MALAYSIAN SIGN LANGUAGE (MSL) DICTIONARY FOR HEARING IMPAIRED CHILDREN IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

Learning process for hearing impaired (HI) children is different from the normal children. The required communication medium is also different. They used nonverbal communication such as sign language to communicate with others. Hence, hearing impaired children need to have hearing aid devices to amplify and modulate sound to help them listening. Besides, their learning problems are mostly due to specific learning methods and using techniques that are less effective in enhance their understanding, often associated with their performance in their learning. In order to enhancing their learning and communication using sign language, a tool such as sign language dictionary is required. Accordingly, developing a sign language dictionary application is important because the number of hearing impaired children who need assistance in improving their skills of using sign language. Therefore, the research investigates the issues related to HI tool support / sign language learning tools and explores the elements of learning sign language for HI children. Besides that, the research increases the features of the sign language dictionary and evaluated its effectiveness.  This research provides the platform with the criteria such as sign language video for words and example sentence, present of real voice, use of features such as colour and font have been considered. This learning dictionary is able to meet the requirements of the hearing impaired community and thus, can be applied as teaching aids for teachers, especially for integration schools which hearing impaired students and normal students learn together. In addition, this dictionary can help normal people learn sign language to communicate with HI people.