Ghanaian Sign Language

In Ghana, children with learning disabilities, hearing and vision impairments are following the same curriculum as mainstream schools. Children with hearing impairments are given an extra year at the JHS level to complete their studies. There are 13 schools for the Deaf in Ghana – 12 primary and Junior high schools and 1 Senior – Technical School located in the Eastern region. According to report published by the Special Education Division of the Ghana Education service, Out of the 13 schools only 3 schools use sign language effectively.

The only formal teaching of sign language takes place at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) as part of a 4-year degree in Special Educational Needs. Teachers only practise sign language in the fourth year of their degree course, thus leaving them with little time to build sufficient confidence for their actual teaching experience. There are approximately 180 teachers trained to use Ghanaian Sign Language (GSL); a language stemming from American Sign Language. GSL has evolved considerably over the years and has adopted new signs unique to specific regions in Ghana.

The teaching of sign language relies on two key factors: firstly, the positioning of the hands (e.g. past, present and future); and secondly, the facial expressions which support the communication. It is therefore exceedingly difficult for learners to depend on sign language books and cards where the hands are static and open to misinterpretation and confusion. The use of cards could be used as a follow-up on one-to-one or small group training, but cannot in any way replace the teaching of a living language.

At Ayele foundation, we believe in education that is intuitive and can stand the test of time. Through the help of Dr Bill Vicars, John Feagans, ASL Club at Brigham Young University Hawaii, students and professors from the Mampong school for the Deaf, the Ayele foundation is developing the first ever Ghanaian Sign Language online dictionary. The dictionary will comprise of a video and interactive CD ROM for teaching sign language across the country and promote the use of videos with captioning in schools for the Deaf. To do this we’ll need to train teachers and students on how to effectively use the dictionary. This falls under the foundations mission, to help rural children embrace technology.

Additionally, we train both teachers and students the new found technology. We are constantly getting feedbacks to help make education at this level more fun and educative. The dictionary project gives our interns the unique opportunity to learn Ghanaian Sign Language even before they dive into it. This creates easy transition into the Ghanaian system.