In this paper we describe our work in progress on the development of a set of criteria to predict text difficulty in Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT). These texts are used in a four year bachelor program, which is being brought in line with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001). Production and interaction proficiency are assessed through the NGT Functional Assessment instrument, adapted from the Sign Language Proficiency Interview (Caccamise & Samar, 2009). With this test we were able to determine that after one year of NGT-study students produce NGT at CEFR-level A2, after two years they sign at level B1, and after four years they are proficient in NGT on CEFR-level B2. As a result of that we were able to identify NGT texts that were matched to the level of students at certain stages in their studies with a CEFR-level. These texts were then analysed for sign familiarity, morpheme-sign rate, use of space and use of non-manual signals. All of these elements appear to be relevant for the determination of a good alignment between the difficulty of NGT signed texts and the targeted CEFR level, although only the morpheme-sign rate appears to be a decisive indicator
Sign languages have been recognized as indigenous to Europe by the key European institutions. The European Parliament has passed resolutions on sign languages on three occasions (1988, 1998, 2016a). The Council of Europe’s (CoE) Parliamentary Assembly supported a resolution on sign languages in 2003 (Council of Europe, 2005), and the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML; an organization established under the auspices of the CoE) has supported work on sign language teaching, learning and assessment (Leeson, Van den Bogaerde, Rathmann, & Haug, 2016
Binnen het onderwijs van Nederlandse Gebarentaal wordt in Nederland vrijwel uitsluitend gebruik gemaakt van de doeltaal, en niet van het Nederlands. In dit artikel wordt gezocht naar argumentatie voor deze praktijk, op basis van literatuur met betrekking tot gebarentalen en gesproken talen. Argumenten voor en tegen het toepassen van de moedertaal (i.c. het Nederlands) zijn in te delen in taalkundige argumenten, organisatorische argumenten en socio-culturele argumenten. Hoewel taalkundige argumenten pleiten voor het toestaan van de moedertaal in het gebarentaalonderwijs, wegen de socio-culturele argumenten zwaar. In de conclusie wordt daarom gepleit voor een tussenweg: het gesproken Nederlands weglaten en het geschreven Nederlands gedoseerd toepassen als hulpmiddel
