Who can Teach LPSL and How?
Who can Teach LPSL and How?
~ pilin mi ~
Firstly I want to start with - these are just some thoughts I have rather than the definitive word on the subject. I am simply a person with opinions. Hopefully reasonable ones, but opinions none the less. These should be seen as at most guidelines or principles than rules or laws.
Summary of Principles
mi pilin e ni:
- Sufficiently fluent hearing-speaking people should be allowed to teach LPSL
- LPSL should always be taught voice-off.
- Hearing-speaking people should defer to DHH and non/semi-speaking people where possible
- Other disabilities should be accommodated when possible
- People should be able to share facts about LPSL or help each-other in any way they feel is appropriate - while avoiding teaching
- Personalised teaching between two people can make its own rules
- Money shouldn't be involved, and if it is it should be DHH and non/semi-speaking folk that benefit
Preamble
Throughout this I may refer to hearing-speaking people and DHH and non/semi-speaking people - whereas in the wider Deaf community the discussion usually just refers to hearing people and Deaf people.
This is because with natural sign language - the cultural core of most of them are Deaf people, with non/semi-speaking people only making up a fraction. Non/semi-speaking people tend not to have the same cultural experiences of Deaf people - and are thus not considered the same way. I for one believe non/semi-speaking people deserve more space and consideration in signing spaces - hence why I would argue that Luka Pona Sign Language should be for them/us as well - especially as it is not attached to a pre-existing Deaf community and we are the ones who get to shape the community that forms around it.
DHH of course stands for Deaf/deaf and hard of hearing. And I use the use the term non/semi-speaking rather than non/semi-verbal. Technically speaking - the term non/semi-speaking refers to someone who cannot / struggles with speech but is able to communicate via other modalities (sign language & writing). Whereas non/semi-verbal refers to someone who cannot use language of any modality - with verbal being from the Latin verbum - word rather than speech. These terms are often used in ways that does not reflect this distinction (that could be a whole essay on its own) - including by people who identify as non/semi-verbal so please don't enforce it on others.
So there are two big "rules" when it comes to sign language teaching;
- "Only Deaf people should teach!"
- "Voice off!"
I wanted to give my thoughts on how they applied to LPSL in specific.
"Only Deaf people should teach!" - I disagree
Lets first look at Only Deaf people should teach! I recommend you check out;
It is important to say - this is not a "law" but a principle. One which isn't always adhered to - and one which there are many perspectives on within the Deaf community and around the world. But it generally tends to be held for a few reasons;
- Sign Language is the language of the Deaf community. It is deeply culturally tied to it and disconnecting it does harm.
- Many hearing-speaking people have taught it incorrectly. Some hearing-speaking "teachers" are complete shams. But even if you sign very well, the lack of experience of needing it to communicate results in sign language that is more formulaic and theoretical than fluid - if you pick up an incorrect but "close enough" sign, how would you know before you pass it on to a learner - whereas a Deaf person can always say "this is how I do it, and this is how others I know do it"?
- Contact with a Deaf person is necessary for learners. Learning to sign is not just about learning to do the motions - it is learning how to communicate with a group of people. With a hearing-speaking teacher there is always that backup of being able to turn on your voice, with a deaf teacher you cannot - and learning the ways of circumventing that barrier is a key part of the learning process.
- Hearing-speaking people taking sign language teacher jobs takes jobs from Deaf people - a group that already struggles to find employment.
I agree with this principle for natural sign languages like ASL and BSL - I don't feel like its as applicable with LPSL, for each of the following reasons;
- LPSL pays respect to Deaf culture, and has disabled users, but is not tied to a real life Deaf community.
- It could be taught "incorrectly" - but finding your own way of signing is a key principle of the language.
- Referring back to the first point - there is no real world Deaf community associated. Plus this can usually be sufficiently simulated by the teacher turning off their speaker.
- Nobody is asking for any money.
I'd also like to add that LPSL is purely a hobby for everyone. Real life sign languages have real life applications - LPSL does not and is not intended to. The fun of it comes in doing something novel. There is also only a handful of signers, and signer willing to teach - so to mandate only DHH people can teach would be cutting off our nose to spite our face.
One thing to make sure, however, is that someone who wants to teach is sufficiently fluent - don't go learn a single sign then teach it to others. While there is no line for this - it should mostly be judged by other advanced/fluent peers (especially any DHH & non/semi-speaking signers) rather than yourself - and you should check in with them to make sure whatever your teaching make sense.
I think sufficiently fluent hearing-speaking people CAN teach LPSL.
"Voice off!" - I agree
Once again this principle is one that comes from other sign languages spaces, I recommend reading;
On the counterargument you have hearing-speaking people who will say that verbal explanations help them understand better than watching completely silently - but this misses the point entirely.
The main point is that the act of learning a language is the act of re-wiring a brain. If you have the verbal language - you will not rewire as well, especially if the teacher speaks. Voice-off is immersive learning - it puts you in the same position that young Deaf people themselves are in - requiring sign language to communicate. The only way to get to the other side of the language barrier is through.
But there is also a matter of ablism here. If learning material gets made with spoken language - it will not be accessible to deaf learners. This means that those who actually need the language are cut out. Even if you add subtitles, the deaf people in the audience will have to focus on the subtitles rather than the content.
But another layer on top of that is that a person signing and speaking will switch their attention to one or the other. This applies to teachers, usually at the detriment of their signing as they focus on saying the right words rather than being fully accurate in their signing. But this also applies to students who will focus on one channel or the other - processing two languages simultaneously is an extremely difficult skill to acquire. So even if the teacher is themselves signing but has an interpreter voiceing over them - this is still not ideal.
Lastly - when you fail to communicate, it teaches the skills of improvising, asking for a sign or writing it down. If both you and the teacher can speak (even if through an interpreter) then you have no incentive to try anything else. But if you cannot then you must improvise, which is actually a key skill in sign languages (LPSL included) and is a huge part of how classifiers work. If that fails then you can try to ask for a specific sign and learn some new vocabulary. But if both fail then you have to turn to written communication, which is the backup many Deaf people use. Thus even when it gets tough - you are learning new skills.
These and more is why I strongly agree with this principle. All videos should be silent, with captions at most. All online classes should be muted, without an option to unmute. And the rare in person class should have a strict voice-off policy.
Deferring To DHH and Non/Semi-Speakers
Despite having no specific Deaf community surrounding the language - there are disabled users of the language who use it for greater accessibility within the TP community - even if this is simply so they can chat to others in an easier medium.
It is always worth checking with them to make sure what is occurring makes sense and the language doesn't drift too far from utility for them - and also respect any changes they make for accessibility reasons. If a disabled person makes a criticism - it should be listened to - and changes implemented where necessary. While not a monolith, and very capable of having bad opinions (myself included), the default should be to assume that they at least have a reason to think or feel the way they do and that should be respected and understood rather than disregarded.
The risk in not doing this is that the language would become easier for hearing-speaking people and harder for the communities that it is intended - which would be antithetical to the goal.
Accommodations
It goes without saying that should there be other disabilities that require accommodations - these principles may of course be broken.
For instance - if someone who is blind or visually impaired needs voiceover in order to understand the lesson - it should be provided if possible.
Though it should also be kept in mind that the LPSL community is a small hobby community. Anyone volunteering to translate/interpret would be doing so entirely voluntarily and cannot be expected to - nor held up to the standards of qualified interpreting.
Sharing VS Teaching
One thing I want to differentiate teaching vs sharing.
Sharing can come in the form of peer-helping or explaining. Explaining comes in the form of someone telling another about a thing, in this case a language - the goal isn't necessarily for the other person to come away with a functional understanding of the language or ability to use it but to know some facts about it. On the other hand - peer-helping is a part of the learning process, where peers help each-other to understand or correct each-other based off what they have learnt without being an authority.
It is a good idea to be careful that these things don't tip over into teaching. For instance - try not to share to a big audience, and try not to position yourself as an authority figure. Be honest about what you know and where you got your information.
But we naturally share the things we enjoy - and it is a part of the way we ourselves learn. So in short - none of the above guidelines matter if you are just wittering to your friend.
Personalised Teaching
It is also worth mentioning that the above mostly applies to if you are doing something in public. If you are in private, and teaching in a personalised way to someone - the principles you uphold are your own prerogative.
I still strongly recommend you consider the above before you teach. I think they are solid principles. But it is also understandable if a learner needs something done a certain way - and, at the end of the day, what you do behind closed doors is your own choice.
Mani
While the TP community is largely a hobby based one - who knows what the future will bring. I for one like that this is a community where no money is involved - but one day it might be.
If you as a DHH and non/semi-speaking LPSL signer want to monetise your work you are of course free and welcome to - I hope it helps you live a better life. But if you are hearing-speaking then I strongly advise you not to monetise your work - and if you do consider donating it to me personally a charity that promotes sign language or helps DHH / non/semi-speaking folks.
//
Like I said in the opening - I am not infallible and none of these are laws. They are principles that I believe are reasonable and would be good to follow.
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