science

Kenyan Sign Language

Kenyan Sign Language is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kenyan Sign Language rather than just read about it. In short: Kenyan Sign Language (English: KSL, Swahili: LAK) is a sign language used by the deaf community in Kenya and Somalia. It is used by over half of Kenya's estimated 600,000 deaf population.

Key takeaways

Kenyan Sign Language belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kenyan Sign Language to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kenyan Sign Language from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kenyan Sign Language (English: KSL, Swahili: LAK) is a sign language used by the deaf community in Kenya and Somalia. It is used by over half of Kenya's estimated 600,000 deaf population. There are some dialect differences between Kisumu (western Kenya), Mombasa (eastern Kenya) and Somalia. (See Somali Sign Language.)

Language situation As well as Kenyan Sign Language, a number of other languages have been used for instruction in Kenya: Belgian Sign Language (in one school only), British Sign Language (in one school only), American Sign Language, KIE Signed English, and even Korean Sign Language. It is probable that students in these schools use a form of KSL regardless. A manual alphabet exists mainly from the American Sign Language manual alphabet. However the British manual alphabet was used in the early years.

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 Swahili. Interpreters are rarely available, and usually 'unqualified' uncertified due to the lack of a training program/certification process but due to many efforts put in along by the deaf associations ksl was recognized as a national language alongside English and kiswahili.

Kenya Sign Language Interpreters Association Kenya Sign Language Interpreters Association was set up by a group of 20 local interpreters after training by the first Deaf Education US Peace Corps Volunteers in September 2000. Prior to this training there were several short term trainings conducted by KSLRP/KNAD dating back to 1980s and 1990s. [KSLIA] is an indigenous initiative evolving and strengthening the face of the Interpreting profession in Kenya. [KSLIA] hopes to improve and elevate the standards of Interpreting in Kenya through the following objectives:

To secure official recognition by the government of SL interpreters profession; Encourage and promote initiatives in improving the standards of SL interpreting and interpreter training and pay scale of interpreters depending on their level and skills of interpretation through certification; Cooperation with other recognized bodies concerned in the welfare of the deaf and in provision of SL interpreters throughout the world; Awareness creation on Deafness and SL interpreters through publication of information materials; To collect and raise funds for the achievement of goals and objectives through membership fee, subscription, contribution, gifts or donations, commissions and payments, fund raising whether in money or otherwise from both members and non-members; To maintain and administer a registry of SL interpreters in Kenya, enforce a code of ethics and mediate conflict between the interpreters and their clients. KSLIA is working towards the establishment of a training program and a certification process for its membership. [KSLIA] envisions its role in a three-pronged approach - the three C's - Certification of members, Continuing education for the practising interpreters and Conflict resolution through enforcement of the Code of Ethics. Global Deaf Connection, Deaf Aid, and KSLIA have jointly organized a series of trainings aimed at developing a process to provide training, certification and continued professional development for Kenyan interpreters.

Dictionaries and Education A Kenyan Sign Language dictionary was published in 1991. KSLRP working with Peace Corp Volunteers have recently developed an interactive digital dictionary ([KSL Interactive]) A new online dictionary and mobile application has been published at www.ksldictionary.com since the year 2015 by Kenneth Smith Gathuru. ([KSL Dictionary] 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 Swahili 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 continued by Global Deaf Connection chaired by Nickson Kakiri. It is based at Machakos Teachers College.

Sign language organizations 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. The Kenyan Sign Language Interpreters Association (KSLIA) is a national, non governmental, Society formed and managed by Kenyan Interpreters to promote the development of the Interpreting profession in Kenya and to provide quality Interpretation services for Deaf Kenyans. It was established in September 2000. KSLIA is working on becoming a member of WASLI World Association of Sign Language Interpreters. Jehovah's Witnesses are a religious organization who have produced music, videos and articles in Kenya Sign Language, as well as a current total of 106 different Sign Languages. The organization has partially translated the Bible in Kenya Sign Language, and a total of 97 different Sign Language Bible translations either in whole or part. Jehovah's Witnesses hold weekly Kenya Sign Language meetings in Mombasa, Nairobi, Nakuru, Eldoret and Kisumu; the meetings are free to enter and deaf can also choose to have a free Bible study program in Kenya Sign Language.

Sign Bilingual Schools Humble Hearts School in Nairobi, Kisii School for the Deaf and Kenya Christian School for the Deaf at Oyugis use KSL as the language of instruction. Humble Hearts School is Kenya's first sign bilingual school where KSL and English are taught on an equal par. Kedowa School for the Deaf in Kericho District also uses KSL for instruction, and is unique among Deaf schools in Kenya in that more than half of the teachers at the school are Deaf themselves.

Notes

References Kenyan Sign Language dictionary, Akach, Philemon A. O. Nairobi : KNAD 1991 - 580 p. Language: English

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kenyan Sign Language

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kenyan Sign Language claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kenyan Sign Language before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kenyan Sign Language ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kenyan Sign Language

In research: Kenyan Sign Language appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kenyan Sign Language in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kenyan Sign Language is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Deaf culture in Kenya, Kenyan Sign Language family, Languages of Kenya, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kenyan Sign Language outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Kenyan Sign Language in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kenyan Sign Language means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kenyan Sign Language out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kenyan Sign Language in simple terms?

Kenyan Sign Language (English: KSL, Swahili: LAK) is a sign language used by the deaf community in Kenya and Somalia. It is used by over half of Kenya's estimated 600,000 deaf population.

Why does Kenyan Sign Language matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kenyan Sign Language?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kenyan Sign Language.