![]() Furthermore, as is the case for "hearing schools", English is the dominant spoken/written language of learning and teaching in many South African deaf schools. ![]() Approximately 95% of deaf children, worldwide and in South Africa, come from hearing families who use a spoken language or several spoken languages, and are often not (or only to a limited extent) able to sign (Mitchell and Karchmer 2004). The signed language used by the South African Deaf community is known as South African Sign Language (SASL). In South Africa, the average deaf school-leaver is said to have a written language comprehension ability equal to that of an 8-year-old hearing child, and as few as one out of three deaf adults is functionally literate (Glaser and van Pletzen 2012, referring to Aarons and Glazer 2003 and DeafSA 2009). This is, in part, due to the discrepancy between these students' incomplete spoken language system and the demands of reading a speech-based system (Perfetti and Sandak 2000, in Geers and Hayes 2011). Marshark 1997 Lederberg, Schick and Spencer 2013 Hrastinski and Wilbur 2016). A wide range of international studies reports low literacy levels among students with prelingual deafness (e.g. However, as signed languages do not have an established written form, deaf learners - even those learners taught mainly in a signed language - face the challenge of learning to read and write (in) a non-signed language. This is one, but not the only, reason why most prelingual deaf people use a signed language as their preferred language. For prelingual deaf children, this limited accessibility makes it very difficult to acquire a spoken language. Keywords: signed language translation Bible translation South African Sign Language South African Deaf Communityīecause of their hearing loss, deaf people's access to spoken language(s) is limited. We focus on the many challenges involved in this process, specifically those related to working between the written form of a spoken language (English) and a visual-gestural language with no written form (SASL) and only a short history of institutionalisation. This paper documents the modus operandi of the team as a sequence of different steps. ![]() The Deaf community of South Africa assists the Deaf translators with signs for Biblical names and terms when required. Back translations are done by both Deaf and hearing collaborators who are proficient in SASL and English. ![]() The Deaf translators are working with exegetical assistants, a Bible translation consultant with expertise in signed language (Bible) translations, a signed language interpreter who facilitates the communication between the Deaf translators and hearing collaborators, and an editor. As signed languages have no written form, the signed translations are video-recorded. A team of three Deaf 2 signers are translating the stories from written English to SASL. The project started in 2014 and, at the time of writing, 32 stories have been finalised. ![]() IHands with Words, Cape Town, South Africa E-mail: with Words, Cape Town, South Africa E-mail: Leuven, Belgium and Stellenbosch University, South Africa E-mail: paper reports on the South African Sign Language Bible Translation Project, an ongoing project aiming to translate 110 Bible stories into South African Sign Language (SASL). Combining Forces: The South African Sign Language Bible Translation ProjectĪnanda Van der Walt I, 1 Banie Van der Walt II Myriam Vermeerbergen III ![]()
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