APPLICATION OF SOUTH AFRICAN SIGN LANGUAGE (SASL) IN A BILINGUAL-BICULTURAL APPROACH IN EDUCATION OF THE DEAF Philemon Abiud Okinyi Akach August 2010 APPLICATION OF SOUTH AFRICAN SIGN LANGUAGE (SASL) IN A BILINGUAL-BICULTURAL APPROACH IN EDUCATION OF THE DEAF By Philemon Abiud Omondi Akach Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree PHILOSOPHIAE DOCTOR in the FACULTY OF HUMANITIES (DEPARTMENT OF AFROASIATIC STUDIES, SIGN LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGE PRACTICE) at the UNIVERSITY OF FREE STATE Promoter: Dr. Annalie Lotriet. Co-promoter: Dr. Debra Aarons. August 2010 Declaration I declare that this thesis, which is submitted to the University of Free State for the degree Philosophiae Doctor, is my own independent work and has not previously been submitted by me to another university or faculty. I hereby cede the copyright of the thesis to the University of Free State Philemon A.O. Akach. Date. To the deaf children of the continent of Africa; may you grow up using the mother tongue you don’t acquire from your mother? Acknowledgements I would like to say thank you to the University of the Free State for opening its doors to a doubly marginalized language; South African Sign Language to develop and grow not only an academic subject but as the fastest growing language learning area. Many thanks to my supervisors Dr. A. Lotriet and Dr. D. Aarons for guiding me throughout this study. My colleagues in the department of Afroasiatic Studies, Sign Language and Language Practice for their support. Thanks to my wife Wilkister Aluoch and children Sophie, Susan, Sylvia and Samuel for affording me space to be able to spend time on this study. Thanks to God for giving me life and good health without which I would not have managed to reach the fruitful end Dedication To my late mum Susan Auma and daughter Sunday Liisa-I wish you were both here to witness this achievement As long as we have Deaf people we will have Sign Language George Verndize 1904 CONTENTS Introduction PAPER I A case of double linguistic imperialism: the dilemma of sign languages in Africa PAPER 2 Signed languages acquisition and deaf education: the state of affairs in Africa in light of contemporary trends in the literature PAPER 3 Parents’ attitudes towards Sign Language as a medium of instruction: an empirical study of two schools for the deaf in Free State Province of South Africa PAPER 4 Teachers’ attitudes towards Sign Language as a medium of instruction: an empirical study PAPER 5 From policies and laws to the implementation of Sign Language in deaf education: what went wrong? CONCLUSIONS LIST OF TABLES PAPER 2 Number Title Page 1 Milestones in Language Acquisition 8 PAPER 3 Number Title Page 1 The number of children in the respondents’ families 15 2 Distribution of sex in the respondents’ families 16 3 The age at which the families knew their child was deaf 16 4 Mode of communication at home 17 5 Mode of communication at play 17 6 Communication method the parents preferred to be used at school to teach their children 18 7 Which signed language would you prefer to be used in teaching your child? 20 8 Preferred spoken language if the Deaf are to be taught a second language 21 9 Level of education the parents expected their children to reach or attain 23 10 The kind of partner the parents would choose for their deaf sons/daughters 25 11 Parents attitudes towards different means of communication with the Deaf 27 PAPER 4 Number Title Page 1 Distribution of teachers by age 21 2 Qualification of teachers 21 3 Qualifications as a teacher of the Deaf 22 4 Distribution of teachers’ experiences since training to teach the Deaf 22 5 Signed language used to clarify what is not understood through oralism or speech only 23 6 Duration (in years) learning SL 23 7 Teachers’ self-rating of fluency/skill in SASL 24 8 Mode of communication learners used outside of classroom 24 9 Use of other communication methods (MCEs) 25 10 What teachers do when a “sign’ is not understood 25 11 Where learners go to after school 26 12 The most important aspect of education to be achieved as perceived by the teachers 26 13 Highest qualification attained by Deaf learners when they leave school according to teachers 27 14 Distribution of teachers’ attitudes towards the Deaf learners and their language 28 LIST OF ACCRONYMNS AGM Annual General Meeting BSL British Sign language ASL American Sign Language CP Critical Period DeafSA Deaf Federation of South Africa DoE Department of Education DRC Democratic Republic of Congo ENT Ear, Nose and Throat FSL French Sign Language GNAD Ghana National Association of the Deaf GSL Ghanaian Sign Language ISL Irish Sign Language IT Information Technology JSL Japanese Sign Language KIE Kenya Institute of Education KNAD Kenya National Association of the Deaf KSL Kenya Sign Language KSLRP Kenya Sign Language Research Project L1 First Language L2 Second Language LoI Language of Instruction LSF Langue Signes Francoise MCE Manually Coded English MTE Mother Tongue Education MT Mother Tongue N-COURSES National Courses NSL Namibian Sign Language PANSALB Pan South African Language Board PSE Pidgin Sign English RSA Republic of South Africa SA South Africa SABC South African Broadcasting Corporation SASL South African Sign Language SDR Swedish Association of the Deaf SDPK Swedish Deaf Project in Kenya SEE1 Signed Exact English SEE2 Seeing Essential English SL Sign Language SimCom Simultaneous Communication TC Total Communication TV Television UK United Kingdom UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization USA United States of America WFD World Federation of the Deaf INTRODUCTION SIGN LANGUAGE: A BILINGUAL–BICULTURAL APPROACH TO DEAF EDUCATION IN SOUTH AFRICA Contents 1. Introduction 1.1 Background 2. A Synopsis of the papers 2.1. Paper 1: A case of double linguistic imperialism: the dilemma of sign languages in Africa 2.2. Paper 2: Signed languages acquisition and deaf education: the state of affairs in Africa in light of contemporary trends in the literature 2.3. Paper 3: Parents’ attitudes towards Sign Language as a medium of instruction: an empirical study of two schools for the deaf in Free State Province of South Africa 2.4 Paper 4: Teachers’ attitudes towards Sign Language as a medium of instruction: an empirical study 2.5. Paper 5: From policies and laws to the implementation of Sign Language in deaf education: what went wrong? References INTRODUCTION 1. Introduction 1.1 Background The field of language policy and its concomitant implementation in South Africa have been one of the sites of overt political, social and economic contestation for the past two hundred years. The last century in particular has borne witness to waves of intense debate; resistance to policies which entrenched unpopular languages in positions of vertical control followed by attempts to democratise language policy. The backdrop to these impulses has been the long- term effect of hundreds of years of colonial activity on the continent of Africa. Developments in South Africa are, therefore, not entirely different from those of its neighbours. During the last half of the 20 th century (1948–1990); however, the particular features of apartheid took developments in South Africa along a route different from other African countries which were disengaging themselves from colonial overlords at the time. One of the differences is evidenced in separate and unequal language policy and planning, especially in the field of education (Heugh, 2003:1). This view is supported by De Kadt (2006:42), who observes that particularly in the realm of education language is causing serious problems in South Africa. Students are regularly examined in languages other than those in which they are taught and in which they generally have low proficiency. In many instances, teachers are also teaching in a language they barely know. The barriers that language is presenting for already disadvantaged students are clear, as is the fact that a concerted effort towards implementing mother-tongue education at higher educational levels. Also, a push towards the use of bilingual or multilingual teaching methods could go a long way towards resolving these problems. Nevertheless, the process of advocating and enabling change is never easy. As Reagan (2007:162) rightly observes, issues of language, language rights and language diversity in multilingual contexts are incredibly complex matters under the best of circumstances and most real-world settings are far from ideal for purposes of implementation. Set against this background, it also has to be realised that language policies have long been recognised to have the potential of being emancipatory or oppressive; empowering or disempowering. One area in which language policies have repeatedly held the potential and indeed actualised oppressive and disempowering practices across polities, is in the field of Deaf education. South Africa is not an exception to this. Part of the policy problem is traceable to the complex debates in which South African Sign Language (SASL) has been entangled. However, as Reagan (2007:166–167) aptly points out, the status of SASL as a minority language, and of the deaf as a cultural minority, in many respects parallels the situation of many other languages and cultural groups in South Africa. In fact, it would not be inappropriate to suggest that because of its nature as signed rather than spoken language, and the many myths and controversies surrounding SASL, it has been subject to more debate than many of the other minority languages in the country. This debate has not only reflected the social and political forces affecting language and language policy, but has also mirrored ongoing discussions in the country about human rights, economic and social justice, education, and a host of other issues.