Meryl Glaser

A Deaf adult literacy collective

In this paper, we present a description of an adult Deaf Literacy project in South Africa. The project is under the auspices of the Deaf Community of Cape Town, a grassroots organisation run by Deaf people to serve the needs of the historically disadvantaged Deaf. The literacy project is staffed by Deaf signers, paired with hearing support teachers. This pairing facilitates the use of a bilingual model of English literacy acquisition, in this case enabling the accessing of written English through the medium of South African Sign Language (SASL). There are currently five classes, each consisting of between 8 and 10 learners. There are slightly more men than women; they have all attended schools for the deaf for at least 12 years and are almost all currently employed, albeit in jobs which are menial, and require less of them than they may be capable of. They grew up in hearing homes where the languages used were English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa, but all prefer to use SASL as their primary language of communication. Reading levels are low, apparently ranging between first and fourth grade, even though the learners have attended residential schools for the Deaf for an average of 10 years.

Improving usability and correctness of a mobile tool to help a deaf person with pharmaceutical instruction

The computing for development community knows how to build user interfaces using qualitative methods for text illiterate users, especially on mobile devices. However, little work has been done specifically targeting Deaf users in developing regions who cannot access voice or text. This paper describes a multi-disciplinary collaboration towards iterative development of a mobile communication tool to support a Deaf person in understanding usage directions for medication dispensed at a pharmacy. We are improving usability and correctness of the user interface. The tool translates medicine instruction given in English text to Sign Language videos, which are relayed to a Deaf user on a mobile phone. Communication between pharmacists and Deaf patients were studied to extract relevant exchanges between the two users. We incorporated the common elements of these dialogues to represent content in a verifiable manner to ensure that the mobile tool relays the correct information to the Deaf user. Instructions are made available for a Deaf patient in signed language videos on a mobile device. A pharmacy setup was created to conduct trials of the tool with groups of end users, in order to collect usability data with recorded participant observation, questionnaires and focus group discussions. Subsequently, pre-recorded sign language videos, stored on a phones memory card, were tested for correctness. Results of these two activities are presented and discussed in this paper.

Inclusive education for deaf students: literacy practices and South African sign language

Abstract This article considers the feasibility of inclusive education for Deaf students in a mainstream Further Education and Training (FET) classroom through the use of a South African Sign Language interpreter. It revisits the centrality of language in Deaf students’ education and reports on progressive policy changes in the areas of language, education and disability in South Africa. The article surveys classroom discourse and literacy practices in a mainstream FET classroom, focusing particularly on students’ acquisition of text literacy skills in Business English. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from the New Literacy Studies, Critical Discourse Analysis and the Social Model of Disability, the article argues that there is definitely potential for establishing inclusive education for Deaf students in a mainstream classroom. It however highlights that there are many difficulties and challenges around providing fully inclusive education for Deaf students. It was found that the signed interpretations in this classroom frequently represent an impoverished form of language while some types of pedagogic practice impede the interpreters signing. The article concludes that interpreters and teachers need to be trained in forms of language and pedagogy that would benefit all students in class, including Deaf students.

Teaching design for development in computer science

When undertaking a project in community-based co-design, students and their teachers must embrace uncertainty.

SignSupport: A Mobile Aid for Deaf People Learning Computer Literacy Skills

This paper discusses a prototype of a learning aid on a mobile phone to support Deaf people learning computer literacy skills. The aim is to allow Deaf people to learn at their own pace which in turn reduces the dependence on a teacher to allow weaker learners be assisted. We studied the classroom dynamics and teaching methods to extract how lesson content is delivered. This helped us develop an authoring tool to structure lesson content for the prototype. A prototype has been developed using South African Sign Language videos arranged according to the structure of pre-existing lessons. The technical goal was to implement the prototype on a mobile device and tie the resulting exported lesson content from the authoring tool to a series of signed language videos and images so that a Deaf person can teach him/herself computer literacy skills. Results from the user testing found the prototype successful in allowing Deaf users to learn at their own pace thereby reducing the dependence on the teacher.

Supporting Deaf Adult Learners Training in Computer Literacy Classes

While Deaf learners are fluent in a signed language they need to know a written language when acquiring computer literacy skills. We aim to allow Deaf people learn at their own pace and in turn reduce the need to interpret written text. Classroom dynamics and teaching method were studied to extract how lessons were conducted. We then implemented our solution: an authoring tool to structure lesson content and a mobile prototype. The prototype uses South African Sign Language videos arranged according to pre-existing lessons exported by the authoring tool. Results from the user testing showed a reduction in number of representational states which instructions appear in as well as allowing Deaf learners to learn at their own pace.