is talking about a "week," the "government," "tribes," or virtually any other concept, children will begin to put these topics into a context and make associations with them. This does not mean that they don't need to be taught how many days are in a week or what the functions are of the government. It means that your students need exposure to these concepts in regular conversation in order to remember and give meaning to them.

It takes the average person 35 exposures to a specific word or topic before he has actually learned that specific word or topic. Repeat learning experiences often to ensure students own new vocabulary.