COMMUNICATOR: A Step Closer to Communicate to Deaf People

A Research Proposal
Presented to the Faculty of Science Technology, and Engineering
Bayugan National Comprehensive Highschool
Bayugan City Division

In partial fulfillment of the requirements in

GRADE 10 RESEARH

Felix Elijah P. Alcontin

Mar Benedict M. Garrido
Phillip John Michael Napoles

Vincent Butch S. Embolode

Research adviser

September 2022

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE 1
TABLE CONTENTS 2
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study 3
1.2 Statement of the Problem 4
1.3 Objectives of the Study 4
1.4 Statement of the Hypothesis 5
1.5 Theoretical/Conceptual Framework 5
1.6 Significance of the Study 5
1.7 Scope and Limitations of the Study 6
1.8 Definition of Terms 6
CHAPTER 2
2.1 Introduction 7
2.2 Related Literature 8
2.3 Related Studies

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 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1. 1 Background of the Study

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 5% of the world’s population
suffers from disabling hearing loss. Five percent may seem like a small number, but that totals over
360 million people across the globe. In the U.S., hearing loss is more likely to be caused by genetics
than any other factor—over half of the cases of hearing loss are due to genetic predisposition. In the
developing world, however, preventable medical issues are often factors in hearing loss.
Otitis media—chronic ear infections in the middle ear—is a major cause of hearing loss in the
developing world. Pregnancy complications also often lead to hearing loss in babies and children.
Maternal infections, such as rubella or syphilis, can lead to congenital hearing loss—meaning a
person is born with hearing loss or develops it soon after birth.
Diseases such as meningitis, measles, or mumps (which most people in developed countries are
vaccinated against) are also factors in hearing loss. Even antimalarial medicines can lead to hearing
loss.
Age is also an important factor in hearing loss around the world. It is estimated that 25% of all adults
with hearing loss are over 65 years old. The highest occurrences of hearing loss in this age group are
in South Asia, Asia Pacific, and sub-Saharan Africa.
By 2020, the percentage of hearing loss incidence in these areas is expected to grow by 42.9%,
46.4%, and 38%, respectively, due to the growth in world’s population of people 65 and older.
(References: World Health Organization, Harvard Medical School Center for Hereditary Deafness,
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Al Jazeera)(By: Elena
McPhillips)
The application we're going to build is referred to as a COMMUNICATOR. In essence, it improves
our ability to communicate with the deaf and enables hearing individuals to completely convey their
messages to hearing people.
Of course, downloading the app is the first step in using it. Next, a non-deaf person will
record a video of a deaf person using sign language. The software will then convert the sign language
into words. The non-deaf person only has to talk loudly enough for the machine to hear him or her in
order for the words to be translated back into sign language.
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1.2 Statement of the Problem

The main obstacle facing this study is determining if this application will be helpful in the
future. One of the primary problems or challenges of this study is especially these:
1.) What kinds of smartphones is this application compatible with? Why?
2.) Is sign language no longer useful or something that non-deaf people should learn now that we
have technology to help us communicate with those who are hard of hearing? Elaborate.
3.) With so many background noises while we are in public locations, how is it possible for the
gadget or program to hear our voice?
4.) Should we make the application online or not? Clarify.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

This study attempted to address the following specific goals among the primary and specific
problems:
1.) Android, as it is the most popular smartphone in the Philippines.
2.) No, since not everyone has access to smartphones, even if the application we develop is
successful. Sign language may still be a pastime.
3.) With the aid of headphones or earphones.
4.) Offline, because offline requires no internet connection and is more compatible with all
platforms of devices. Last but not least, it's much simpler to use because some individuals don't have
access to the internet.
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1.4 Statement of the Hypothesis
The study's testable hypotheses include the following:
H: Because we solely concentrate on android, we anticipate that it will be simpler.
H: We believe that our initial effort will fail because we have no experience with java programming
or designing apps.
H: We believed that if we were successful in creating this application, the world would be helped.
H: Since our program is currently in beta, errors might still happen.

1.5 Theoretical/Conceptual Framework

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
*Profile
-Age
-Gender
-Year level
-Type of device
DEPENDENT VARIABLE
-Knowledge of cellular devices and application

1.6 Significance of the Study

DEAF
- With the help of the software we're making, we'll be able to connect with the deaf more
deeply and make their lives easier.
NON-DEAF
- We are confident that our application will aid those who are not deaf since it will facilitate
communication and be beneficial to those who are dealing with dementia.
EVERYONE
-We positively believe that everyone in the world can definitely benefit from this application,
because through this almost everyone can have a much more relaxed communication.
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1.7 Scope and Limitation of the Study

This research primarily focuses on the advantages of the application we want to develop for
deaf individuals. The test will take place in Special Education (S.P.E.D) classroom. Each student in
the class is given a distinct set of questions or sign language to determine whether the translation is
accurate.

1.8 Definition of Terms

COMMUNICATION
- Communication is the sending and receiving of spoken or written messages between people
and places. Letters are the most common means of communication. Other means are telegram,
telephone, telex, fax, e-mail, radio, television, newspapers, etc.
DEAF
- Lacking the power of hearing or having impaired hearing.
APPLICATION
- An application is a software program that's designed to perform a specific function directly
for the user or, in some cases, for another application program.
SIGN LANGUAGE
- Sign language is manual communication commonly used by people who are deaf. Sign
language is not universal; people who are deaf from different countries speak different sign languages.
The gestures or symbols in sign language are organized in a linguistic way. Each individual gesture is
called a sign.
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CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE (RRL)

2.1 Introduction
The vast majority of theories, associated writings, research, and assumptions that this chapter provides
information and facts that are relevant to the current investigation. It also provides context for prior
research that logically links to the current project.

2.2 Related Literature

Perception of sign language through history
In Europe Aristotle and other prominent philosophers [10] believed that deafness was intrinsically
connected to mutism and lack of intelligence, which was codified in Roman law; therefore they were
considered incapable of being educated.[11] When John of Beverley, Bishop of York, taught a deaf
person to speak in 685 AD, it was deemed a miracle, and he was later canonized.[7]
European education for the deaf is not recorded until the 16th century, when Pedro Ponce de León
began tutoring deaf children of wealthy patrons — in some places, literacy was a requirement for
legal recognition as an heir. The first book on deaf education, published in 1620 by Juan Pablo Bonet
in Madrid, included a detailed account of the use of a manual alphabet to teach deaf students to read
and speak.[12] It is considered the first modern treatise on phonetics and speech therapy, setting out a
method of oral education for deaf children. In Britain, Thomas Braidwood founded the first school for
the deaf in the late 1700s. He was secretive about his teaching methods but probably used sign
language, finger spelling and lip reading.[13]
l'Abbé Charles Michel de l'Épée started the first school for deaf children in Paris, in 1755.[14] Laurent
Clerc was arguably the most famous graduate of L'Épee's school; Clerc went to the United States with
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet to found the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut, in
1817. In France and the United States, sign language, or "manualism" was initially the favored
communication method for education of deaf students, firmly supported by Clerc and therefore
Gallaudet.[15] In England and Germany oralism was considered to be superior - sign language was
thought to be a mere collection of gestures, and a barrier between deaf people and hearing society.[16]
[17] In 1880, the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED) met in Milan with 164
educators attending (only one of them being deaf). At this meeting they passed a resolution removing
the use of sign language from deaf education, and establishing the solely oralist classroom as
standard.[18] In line with this philosophy, manually coded languages have been created and used for
education instead of sign language, such as Signing Exact English.
The debate between oralism and manualism remained active after Milan. In the late 20th century
educators and researchers began to understand the importance of sign language to language
acquisition. In 1960 when the linguist William Stokoe published Sign Language Structure, it
advanced the idea that American Sign Language was a complete language. Over the next few decades
sign language became accepted as a valid first language and schools shifted to a philosophy of "Total
Communication",[19] instead of banning sign language.
Wyatte C. Hall says that sign language is important for the development of Deaf children growing up
because without it, they could be at risk of many health difficulties. Studies have shown that the 7
development of neuro-linguistic structures of the brain can be affected if there is a language delay. A
study showed that there is an “age of acquisition” that affects adults' ability to understand grammar
based on when they were introduced to sign language (Mayberry, R. I.). [20] Data now shows that
children who are heavily exposed to sign language as early as possible are better at reading English
than children who are not exposed to sign language[21]

2.3 Related Studies

History of Sign Language
One of the earliest written references to a sign language is from the fifth century BC, in Plato's
Cratylus, where Socrates says: "If we hadn't a voice or a tongue, and wanted to express things to one
another, wouldn't we try to make signs by moving our hands, head, and the rest of our body, just as
dumb people do at present?"[1]
In the Middle Ages, monastic sign languages were used by a number of religious orders in Europe
since at least the 10th century. These are not true "sign languages", however, but well-developed
systems of gestural communication.
In Native American communities prior to 1492, it seems that Plains Indian Sign Language existed as
an extensive lingua franca used for trade and possibly ceremonies, story-telling and also daily
communication by deaf people.[2] Accounts of such signing indicate these languages were fairly
complex, as ethnographers such as Cabeza de Vaca described detailed communications between them
and Native Americans that were conducted in sign. In the 1500s, a Spanish expeditionary, Cabeza de
Vaca, observed natives in the western part of modern-day Florida using signs,[3] and in the mid-16th
century Coronado mentioned that communication with the Tonkawa using signs was possible without
a translator.[citation needed].
The earliest concrete reference to sign language in Britain is from the wedding of a deaf man named
Thomas Tillseye in 1575.[4] Descendants of British Sign Language have been used by deaf
communities (or at least in classrooms) in former British colonies India, Australia, New Zealand,
Uganda and South Africa, as well as the republics and provinces of the former Yugoslavia, Grand
Cayman Island in the Caribbean, Indonesia, Norway, and Germany.[citation needed]
Between 1500 and 1700, it seems that members of the Turkish Ottoman court were using a form of
signed communication.[5] Many sought-after servants were deaf, as, some argue, they were seen as
more quiet and trustworthy. Many diplomats and other hearing members of the court, however, also
learned and communicated amongst one another through this signing system, which was passed down
through the deaf members of the court.[5]
In France, Old French Sign Language Paris was home to a small deaf community that signed among
themselves. This was referenced by l'Abbé Charles Michel de l'Épée who created the first school for
the deaf in Paris in the 18th century. He defined his own manual alphabet and synthesized signs with
French grammar. With consistent use among the community these two sources evolved into the
French Sign Language.[6] American Sign Language is heavily based on French Sign Language due to
the presence of teachers from France in the first American schools for the deaf.
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Some sign languages are known to have developed spontaneously in small communities with a high
number of deaf members. Martha's Vineyard, an island in Massachusetts, USA was settled by people
carrying a gene causing deafness in the late 17th century. Limited outside contact and high inter-
marriage on the island led to a high density of deaf individuals on the island, peaking around 1840.[7]
This environment proved ideal for the development of what is today known as Martha's Vineyard
Sign Language, which was used by hearing and deaf islanders alike until increased mixing with the
outside world reduced the incidence of deafness on the island. They created a sign language that had
specific signs relevant to that area, such as native types of fish and berries.[8] Almost all of the
school-aged population became students at ASD, which led to mutual influence of American Sign
Language and Martha's Vineyard Sign Language on each other.[9] Other examples include:

REFERENCE:

1.  Bauman, Dirksen (2008). Open your eyes: Deaf studies talking. University of Minnesota
Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-4619-7.
2. ^ Nielsen, Kim  (2012). A Disability History of the United States. Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon
Press. ISBN 978-080702204-7.
3. ^ BONVILLIAN, JOHN D.; INGRAM, VICKY L.; McCLEARY, BRENDAN M. (2009).  "Observations
on the Use of Manual Signs and Gestures in the Communicative Interactions between Native
Americans and Spanish Explorers of North America: The Accounts of Bernal Díaz del Castillo and
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca". Sign Language Studies.  9 (2): 132–165. ISSN 0302-
1475.  JSTOR  26190668.
4. ^ "Session 9".
5. ^ Jump up to:a b Miles, M. (2000) "Signing in the seraglio: mutes, dwarfs, and jestures in the
Ottoman Court 1500-1700."
6. ^ "French Sign Language: A language in its own right". 3 November 2015.
7. ^ Jump up to:a b Groce, Nora Ellen (1985). Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary
Deafness on Martha's Vineyard. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674270404.
8. ^ "Deafness on Martha's Vineyard | Britannica".
9. ^ Sign Languages of the World : A Comparative Handbook, edited by Julie Bakken Jepsen, et al.,
De Gruyter, Inc., 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central,
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/bu/detail.action?docID=4006782.
10. ^ Gracer, Bonnie (2003). "What the Rabbis Heard: Deafness in the Mishnah".  Disability Studies
Quarterly.  23  (2).  doi:10.18061/dsq.v23i2.423.
11. ^ Ferreri, Giulio (1906).  "The Deaf in Antiquity". American Annals of the Deaf.  51  (5): 460–
473.  JSTOR  44463121.
12. ^ Juan Pablo Bonet (1620). Reducción de las letras y Arte para enseñar á hablar los Mudos ("The
Adaptation of Letters and Art of Teaching Mutes to Speak"). Published by Francisco Abarca de
Angulo, Madrid.
13. ^ "Deaf History - Europe - 1715 – 1806: Thomas Braidwood".
14. ^ "Deaf History - Europe - 1755: First School for the Deaf in France, Abbé Charles Michel de
l'Epée".
15. ^ Edwards, R. A. R. (2012). Words Made
Flesh.  doi:10.18574/nyu/9780814722435.001.0001. ISBN 9780814722435.
16. ^ http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/DeafStudiesTeaching/deafed/Session%202A.htm
17. ^ "Oral Education as Emancipation".
18. ^ "21st International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED) in July 2010 in Vancouver,
Canada". 10 January 2011.
19. ^ "Hands & Voices  :: Communication Considerations".
20. ^ "What You Don't Know Can Hurt You: The Risk of Language Deprivation by Impairing Sign
Language Development in Deaf Children"  (PDF).
21. ^ https://pages.ucsd.edu/~rmayberry/pubs/GoldinMeadow-Mayberry.pdf [bare URL PDF]
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