the and is duck?

ghanaian deaf children often have a very hard time learning english. this is because ghanaian sign language uses english words, but the sign language syntax. so the children struggle to use proper grammar. also, they never actually hear the words they use, so often their spelling is incorrect, since they can't just "sound it out." they have to memorize everything.

this often triggers a debate among teachers of the deaf here, whether it is actually best to be teaching the children in ghanaian sign language. most teachers at my school are certain that if we taught using signed english, the students would do better academically. i don't think that changing the language that the children communicate in will do much to help; i think rather that we just need to focus on english and grammar and emphasize to the children that these are two different languages. for instance: "i am going home" is signed "me go home."

that's a task that's easier said than done, i understand. especially when many teachers at the school don't know any sign, whether gsl or signed english.

anyway. all that to say, sometimes the things that the children write don't make sense in either language. in my jhs prep class the other day, written on the blackboard was, "the and is duck?"

it made me laugh.