Inclusive teaching
Sign Language in Foreign Language Teaching

A classroom in Switzerland: Abdelkarim is standing at the whiteboard with a marker in his hand. On the board, under the question “Was siehst du?” (What do you see?), is a drawing of some people in colourful clothes. And next to it, under the heading “Adjektiv”, are the words “fröhlich” (cheerful) and “schl_nk” (slim – though the “a” in the German word schlank is missing). Abdelkarim points to the slim gap between the “l” and the “n” in “schl_nk”. Then, mouthing an “a” with his lips, he adds the missing vowel to the word on the board. Abdelkarim communicates with his teacher and classmates by means of facial expressions as well as manual and bodily gestures – though not just any gestures, they’re the ones used in Swiss-German Sign Language (DSGS). This scene is from a television documentary about a German language course for refugees and immigrants in Zurich. The course is given by DIMA, a Swiss association to promote “education, communication and integration” of the deaf and hard of hearing.

Abdelkarim is deaf, as are his classmates, who also hail from other countries. The documentary recounts Abdelkarim’s story: how he’d been exposed to Swiss-German Sign Language on the deaf community’s Instagram and Facebook channels even before he fled from Morocco. At first he felt awfully lonely in Switzerland. But some deaf contacts he made there steered him to the DIMA association, where he subsequently learnt to communicate fluently in sign language. He also tries to mouth words whilst signing and to express himself in written German.

Who uses sign language?

In February 2022, roughly three hundred deaf refugees from Ukraine came to Switzerland, recalls the head of the DIMA association. There are a great many deaf refugees and migrants in Germany, too, who rely on sign language to communicate, though exact figures are not available. According to the Christian Blind Mission (CBM), 430 million people around the world have a hearing disability and many of them have no opportunity to learn sign language in their native country. All told, there are 137 different official sign languages worldwide. According to the German government’s Federal Accessibility Agency, a quarter of a million deaf or hearing-impaired German residents use German Sign Language (DGS).

Deaf refugees and migrants in Germany need to learn German Sign Language, whether as a first or second language, in order to communicate effectively with other hearing-impaired residents. But German Sign Language is also useful for the hearing parents of deaf children and, conversely, for the hearing children of deaf parents. What’s more, some other hearing people learn to sign in German for personal or professional reasons, e.g. to work with other DGS users

German Sign Language

Unlike Switzerland, Germany has yet to develop a large-scale specialized programme for learning sign language as a first or foreign language. Levels A1 and A2 (i.e. for beginners and “basic users”, respectively) are often the only courses available. Thomas Geissler teaches German Sign Language at Humboldt University in Berlin. His classes are attended mainly by hearing students, most of whom are native German speakers, and only a small number of deaf students, most of whom are learning or have already learnt German Sign Language as their first language. Only rarely do deaf foreign students who’ve already learnt a different sign language abroad sign up for his mixed classes. He’d prefer to teach deaf and hearing learners separately because they have different needs. Deaf students are used to using sign language; they “merely” need to learn the words and grammar of the German version. Hearing students, on the other hand, are not yet familiar with the differences between spoken and sign language. They have to learn not only a new language, but a whole new mode of communication.

Speaking for the eyes, not the ears

Thomas Geissler explains: “Students who already know a different sign language have to learn the mouthings used in speaking German, for example, in order to imitate them whilst signing and in order to read their interlocutor’s lips. If they can hear, they also have to learn to use spoken German, of course.” Students who’ve only mastered the spoken language so far face a different challenge: they need lessons to enable them to switch from the familiar “vocal-auditory modality” to the wholly unfamiliar “visual-gestural modality”. In German sign language, grammar is expressed by means of facial expressions: to ask a question, for example, you don’t change the word order, you raise your eyebrows. “Training to use your body consciously takes time,” explains Geissler. Signed communication is received through the eyes, so students have to learn to focus more on visuals.

DIMA, with its Swiss-German Sign Language (DSGS) programme for refugees and migrants in Zurich, and Humboldt University, with its tried and tested methods of sign language teaching in Berlin, have joined forces with institutions in various other countries to take part in an international research project. Coordinated by the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) of the Council of Europe in Graz, Austria, the project is called DeafSign and it’s about “unlocking educational opportunities in sign languages in Europe”. From 2024 to 2027, participants will be sharing news and views, holding network meetings and workshops and conducting surveys. The object is to provide guidelines, recommendations and resources to enable policymakers and the education sector to put together professional sign-language programmes – and train teachers to run them.

Inclusion requires openness and interest

Social inclusion is one goal of the DeafSign project. “All people, regardless of their gender, racial or ethnic origin, age, disability, beliefs or religion, should have access to language in accordance with their abilities, and, consequently, access to society and everyday life, cultural life, working life and health care,” declares project coordinator Christian Rathmann, the head of the Sign Language Interpreting programme at Humboldt University in Berlin. He feels that inclusive language teaching doesn’t mean putting the hearing and the deaf in the same class: “Instead of throwing people together pell-mell,” he argues, “teachers should develop suitable methods, materials and strategies to meet the specific needs of their target groups.” If they end up nevertheless learning side by side, it’s important for hearing students to learn sign language.

Both of the Humboldt University experts agree that anyone working with deaf learners really must learn about sign languages and methods of teaching them. Only then can they effectively improve access and inclusion for the deaf.

Teaching materials and advanced teacher training

Instructors like Thomas Geissler have developed teaching materials for German sign language. In addition, the SiLC network (short for “Sign Language in the Foreign Language Classroom”) is a useful resource for working with learners already proficient in written English or American Sign Language (ASL). SiLC was co-founded by Melanie Kellner, who teaches English as a foreign language to deaf and hard-of-hearing students. ASL is an important conduit for communication, she says: “When I speak English in class, deaf children can see that my lips aren’t moving the way they do for German words. If I then resort to signing in German out of desperation, that’s just going to cause added confusion.” Although pupils with hearing and communication disabilities have to learn English to graduate from secondary school, teacher training doesn’t yet include suitable methods for teaching English to this target group. Melanie Kellner also teaches deaf schoolchildren from Ukraine who are learning German Sign Language and written German. She says that being able to use ASL and written English as common language makes it easier to reach these kids – and boosts their motivation in class.