Kenyan Sign Language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kenyan Sign Language (KSL) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Signed in: | Kenya | |
| Total signers: | Unknown. Prelingually Deaf population estimated 200,000. | |
| Language family: | Related to British Sign Language and American Sign Language; some signs from French (Belgian) Sign Language | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | sgn-KE | |
| ISO 639-3: | xki
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| sign language — list of sign languages — legal recognition | ||
Kenyan Sign Language is the language of the Deaf community in Kenya, used throughout the country by a large number of the country's estimated Deaf population of 200,000.
There are some dialect differences between Kisumu (western Kenya) and Mombasa (eastern Kenya). It may be related to sign languages in neighboring Uganda and Tanzania, though these sign languages are reported to be mutually unintelligible with KSL.
As well as Kenyan Sign Language, a number of other languages have been used in Kenya by foreign educators: Belgian Sign Language (in one school only), British Sign Language (in one school only) and American Sign Language (Gallaudet world FAQ), KIE Signed English and even Korean Sign Language (Ethnologue report). It is probable that students in these schools use a form of KSL regardless.
A manual alphabet exists.
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[edit] Status and recognition
KSL currently has no legal status, but there is a proposal that Kenyan Sign Language (KSL) and Braille should be recognized in the country's new constitution as national and official Languages alongside English and Kiswahili.
Interpreters are rarely available, and usually unqualified.
A Kenyan Sign Language dictionary was published in 1991.
KSL is not generally used in the classrooms of Kenya's 35 residential boarding schools for deaf students, despite it being their main language, and reportedly literacy in English and Kiswahili is very low among the deaf community. Since the first deaf schools were established in the 1960s, the teaching staff rarely (if ever) included a deaf person, until a government program in the 1990s (spearheaded by the Kenya National Association of the Deaf) saw two deaf individuals trained and employed as teachers. However, the program is now defunct.
[edit] Sign language organisations
The Kenya National Association of the Deaf (KNAD) is a national non-governmental organisation formed and managed by Deaf people. It was established in 1986 and registered in 1987 under the Societies Act; KNAD is also an ordinary member of the World Federation of the Deaf.
[edit] References
- Kenyan Sign Language dictionary, Akach, Philemon A. O. Nairobi : KNAD 1991 - 580 p. Language: English
[edit] External links
- 1996 interview with Simeon Ogolla, former president of the Kenya Association of the Deaf.
- Sahaya.org HIV/AIDS education program using Kenyan Sign Language. This site contains lots of useful information as well as photos of the Kenyan Deaf community.
- Report from a US volunteer visiting Kenya to work with the Deaf community through an NGO.
- Demonstration of KSL CD developed by Peace Corps Volunteers working in Kenya.
