Changwon National University Special Curriculum Reads Picture Books in 'Suo'!

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] Students majoring in Special Education at Changwon National University have taken the initiative to improve awareness of Korean Sign Language.

According to the university on the 17th, eight students from the Special Education Department learned Korean Sign Language from teachers with hearing and speech disabilities at the alternative school "People Who Show Sound," which teaches children with hearing and speech disabilities in Korean Sign Language, through support from Changwon National University's National University Promotion Project last year.

To share what they learned, they invited local high school students to explain the difference between Korean Sign Language and Signed Korean and read picture books together in Korean Sign Language.

Students from Changwon University’s Department of Special Education and local high school students are expressing the phrase "I love you" in sign language. [Photo by Changwon University]

The picture book reading was conducted by first watching a video of a picture book being read in sign language by a teacher with hearing and speech disabilities, then understanding the content of the book solely through sign language, with the Special Education students providing supplementary explanations in sign language they had learned in advance.

Afterwards, the high school students read the book themselves in sign language, enabling communication entirely through sign language.

The participating students said, "It was difficult to express facial expressions while signing, but it was easier to understand than expected even without sound," and "We want to participate in such activities again."

A Special Education department official explained, "Although the Korean Sign Language Act was enacted in 2016, awareness of Korean Sign Language remains insufficient. The sign language songs we commonly encounter correspond to Signed Korean, which follows the system of spoken language, whereas Korean Sign Language is the native language of people with hearing and speech disabilities and has a unique system different from Korean."

Professor Kim Eunha, the supervising professor, said, "I feel great satisfaction that students' awareness of sign language has improved first as they independently organized these activities. We will continue to make efforts to expand opportunities for exchanges with local community students in a student-led format."