IB Fellowship | Helping the hearing impaired learn English

As you may have seen from our introductory articles last term, Wellington’s IB Fellowship was recently launched as a way for sixth form pupils to design, pitch, part-fund and carry out ambitious projects of deep personal significance. Leigh-Ann (Year 13) is the creator of the Fellowship’s second venture, which aims to help the Chinese hearing impaired community access the English language in its written form. What inspired you to come up with this project? Leigh-Ann: I’ve been interested in sign language for a long time and have been teaching myself American sign language for around two years. In connection with this interest, about a year ago I discovered the SignOnOne platform, which enables deaf sign language users to acquire basic English language skills even if they have no previous English knowledge. It’s an amazing online programme that’s free of charge and full of translations, explanations and animations designed to help deaf people get to grips with the English written language. After reading about SignOnOne through a news article, I immediately understood the utility and positive impact it could have on the Chinese hearing impaired community. Currently, there are around 21 million deaf Chinese people, millions of whom are eager to explore the globally available resources on the internet in its chiefly used language – written English. That’s what inspired me to help them achieve this vital ambition. Can you briefly outline the aims and structure of your IB Fellowship project? Leigh-Ann: The aim of my project is twofold: firstly, I want to add CSL (China Sign Language) to the SignOnOne platform’s supported languages and, secondly, spread awareness about the availability of the programme through visiting deaf schools and institutions in various parts of China and introducing new online resources. In terms of structure, I’ve already been in discussion with the Universitaet of Klagenfurt— the owner of SignOnOne – who have kindly agreed to my proposal to add CSL to the programme, making it the seventh language that they support. The main section of my project is to prepare texts, as well as film and edit the videos, of CSL interactions that will be hosted on the site. That sounds like a huge amount of work, will you be carrying all of this out alone? Leigh-Ann: Fortunately, no! I’m currently working with the university’s staff and Mr Olle Eriksen from the Møller Resource Centre, Norway, who will help on the technical side of adding my work to the SignOnOne framework. I’ve already started on the videos and texts as well. I’ve been working with some amazing volunteers from local deaf institutions who have been helping me sign out the whole Chinese dictionary on camera. What made you want to approach this idea as an IB Fellowship project? Leigh-Ann: It’s a big task, one that requires a lot of time, energy and also financial support. When I listened to Mr McCallum’s address on what the IB Fellowship was all about, I felt that it would be an ideal vehicle for helping me make this idea a reality. The College has given me access to so many resources and such support even in the early phases of my project, to the point where I already know that I couldn’t have attempted it with this degree of ambition by myself. An important part of Wellington’s IB Fellowship premise is that the responsibility for funding approved projects is split between the College and the pupils carrying them out. Do you have fundraising activities planned yet? Leigh-Ann: I’ve already earmarked a large proportion of the funds granted to me by the Fellowship to video/text production activities as well as plans for travelling across China (and potentially even further to Malaysia or Taiwan). My main fundraising venture is going to be a short promotional film that highlights the importance of SignOnOne and the addition of CSL in terms of opening up new opportunities for the deaf and hearing impaired. I’ll be using this film as a means of generating crowdfunded donations through the GoFundMe platform. I’m an extremely keen filmmaker so I thought it would be sensible and appropriate to use those skills to support this project. It seemed like a natural fit during the planning stage. Once the project is complete, what do you hope you will have achieved? Leigh-Ann: Primarily, I want to have helped the hearing-impaired Chinese community by giving them greater access to the most incredible tool for education, communication and self-improvement ever devised – the internet. Written English is the de facto language of global communication and online idea sharing, which is something that everyone should be able to access and contribute to. On a more personal level, I also hope to experience deaf culture in a very meaningful manner. I’m really looking forward to working with deaf and hearing impaired Chinese people, discussing their hopes and ambitions, both regarding online communication and in general. Even though I speak sign language, I’ve often felt slightly disconnected from their experiences and perspectives, because they are so different from my own. Through this project, I’m hoping to gain a much deeper understanding of both. What has the IB Fellowship experience been like for you so far? Leigh-Ann: It’s intense, certainly! Generating and maintaining a project of this scale takes an awful lot of hard work and preparation, but I’ve found it to be hugely satisfying so far. I think that the most important element of it is the complete autonomy that you feel in terms of determining how the project will develop. It’s your project, which means that you are entirely responsible for it. That often feels a little daunting, to have people counting on you to make the most of the opportunity, but it’s also very liberating. It feels great to be able to show people a different side of you, by taking on something that has such personal meaning and involvement. What advice would you give to your fellow sixth-formers who are thinking of presenting an IB Fellowship project of their own? Leigh-Ann: It absolutely must be something that you’re passionate about. For a project of this nature, it needs to be based on an idea or principle that you know you can commit to and maintain your interest in, something that will make a tangible difference. Always remember during the planning phase that the generous financial support involved means that you can afford to be ambitious. Think carefully about the impact that you want your project to have, then go after it with determination. Also be aware of the time management challenge involved in this kind of project; the IBDP is already a big commitment to deal with, so it’s important to keep on top of things. Most importantly of all, enjoy it! This is a chance to do something really special and challenge yourself in a very meaningful manner.   We are very excited to discover how Leigh-Ann’s project develops over the course of the academic year and will be reporting back on its success once it concludes. We also wish the very best of luck to all of the sixth-formers who are currently aiming to secure an IB Fellowship project of their own.   More relevant articles :

• The IB Fellowship | Wildlife rehabilitation in South Africa
• Introducing the Wellington IB Fellowship Programme
• Meet our head of sixth form