Normas de género y otras dimensiones de importancia

School A was situated in Worcester. The observations were conducted in a Grade 8 class. The teacher was teaching Technology. The approach of “Total Communication”, an official approach used for teaching deaf students, was used in class, that is, both sign language and the voice were used. The learners came from different cultural backgrounds. The teacher was attempting to explain the

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concept of a ‘lever’. He was not well versed in signing, and the learners could not understand what the teacher was trying to communicate. He told the learners that it was difficult to sign in class, and he promised that he would tell them later on what he was trying to say. He could not sign whole sentences. For example, he communicated the sentence “Where do we use a lever?” as “Where (sign language) use (the voice) lever (sign language)?” The learners became confused, because the sentence lacked meaning, as the verb in the sentence, namely “use”, had not been signed. The teacher clearly lacked an appropriate understanding of sign language.

School B was Wittebome Dominican School. Observations were conducted in the Grade 7 class. The lessons observed were in the learning areas of Science, English, and Mathematics. The learners were again taught using the “Total Communication” approach, where the dominant medium of communication used was the voice (oral presentation). The learners were encouraged to speak and repeat what the teacher had said. There were eight learners in the class from different backgrounds. Field notes were taken and accompanied by observations of lessons where both the teacher and the learners made use of sign language. The lessons were recorded by means of a video camera. The fact that lessons were recorded in this manner made it possible for the researcher to assess different aspects of the teacher’s signing. The lesson observations allowed the researcher to spend time in different classes and learn more about the various different signs that were used in the classroom.

The researcher observed how some learners made use of oral communication. This was particularly prevalent in the case of learners that were partially deaf and partially speaking, that is, able to speak. The school had two interpreters, that is, an English interpreter, and an Afrikaans interpreter. There was no sign

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language interpreter, hence the school encouraged oralism and the use of “Total Communication”. Deaf learners sat and planned together. Even so, the language structure, sentences and spelling of the partially deaf learners was good compared to those of the deaf learners.

The English lesson involved the reading of short stories. Each learner read his or her own story with confidence. Some learners observed and corrected where necessary. In Science, the learners were taught about plants. The teacher used terminology such as “dicotyledon” and “monocotyledon”, but she did not have signs for the terms. The teacher and the learners developed new signs together. She explained that when she and the learners develop a new sign together, they start with an abbreviation. For instance, she finger-spelled “mono + cot”, which enabled the learners to come up with an explanatory sign. The teacher gave a practical lesson, where she took the learners outside, to observe different kinds of plants.

School C was Mary Kihn Hearing Impaired and Sign Language School. The observations and interviews were conducted in the Grade 7 class. The teacher was male, and he was able to hear and speak. The lesson was in the learning area of Natural Sciences, and the topic of the lesson was the solar system. The teacher used clear signing and the learners understood him. The size of the classroom size was large enough for seven learners, and the teacher had enough space to move around. The learners were very interested in the lesson. The way they answered the questions showed that they understood the concept of the solar system.

The teacher used teaching aids which had clear pictures of what he was teaching about. The teacher argued that deaf learners can see what they are being taught,

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because sign language is a visual language, enabling learners to follow what is being communicated, even although they cannot hear the language that is being used.

The learners understood the lesson, because they were able to visualise clearly what the teacher was talking about. While the teacher was introducing the topic, he had to write all the terminology or difficult words on the board before he started the lesson. Arguably, the vocabulary was too advanced for the learners. It really took time for the teacher to finish the lesson. After the teacher had written the terminology on the board, he explained or defined each word. While he explained the terminology, he used sign language. After he had finished the explanations, he began the lesson. The classroom was full of bright pictures, which made the deaf learners’ classroom come alive with colour and vibrancy, suggesting a comfortable and exciting learning environment.

The teacher worked with a deaf teacher assistant. Whenever he needed a new sign to be created or developed, he sought assistance from the deaf teacher assistant.

5.5 The Western Cape Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and