Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | A | Academic Exchange Quarterly

Sign language of the Netherlands (SLN) and deaf culture.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

In this article, we give an impression of the development of Deaf culture as a subject taught to student-teachers and student-interpreters of Sign Language of the Netherlands (SLN). One specific problem for students of any sign language is that there is no "deaf country" where they can encounter the language in a natural way and come into contact with the culture in which that language is embedded. By force of this fact, we developed various courses in Deaf culture linked to practical assignments that encourage students to go forth into the Deaf community and link the theoretical knowledge taught in our classes with their own experiences among the Deaf.

Introduction

A new professional training program was created in the Netherlands with the aim of training teachers and interpreters in Sign Language of the Netherlands (SLN). This is a four-year program in which the students, who usually have zero knowledge of SLN when they begin their training, are taught the language as well as the tools of their future trade. This means that the student-teachers are taught the structural didactics of SLN and the professional knowledge they need to become language teachers. The student-interpreters are taught SLN, Dutch, and interpreting skills and the professional knowledge they need to become interpreters. These three major aspects of the program (language, didactics/interpreting and professional skills) are supported by knowledge of Deaf culture (1).

Contrary to learners of any given spoken language, sign language students cannot benefit from visits to even one country where this language is used, since there is no such thing as a "deaf country". They cannot meet native signers or encounter the culture in which the language is used in a natural way. This unique situation distinguishes the teaching and learning of Sign language from that of other languages. Since learning a language implies also learning the pragmatic rules and the cultural contexts belonging to that language, this obviously poses a major difficulty for sign language students all over the world, whatever sign language they are studying. A second 'problem' is that in the hearing world there is little knowledge on the specific communication problems that the deaf encounter from birth on (e.g., Van den Bogaerde 2000). Deafness is sometimes called 'the invisible handicap' because you cannot see it in a person. Since most deaf people have incomplete knowledge of the spoken language of the hearing majority, their...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!