31 January 2011

Media Release

Thumbs up! makes learning New Zealand Sign Language easier than ever

Teaching and learning New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) will be much more fun and easy with the help of a new website launched today by the Ministry of Education.

NZSL sits alongside English and Māori as an official language in New Zealand and is used by an estimated 29,000 Kiwis. While many of those are part of the deaf community, the Ministry website, named Thumbs Up! An Introduction to New Zealand Sign Language, aims to increase the numbers of hearing students and teachers who know the language.

“Many people in the deaf community use NZSL to effectively communicate and interact with each other every day,” says Tony Turnock, Ministry of Education Secondary Outcomes Manager. “But hearing students and teachers need to learn the language as well so that conversations can be two way in our schools.”

“We expect all schools to welcome and include all students – that’s why NZSL can be studied as an additional language as part of The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC).”

NZSL is unique to New Zealand and includes ideas, idioms, and words not found in other international sign languages, such as signs for Te Reo Māori words and ideas.
Thumbs up! is for Year 7 and 8 students in English-medium schools working at curriculum levels 1 and 2. It’s part of the Learning Languages Series, which is designed for teachers and students who are new to language learning.
“Learning a second language is an important part of education and encourages students to participate more actively in our diverse society,” Tony said.

‘Thumbs up!’ has information about deaf culture, NZSL units, video clips and a series of worksheets for students.

ENDS

Find Thumbs up! at www.nzsl.tki.org.nz