4. Signing books for students

4.1 Introduction
4.2 Contact data
4.3 Product data
4.4 Analysis of the data

4.4.1 Suppliers / consumers
4.4.2 The product

4.4.2.1 Format
4.4.2.2 Costs
4.4.2.3 Content
4.4.2.4 Language information
4.4.2.5 Sign language presentation
4.4.2.6 Visual information
4.4.2.7 Captions
4.4.2.8 Auditory information
4.4.2.9 Editing and special effects
4.4.2.10 Navigation

4.4.3 The production process
4.4.4 The distribution process
4.4.5 The users
4.4.6 Usability aspects
4.4.7 Financial aspects

4.1 Introduction

Most signing books are videos for children or adults and the general public. Only a small number of signing books are productions exclusively for students. There are, of course, various materials for teaching sign language as well as sign language dictionaries; these, however, lie outside the scope of this project.

4.2 Contact data

Contact was made with more than 200 organisations of and for the deaf, with publishers and producers of sign language videos/CD-ROMs and with school, college, and university sign language departments both in Germany and in other EU countries. Approximately one fourth of these organisations/institutes responded to the initial mailing but most of them could only supply limited information on signing books. There was no information on students' productions in particular.

4.3 Product data

It is impossible to give an exact number of students' signing books available in the EU. From the video catalogues it is very difficult to decide whether or not a production is directed at students or at adults. Even within the group of signing books categorised as for students, some did not explicitly mention students as their (only) target group - e.g. Adolf Hitler (for students and for sign language interpreters), Ouverture (lots of general information about the I.N.J.S.), Une affaire de l'eau, and Det naturliga steget - but were possibly produced to be used by other groups as well. If we had defined the category "students" in an even narrower sense even fewer signing books would have remained in this category.

The data in this chapter are based on a detailed analysis of 15 videos and CD-ROMs for students. Some of the signing books analysed consist of several stories or parts which were entered into the database as separate entries because of differences in content, style, etc.

Apart from these, there is one other German students' signing book which was not analysed in detail. Almost all of the approximately 20 signing books for students from the UK also have adults as their target group. There are probably 10 other SIH signing books (SE) for students. A number of F.A.A.S. signing books (ES) may also be for students but were not available at the time of writing this report. Some of the approximately 250 Dövas-TV signing books (SE) as well as the nearly 250 Kuurojen Video signing books (FI) may be for students although titles are often misleading. It seems that in Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands no students' signing books have been produced. From some of these countries we have not received any information.

There are nine CD-ROMs for students, five in Germany and four in the UK. We have no information on CD-ROMs for students from other EU-countries.

4.4 Analysis of the data

4.4.1 Suppliers / consumers

Responses to the first questionnaire with requests for information were received from various organisations and institutes but none of them could supply specific information on students' productions.

4.4.2 The product

4.4.2.1. Format

Most signing books for students are videos (see above for comments on the lack of exact figures). Recently some material has also been produced on CD-ROM in Germany (Berufsbildungswerke: vocational training centres) and in the UK.

The productions differ in length but are all relatively short: the videos Kock and Möntor, for example, are each ten minutes long; Ich bin gehörlos! lasts for 77 minutes but consists of seven independent stories, each between 9 and 17 minutes. The Adolf Hitler video has a duration of 29 minutes. Longer videos are Det naturliga steget (57 minutes) and Videotiedote (60 minutes); the latter can also be divided into separate entities. Tjejer och killar, which is 73 minutes long, is divided into different chapters which all have the same format.

4.4.2.2 Costs

Prices for videos vary greatly and are of course dependent on a video's length: 11.41 ECU (Kock, Montör, Barnskötare); 19.47 ECU (Adolf Hitler); 25.10 ECU (Det naturliga steget, Tjejer och killar); 49.50 ECU (Signum videos). Ich soll mich heute vorstellen is not for sale. For Videotiedote and Ouverture no prices were available at the time of writing this report. Une affaire de l'eau is one of four stories on a videotape for which we have no price information.

The CD-ROMs from the Theodor-Schäfer-Berufsbildungswerk costs 75.77 ECU each (their other two CD-ROMs, not analysed in detail, are the same price). There was no price available for the CD-ROM Lernprogramm Holz.

These prices appear high, especially when compared with prices for textbooks for hearing students.

4.4.2.3 Content

Some videos for students are based on texts or textbooks, for example, Ich bin gehörlos!, Tjejer och killar and Adolf Hitler. In these cases, the original text has been translated and is presented in sign language. In other cases, a script is written specifically for the production (this also involves a translation process from the written text into sign language), for example, the videos Kock, Montör, Barnskötare by SIH, as well as Ouverture and Ich soll mich heute vorstellen.

The book Ich bin gehörlos! was not written for students but for teachers of the deaf to be used in the teaching of secondary school students. The book contains more stories than the video (and also other information). The video was originally produced as an accompaniment to the book. It can, however, be watched independently of the book. In the past part of the video, a deaf person tells deaf jokes - these are neither included in the book nor indicated on the cover of the tape, and it appears as if they have been included simply to fill the tape.

Some videos present information about different professions (e.g. Kock, Montör) or how to go for a job interview (Ich soll mich heute vorstellen). Others are documentaries on history in general (Adolf Hitler) or on deaf history in particular (Ouverture, Ich bin gehörlos!, Auftritt Direktor von Schütz). In the video Ouverture - which is a documentary on the history of the Institut National des Jeunes Sourds (I.N.J.S.) from 1794 to 1994, a student of the present Institut encounters one of the first students of the Institut in the 18th century. They tell each other about the Institut then and now, and the viewer learns about similarities and differences as well as developments over the centuries, through their discussions. The video Auftritt Direktor von Schütz is designed in a very similar way: a deaf student imagines an encounter with Direktor von Schütz who then recounts his life story.

The CD-ROMs are in general training programmes for particular professions, e.g. Gesundheit und Sauberkeit in der Küche (restaurant kitchen work); Lernprogramm Holz (carpentry). All of them consist of different parts. Lernprogramm Holz for example, contains a virtual workshop which can be used in different ways, a lexicon of important terminology, and examination questions.

Most videos/CD-ROMs are without accompanying books; only Adolf Hitler and Ich bin gehörlos! have accompanying books. All CD-ROMs include a small leaflet with basic information about installation, usage and structure of the CD-ROM.

4.4.2.4 Language information

Except for one video, the information is presented in the sign language of the respective country. The only exception is the video Ich soll mich heute vorstellen in which parts of conversations are conducted in spoken language, sometimes supported with signs, sometimes with spontaneously invented gestures.

All videos include sound but most videos have no captions; the only exception is Ouverture; in the video Videotiedote short parts are captioned.

Most of the information on the CD-ROMs is available in sign language, in written text and with voice-over.

4.4.2.5 Sign Language presentation

In all videos, the signer is presented in the main window; this is even true for the video Videotiedote which contains sequences with speaker and sign language interpreter: the sign language interpreter is shown in the main window in the centre, while the speaker is shown in a smaller window on the left side of the video (see Picture 1). This is clear indication that the visibility of both the interpreter's hands and face and the information that is conveyed through the interpreter have priority over the visibility of the speaker, i.e. that it is sufficient to see the speaker's face.

(Picture 1)

In most of the videos, there is only one active channel. In the video Une affaire de l'eau photographs and graphics are simultaneously shown on a screen. In the Adolf Hitler video there are regular changes in the background; these changes, however, only occur when the signer's hands are not moving. In Videotiedote both signer and speaker are visible at the same time (see above); and there are other scenes where more than one channel is active, e.g. when the use of a videophone is demonstrated (see Picture 2).

(Picture 2)

On the CD-ROMs, information is presented as written text. One can get sign language translations by clicking on the signer. On the CD-ROM Gesundheit und Sauberkeit in der Küche, for example, sound is optionally available but sign language and sound are mutually exclusive.

Where a story is presented by a single person, the signer usually faces the camera, e.g. Kock, Det naturliga steget, Ich bin gehörlos!, Adolf Hitler, and many others. In other videos, signers convey information through their conversations, e.g. Auftritt Direktor von Schütz, Ouverture. They face each other and only rarely look at the camera. Only in one video, Barnskötare, do the signers communicate with a person (invisible) next to the camera. In none of the students' videos is an audience addressed.

Most signers are right-handed; three signers, however, regularly switch between right- and left-handed signing (Ein taubstummer Prinz, Process Walther-Buchheim, Deaf Jokes); all three included in the video Ich bin gehörlos!). There are almost no cut-offs in the videos since the signers are usually presented centrally, in the main window, with sufficient space on either side.

Ich soll mich heute vorstellen is an exception: the hands are frequently cut-off or not visible (e.g. over-shoulder shots or shots where only the face is visible (see Picture 3).

(Picture 3)

Picture 3: In this scene, the deaf woman (right) speaks with her future employer (centre), using some signs to support speech. Her hands and mouth remain invisible. Later in the video, the employer summarises what she has said, speaking to her sister (left). his lip movements are difficult to see because of his moustache.

4.4.2.6 Visual information

In most student signing books, visual information is not presented at the same time as the signing; signer and visuals are shown alternately, e.g. Ouverture, Auftritt Direktor von Schütz, all SIH videos, and most others.

In the SIH videos Kock and Montör, a signer tells about different aspects of his work (in Barnskötare there are two signers). He signs for approximately half a minute and is then shown at his work-place doing some of the work he has just described.

In the videos Auftritt Direktor von Schütz and Ouverture, there are regular breaks in the conversations to show historic documents/photographs relating to the topic. In a similar way, the monologue of the signer in Det naturliga steget is interrupted with pictures and graphics. In most cases - and this is also true for the other videos - static photographs and graphics are shown; only in the videos Det naturliga steget and Ouverture are short films used. In one of the films in Ouverture, there is a change from black-and-white to full colour when the speaker who is talking about the past of the Institut begins talking about the present.

There is, of course, a wide variety of visual information on the CD-ROMs, with the visuals sometimes much more important than the sign language part itself.

4.4.2.7. Captions

Most of the videos are without captions. In the case of Ich bin gehörlos! and Auftritt Direktor von Schütz the authors/producers did not want captions to be included. In some videos, full screen headings are used at regular intervals, e.g. in the Adolf Hitler video. In the second part of the Ouverture video, the different services available at the I.N.J.S. are described. The headings are each shown as if on a piece of a puzzle.

Only in two videos are captions used: in Videotiedote captions are only used in the introductory part and sporadically in between. The sequences with speaker, signer, or sign language interpreter, are not captioned; only their names are inserted. Captions in the introductory part and in the other parts differ in type, kind, colour, format and motion.

Only the video Ouverture has captions throughout. In the first part they are hardcut, white on black, and located on different parts of the screen depending on where the signer is (see Pictures 4 and 5).

(Picture 4)

(Picture 5)

In the video Ich soll mich heute vorstellen, bubbles are used to show the actor's thoughts (see Picture 6).

(Picture 6)

4.4.2.8 Auditory Information

All videos have sound. except for the video Ich soll mich heute vorstellen, they all have voice-over. Generally, the speaker is the same gender as the signer. Some videos have background sounds, e.g. the SIH videos Kock, Montör, and Barnskötare, which is not visualised. Others have some kind of background music, for example Ouverture, Une affaire de l'eau, Det naturliga steget and Ich soll mich heute vorstellen. In the video Adolf Hitler, music is only played in-between the signing (while showing the headings).

On the CD-ROMs, signing and sound never co-occur.

4.4.2.9 Editing and special effects

In many videos, the camera is static, e.g. Kock, Barnskötare. In others, although the camera is static, there are regular changes in the position of the signer or the background, e.g. Ich bin gehörlos!, Adolf Hitler (see Pictures 7 and 8).

(Picture 7)

(Picture 8)

According to information from the producers, in Ich bin gehörlos! regular cuts/changes in positions were chosen because the signers were not able to memorise the text as a whole but only in parts.

In other videos, the editors chose alternations between the signer and visuals, e.g. Ouverture, Auftritt Direktor von Schütz. In some videos, ChromaKey is used, e.g. Videotiedote. No other special effects are used.

4.4.2.10 Navigation

Only Ich bin gehörlos!, Tjejer och killar and Adolf Hitler are accompanied by a book/booklet. From the Ich bin gehörlos! book one cannot tell, however, in which order the stories appear on the video. Time codes are not available either for this video or for Adolf Hitler. On the cover of Tjejer och killar, the chapter headings are printed together with the time codes.

The CD-ROMs are accompanied by small leaflets which give some information about the content and navigation. Interactivity is only available on the CD-ROMs.

CD-ROMs seem to be a more appropriate format for students since navigation and interactivity are very important within the learning context. Whether or not this is indeed the preferred format for the students will be researched in a later workpackage.

4.4.3 The production process

The only students' signing books in Germany are produced by Signum. Signum is the only signing books publisher in Germany with its own video studio.

The students' signing books by Signum were all produced by a team of both deaf and hearing people. However, there are no training facilities for hearing production teams in Germany; neither are there special training programmes for the deaf to work in video production. Exceptions are special EU programmes like Deaf Vision and FORUM which each lasted over a couple of years and which included training for deaf people to work in this area.

If a production is based on a printed book, the first step in the production process is to get the permission of the book publisher to translate the story into sign language and where appropriate, to use illustrations from the original text. If a production is based on a book, the text is rewritten and translated into sign language. Different producers use different techniques, and even at Signum, each production team has its own procedure, but deaf people are involved in this process in various ways.

Texts are usually signed freely and not read from a text. Often, the signer in front of the camera is cued by another signer behind the camera. Signum reports that signers are often not able to memorise long sequences. This has resulted in either ensuring regular alternations between signer and visuals or regular changes of background or position of the signer to cover edits.

4.4.4 The distribution process

Signing books produced by Signum, whether for children, students or adults are sold directly to customers. They are not available in bookstores. None of these are available in public libraries.

4.4.5 The users

There is no data available regarding students as a signing books user group.

4.4.6 Usability aspects

There is usually no research before or during the production of a signing book regarding its usability. For Signum productions, deaf people have been asked whether or not they had special preferences with respect to the position of the signer, camera angle or other features. This is, however, only done occasionally and not on a regular basis, and. experiences from previous productions are not taken into consideration for other productions.

There have been no surveys on the usability of signing books for deaf students.

4.4.7 Financial aspects

There is a lack of data relating specifically to students' productions. Generally, it is very difficult to obtain indicative figures for production costs because there are significant variations according to the type of production (length of production, number of participants, number of staff needed, visuals and/or sound included or not, etc.).