香港早期聾人教育與香港手語源流的關係

Early Deaf Education in Hong Kong and Its Relation With the Origin of Hong Kong Sign Language

本研究透過搜集資料和採訪人物，追溯香港早期聾人教育發展情況，探討當時聾校語言政策與香港手語源流的關係，以及聾人對不同教學語言的看法。根據採集所得資料，香港的聾童教育最早可追溯至1935年成立的一所聾校。雖然該校禁止師生使用手語，但基於溝通需要及本能，聾童之間自自然然發展出一套以手部動作表達意思的溝通方法，形成手語的雛形。戰後聾校數目逐步增加，當中部分聾校引入了相信是源自南京或上海的手語為教學語言，因此香港手語其後的發展深受南京或上海手語影響。我們在採訪中亦發現，無論是從口語學校或手語學校畢業的聾生，絕大部分都認為手語教學對他們的學習有幫助。如歷史能夠重演，他們都渴望健聽老師能用手語授課。

Through reviewing existing documentation and conducting interviews， this article reconstructs the history of deaf education in Hong Kong in the early days， investigates how the development of Hong Kong Sign Language was related to the language policies of different deaf schools， and finds out deaf people’s view on the issue of medium of instruction. According to the information collected， formal deaf education in Hong Kong began in 1935 with the establishment of the first deaf school. Although that school prohibited the use of signs， deaf children spontaneously developed a gestural system of communication among themselves due to the pressing needs for communication. This gestural communication system can be viewed as an early form of sign language. In the postwar period， the number of deaf schools gradually increased. Some of them introduced the Nanjing/Shanghai variety of Chinese Sign Language， which influenced the subsequent development of Hong Kong Sign Language. Through our interviews， we found that the majority of the deaf interviewees， whether they graduated from oral or signing schools， felt that the use of sign language could enhance their learning and that if they could turn back time， they wished their hearing teachers could use sign language as the medium of instruction.