Newsletter No. 487

04 # 4 8 7 | 1 9 . 1 1 . 2 0 1 6 手 語,是因應聾人溝通需要而生的語言。然而不說不知,在香港超過十五萬的聾人及弱 聽人口當中,只有不足四千人懂手語,原因是社會曾一直誤以為手語學習會耽誤口語發 展,有礙聾人融入主流社會,因此對手語教育避之唯恐不及。直至中大語言學及現代語言系 的鄧慧蘭教授2006年推出「手語雙語共融教育計劃」(共融計劃),迷思才逐漸打破。 共融計劃至今已開展十年,由幼稚園至中學,安排聾生與健聽生在手語口語並重的環境下一 同上課。今年初,鄧慧蘭教授及其手語及聾人研究中心團隊獲得研究及知識轉移服務處(研 轉處)四十萬元「可持續知識轉移基金」資助,成立社企「語橋社會資源有限公司」(語橋社 資),預計2017年正式營運,將手語雙語教育推廣至更寬的群體,而首批服務對象是零至三 歲幼兒和家長。 「從語言學角度來看,人出生後的首三至五年是學習語言最關鍵的時期,手語也不例外。但 共融計劃從幼稚園才開始,主要照顧三歲或以上的孩子。語橋社資的成立正填補了支援三 歲以下幼兒發展這個服務空隙。」鄧教授說。 另類雙語 聾人聽不清楚,學口語自然困難重重。隨着手語語言學的發展,「學了手語便不再講話」的謬 誤早已推翻,研究還發現,手語和口語學習不僅沒有衝突,兩者更是相輔相成。「手語是視覺 語言,聾童可透過它無障礙地獲取語言知識。手語雙語有利聾童掌握手語,同時發展口語能 力。有了穩固的語言基礎,並能在日常溝通中靈活選用手語或口語,聾童就能享受和健聽者 平等的教育機會。」鄧教授解釋道。 研究中心高級項目主任 姚勤敏 補充:「對聽覺障礙非常嚴重的聾童而言,助聽器的幫助很有 限。有些聾童已經六歲,但只有一兩歲的語齡,那教他們如何在小學課堂生存?反觀近年自小 接受手語雙語教育的聾童,則能在主流學校和聾、健同學打成一片,溝通無阻。」 聾健皆受惠 語橋社資的服務對象不僅是聾童,也包括健聽孩子。談及健聽者學手語的好處,鄧教授說: 「近期海外研究指出,手語雙語學習有利腦部發展,因為打手語除了刺激左腦負責語言處理 和邏輯思維的區域之外,也兼用主宰視覺的枕葉、處理空間認知的頂葉和控制自主運動的額 葉。無論聾與健,人人都希望自己腦筋更靈活。學手語除了獲得語言知識,更裨益大腦各功能 的運作。」 教學研究員 關美梨 則指出,零至三歲的健聽幼兒和父母一同學手語,可增進親子溝通。「學 過手語的嬰兒在九個月大就能用小手比劃出『蘋果』、『花朵』、『車子』,甚至是『我要』、 『不喜歡』等普通嬰兒一歲多才懂開口表達的複雜概念。愈早有效地和父母溝通,嬰兒成 長得愈快樂。父母也樂於透過嬰兒的手語及時明白他們的所想所需。」 研究助理 黃卓翰 補充:「新一代父母熱衷於搜索任何有益孩子身心的資訊,嬰兒 手語是近年的熱門之選。研究中心經常收到家長查詢學齡前手語教育,而他們的 孩子大多是健聽的。這體現出社會對手語的認識大有提高,也堅定了我們創辦語橋 社資的信心。」 強大後盾 研轉處不僅提供資金,還聘請了中大創業研究中心的項目總監 徐苑思 擔任語橋社資的商 業顧問。「如果手語教育只針對聾人群體,市場始終有限。但當我了解到健聽人士學手語 的種種益處,就知道語橋社資可以走更寬廣的路。我會協助這間新社企將手語教育轉 Photo by ISO Staff 化成普遍家長皆有興趣的服務,使這個別具意義的項目能以切實可行的商 業模式運作。」徐苑思說。 鄧教授感謝研轉處鼎力襄助,令她和團隊的研究成果真正在社區發揮影 響:「研究手語的成功與否不在乎出版論文的多寡,而在於有否在社會上 改變聾人的命運與健聽人對聾人和手語的態度。語橋社資希望以語言作  橋樑,提升聾童的語言和學術能力,同時培養出包容仁愛的手語雙語健聽 學生。我們期望這批聾健孩子能形成一個共融小群體,將來成為在大社會中推動 融和關愛的高質素人才。」 S ign language was developed to cater to the communicative needs of deaf people. Surprisingly, among the 150,000 deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in Hong Kong, fewer than 4,000 of them are competent in signing. It is due to a common misconception that learning sign language will impede oral language development. For fear of making it harder for the group to live a normal life, deaf education in Hong Kong had avoided sign language like the plague. It was not until 2006, when Prof. Gladys Tang of CUHK’s Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages rolled out the Sign Bilingualism and Co-enrolment in Deaf Education Programme (SLCO Programme), that such myth began to fall apart. The SLCO Programme, now in its 10th year, has taken roots in mainstream schools from kindergarten to secondary school level, where deaf and hearing students are co- learning in a sign bilingual environment. Earlier this year, having received a funding of HK$400,000 from the Sustainable Knowledge Transfer Project Fund administered by the Office of Research and Knowledge Transfer Services (ORKTS), Professor Tang and her team at the Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies started up SLCO Community Resources Limited, a social enterprise expected to open in 2017, to extend sign bilingual education to a wider public, initially targeting the newly born up to the age of three and their parents. ‘From the linguistic perspective, the first three to five years since birth are most vital for language acquisition, including sign language. As the SLCO Programme only starts from kindergarten onwards and those aged below three need support services as well, SLCO Community Resources is hence set up to close this service gap in supporting children’s development in the early years,’ said Professor Tang. A Different Form of Bilingualism Learning to speak is a daunting task for people with hearing loss. Recent sign linguistic research has shown that, contrary to popular belief, sign language does not jeopardize but facilitate speech development. ‘As a visual-spatial language, sign language is barrier-free for deaf children in terms of acquiring linguistic knowledge. Sign bilingualism supports the acquisition of not only sign but also spoken language. With a strong linguistic foundation and the flexibility of choosing between spoken and sign language in their daily communication, deaf children will enjoy equal opportunities for education with their hearing peers,’ explained Professor Tang. ‘For children with profound hearing impairment, hearing aids are not of much help. Some six-year-old deaf kids only achieve the language ability of a one/two-year-old. How are they supposed to survive in a normal classroom setting? In contrast, deaf 培育手口同心下一代 Raising Sign Bilingual Children (左起)姚勤敏、鄧慧蘭、黃卓翰、徐苑思、關美梨   (From left) Chris Yiu, Gladys Tang, Raymond Wong, Elsie Tsui and Kelly Kwan

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