After contextualising the challenges of deaf education in the twenty-first century in the global
context, this study focused on sign language in the environment of bilingual-bicultural
education for the deaf in South Africa. Each of the five essays pinpointed particular challenges
and as a result the study ventures to use empirical research to demonstrate conclusively that
the issue of sign language in a bilingual-bicultural education for the deaf in South Africa, as is
the case elsewhere, is a complex matter in which a motley intersection of dynamics is to be
taken into consideration.
Fundamentally, the study indicates that sign languages in many polities in general, and in South
Africa in particular, despite positive constitutional, legislative and policy developments, are
subject to a particular challenges coined as âdouble linguistic imperialismâ: sign languages are
not only marginalised by the former colonial languages that have been adopted as official
languages in many states in the developing world; they are also marginalised by the dominant
indigenous languages in these societies. Language policy in general and educational policy and
concomitant systems in particular are some of the mechanisms that can be deployed to redress
this state of affairs.
In addressing the issue of sign languages acquisition and deaf education, the discussion
establishes that the deaf child, in order to fully integrate into a predominantly hearing world, is
faced with a particular challenge of adapting to an education system that provides for bilingual
education. In such circumstances, sign language should ideally feature as first language, or
mother tongue, as well as language of instruction. However, for purposes of reading and
writing, the deaf child should also be exposed to a second, spoken language. This approach, the
thesis argues, should lend emphasis on the so-called âcritical periodâ in the childâs
development. This relatively obvious solution to the challenges that bedevil deaf education
poses a particular challenge, given the ill-informed preconceptions of parents and society at large regarding the Deaf, Deaf culture and sign language, as well as its status as a natural
language, and thus whether it is found âappropriateâ as alternative medium of instruction.
The study thus also challenges one of the fundamental issues in educational linguistics, namely
language attitudes with particular reference to parentsâ and teachersâ attitudes towards sign
language as a medium of instruction for deaf learners. Empirical research conducted and
published here for the first time reveals that parentsâ attitudes towards sign language as
medium of instruction are as a rule at variance with particular situations, conditions and
circumstances prevalent at any given time. However, the parents surveyed tend to agree that
signed language should be used in instructing the Deaf child at school. They further agree that
signed language holds the key to a deaf learner achieving higher levels of education. Overall,
from an attitudinal perspective, parents of deaf learners would prefer signed languages to be
the languages of instruction for their children. By contrast, educators seemed to find
themselves unable to distinguish between the use of SASL and alternatives in the classroom,
calling all methods of communication âSASLâ. The abundance of experience the teachers have
plus the fact that they believe they have acquired SASL without any structured training is
detrimental to the learners not only as it is detrimental to their communicative abilities in the
classroom, but also as it devalues the need for formal training in SASL in the minds of the
teachers, and this is transferred to their learners. The conclusion is that teachers are in dire
need of formal training in order to appreciate the true complexity of signed language and by
extension therefore realise the current limitations in the education of the learners. Despite
current attitudes it was found that most of the teachers (60,5%) indicated a desire and
intention to study further and such study should inter alia include the study of SASL.
With regard to policy, the study establishes that Deaf education is a victim of the same fate that
has been visited upon MTE in the developing world. There is an apparent non-recognition of
the primacy of sign language as the mother tongue of the Deaf and therefore the failure to use
sign language in education. This is a glaring failure which the principles, policies and legislation
on Deaf education have certainly not remedied. Further, it can be posited that some of the failures in Deaf education are attributable to the same principles, policies and legislation that
have guided Deaf education over time, Policies setting out the requirement that the Deaf are
taught through the medium of signed language have certainly not been heeded nor
implemented on the continent of Africa.
The last paper in the study also establishes that sign languages, caught between negative
societal perceptions, lethargic educational policies and an outdated pedagogy, suffer from a
paucity of the development of instructional/learning materials. It is therefore important to
recognise that there is need for materials development for sign languages so that they can
become entrenched in the curriculum as taught subjects and in educational policy and practice
as a media of instruction for Deaf learners.
Admittedly, a lot of work remains to be done in the area of Deaf education. The issues
addressed in the various papers in this study could serve as pointers to the critical issues that
need redress if there is to be any hope of entrenching sign language in bilingual-bicultural
education of the deaf, not only in South Africa, but elsewhere.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-03222011-153630 |
| Date | 22 March 2011 |
| Creators | Akach, Philemon Abiud Okinyi |
| Contributors | Dr A Lotriet |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-03222011-153630/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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