Manually Coded English

Manually Coded English is a generic descriptive term for a variety of visual communication methods expressed through the hands which attempt to represent the English language. Unlike 'natural' Deaf Sign Languages, MCE generally follows the grammar and syntax of spoken English. Because of this, forms of MCE can successfully be used with Simultaneous Communication - this is not possible with, for example, American Sign Language, because it involves speaking two different languages at the same time. It is common for a native ASL speaker to code-switch into a form of MCE such as when conversing with someone whose first language is not ASL, or when quoting something in English.

The different forms of Manually Coded English were originally developed for use in the education of deaf children, as their literacy in written English has been typically low compared to their hearing peers. This educational method was popularised by Abbé Charles-Michel de l'Epee who in the 1750s developed a method using hand-signs to teach the French language to deaf children. The educational setting is still the most common place where Manually Coded English is found; not only with deaf students, but also children with other kinds of speech or language difficulties.

The use of MCE in deaf education is controversial. Contemporary deaf education can use one of three streams - Deaf Sign Language, MCE, and oralism - or a combination of two or all three. Some opponents of MCE note that the use of MCE often comes with an attempt to deny or replace the natural languages of the deaf community, which are seen as retarding the child's acquisition of 'good English'. These opponents argue that the supplanting of native languages is a form of colonialism. In the manualism vs. oralism debate, some forms of MCE are opposed by oralists who believe that manual signing lessens the motivation for children to learn to speak and lipread.

Types of Manually Coded English used globally

Fingerspelling

Fingerspelling uses 26 different signs to represent the 26 letters of the Roman alphabet. Every word is spelled as in written English, and as with written English, certain linguistic and paralinguistic elements such as intonation are not represented.

It is a very simple form of MCE for English speakers to learn, and is often the first 'point of contact' for a hearing person in learning sign language. Fingerspelling is also used by Deaf people as a part of sign languages, for some proper nouns, or when quoting words or short phrases from English.

These days exclusive fingerspelling is rarely used for extended communication, as it is a very slow method of representing English. It still has currency in some deafblind settings (see tactile signing). Exclusive fingerspelling has a place in the history of deaf education; in the US it is known as the Rochester Method (see below). Elderly deaf people in the UK and Australia may also use a lot of fingerspelling as a result of their education.

Note that different regions use different manual alphabets to represent English - a two-handed system is used in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and one-handed systems are used in North America (see ASL alphabet), Ireland (see Irish Sign Language), Singapore and the Philippines. Both one and two handed alphabets are used in South Africa.

Signed English

Different systems called 'Signed English' have been developed in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the USA. However all 'Signed Englishes' have borrowed signs from the local Deaf Sign Language and invented new signs to represent the words and grammar of English. They tend to follow a loose logic of sound rather than the strict phonetic structure of Cued Speech. For example, in Australian Signed English 'uncomfortable' is represented in signs meaning 'un', 'come', 'for', and 'table'. A visual sign taken from a deaf sign language may be generalised to represent homonyms of the English word - for example, the Auslan sign for a 'fly' (insect) may be used in Signed English for the verb (to) 'fly'.

Signed English tends to be slower than spoken English, and teachers using it have usually found themselves 'cutting corners' and reverting to a kind of pidgin sign (see Pidgin Sign English ).

Pidgin Sign English (PSE), or 'Contact Sign'

Not strictly a form of Manually Coded English, PSE in fact is a blend of the local Deaf Sign Language and English. This pidgin sign can take place anywhere on a continuum of intermediate stages, from very 'English-like' to very 'Deaf-language-like'; signers from these two different language backgrounds will often meet somewhere in the middle. Because of PSE's standing as a bridge between two distinct languages, it is used differently by each individual depending on their knowledge of English and of the deaf sign language. PSE is a contact language, and is sometimes referred to as 'Contact Sign'.

PSE drops the initalizations and grammatical markers used in other forms of MCE, but retains basic English word order. In the US, ASL features often seen in PSE include the listing of grouped items and the repetition of some pronouns and verbs.

Sign Supported Speech (SSS), also called Simulatneous Communcation or Sim-Com

Sign Supported Speech involves voicing everything as in spoken English, while simultaneouly signing a form of MCE. The vocabulary, syntax and pragmatics of English are used, with the MCE signing serving as a support for the reception of speech. Signs are borrowed from the local deaf sign language and/or are artificial signs invented by educators of the deaf.

The terms SSS and Sim-Com are now synonymous with Total Communication (TC), though the original philosopy of TC is quite different.

Cued Speech

Cued Speech is unique among forms of MCE in that it does not use gestures that are equivalent to English words. Instead, Cued Speech uses eight handshapes - none of which are derived from Deaf Sign Languages - to represent consonants, and four hand placements around the face to represent vowel sounds. R. Orin Cornett, who developed Cued Speech in 1966 at Gallaudet University, sought to combat poor reading skills among deaf college students by providing deaf children with a solid linguistic background. Cued Speech must be combined with mouthing of words, as it is an aid to differentiating sounds that look identical on the lips. Just as speechreading is a difficult process, Cues are not readily understood without mouthing because they may represent as many as ten sounds. Cued Speech handshapes, combined with speechreading, have made it easier for many deaf children to learn English. Cued Language has been adapted for use in several countries around the world.

Types of Manually Coded English used in North America

Signed English (SE) - American

The term 'Signed English' refers to a much more simple system than SEE1, SEE2, or LOVE. Signed English (occasionally referred to as Siglish) uses ASL signs in English word order, but only 14 grammatical markers. The most common method of Signed English in the US is that created by Harry Bornstein , who worked on the Gallaudet Signed English Project to develop children's books written in both illustrated signs and written English.

Seeing Essential English (SEE1)

Developed in the US in 1966 by a deaf teacher named David Anthony , SEE1 was intended to teach proper grammatical construction by using gestures borrowed from ASL but not in a linguistically logical manner. In SEE1, all compound words are formed as separate signs - instead of using the ASL sign for butterfly, SEE1 places the signs for butter and fly in sequential order. SEE1 also uses the same sign for all homonyms - the same sign is used to sign blue and blew. Many gestures from ASL are initialized in SEE1 - the ASL sign for have is signed with the H handshape in SEE1. Grammatical markers also have signs of their own, including the -ing ending and articles such as the, which are not typically included in ASL. The verb "to be" is unique in SEE1 - is, am, and are are signed in the same way, again using initialization. SEE1 is occasionally referred to as Morphological Sign System (MSS), and it has also been adapted in Poland into Seeing Essential Polish.

Signing Exact English (SEE2)

SEE2 was developed by Gerilee Gustason in the early 1970s. As an offshoot of SEE1, many features of SEE2 are identical to that code system. Initializations and grammatical markers are also used in SEE2, but compound words with an equivalent ASL sign are used as the ASL sign, as with butterfly. SEE2 is also used in Singapore. About 75% to 80% of SEE2 signs are either borrowed from ASL or are modified ASL signs.

Linguistics of Visual English (LOVE)

Developed by Dennis Wampler , LOVE is also quite similar to SEE1 in construction. While most forms of ASL and MCE are transcribed using English glosses, LOVE is written using the notation system developed by William Stokoe.

Conceptually Accurate Signed English (CASE)

CASE, one of the more recently developed forms of MCE, combines the grammatical structure used in Signed English with the use of concepts rather than words, as is done in ASL. It is becoming one of the more common forms of MCE, and has been used in both interpreter training programs and mainstreamed deaf education. The term Sign Supported English (SSE) is sometimes used to refer to the same thing.

Rochester Method

Perhaps the closest type of MCE to written English, the Rochester method involves fingerspelling every word. It was originated by Zenas Westervelt in 1878, shortly after he opened the Western New York Institute for Deaf-Mutes (presently known as the Rochester School for the Deaf ). Use of the Rochester method continued until approximately the 1940s, and there are still deaf adults from the Rochester area who were taught with the Rochester method. It has fallen out of favor because it is a tedious and time-consuming process to spell everything manually, though it is still used in some deafblind settings (see tactile signing).

Types of Manually Coded English used in the UK

Signed English (SE) - British

Intending to use signs that would be readily understood by deaf children, British Signed English borrowed signs from British Sign Language and combined them with fingerspelling, as well as signs and markers invented by hearing educators, to give a manual representation of spoken English.

Sign Supported English (SSE)

Sign Supported English is the British equivalent of Conceptually Accurate Signed English (see above). BSL signs are used in English grammar. As with PSE the balance of BSL signs to English varies greatly depending on the signer's knowledge of the two languages.

A single sign is often differentiated into a number of English words by clearly mouthing the word. Thus in order to comprehend SSE well, one needs good lipreading (speechreading) skills, as well as a good knowledge of English grammar.

Interpreting serivces are available in the UK for SSE.

Paget Gorman Signed Speech (PGSS) or Paget Gorman Systematic Sign Language

PGSS was originated in Britain by Sir Richard Paget in the 1930s and developed further by Lady Grace Paget and Dr Pierre Gorman to be used with children with speech or communication difficulties, such as deaf children. It is a grammatical sign system which reflects normal patterns of English. The system uses 37 basic signs and 21 standard hand postures, which can be combined to represent a large vocabulary of English words, including word endings and verb tenses. The signs do not correspond to natural signs of the Deaf community.

The system was widespread in Deaf schools in the UK from the 1960s to the 1980s, but since the emergence of British Sign Language and the BSL-based Signed English in deaf eduation, its use is now largely restricted to the field of speech and language disorder.

Types of Manually Coded English used elsewhere

Australasian Signed English

In Australia, 'Signed English' was developed by a committee in the late 1970s, who took signs from Auslan, invented new signs, and borrowed a number of signs from American Sign Language that have now made their way into everyday use in Auslan. It is still used in many schools.

External Links

Styles of Communication

Methods of Communication with the Deaf

Cued Speech Discovery

How the alphabet came to be used in a sign language

References and Resources

• Paget Gorman Signed Speech Full Manual (1990). Northumberland: STASS Publications.
• Jeanes R. C., Reynolds, B. E. & Coleman, B. C. 1989 (Eds.), Dictionary of Australasian Signs (2nd Edition), Victorian College for the Deaf, 597 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne, Victoria 3004.
• Branson, Jan & Miller, Don (1998), Nationalism and the Linguistic Rights of Deaf Communities: Linguistic Imperialism and the Recognition and Development of Sign Languages., Journal of Sociolinguistics 2 (1), 3-34.