What is the difference between NZSL and Makaton?
With New Zealand Sign Language Week coming up soon (6th – 12th of May 2019) I thought it would be the perfect time to touch on this topic. As Therapists we are often stuck debating whether we use Makaton or NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language) with our clients. What is more appropriate to use, who with, in what context, for what? So first and foremost, what is the difference between the two?
NZSL is a complete language (in New Zealand it has been recognized as the third official language since 2006) with its own grammatical structure. There are no little joining words used (for example a, the, is) within the language but rather it emphasizes on the use of facial expressions with the signs. People who use NZSL do not verbally speak when signing but will at times mouth some of the words within an utterance.
Makaton is derived from Sign Language however it is considered as an aid to verbal communication and therefore when using Makaton people will verbalize the target word at the same time as signing it. It’s not a language, so it is used for key signs only with no grammatical component to it.
Here at The Speech Room some of our Therapists will use Makaton however we will often revert to NZSL in terms of targeting core vocabulary and of course why would you not teach and use one of New Zealand’s official languages? With Ava (my daughter) using NZSL as her main mode of communication I am constantly signing throughout my sessions as this comes naturally to me. Our other Therapists aim to learn a sign a week that they are able to incorporate in their sessions in a functional manner (without it being a goal specific to that client).
So, I hear you thinking, “how can I learn a bit more sign language?”. Well that’s easy. You can download the NZSL Dictionary on either your Android or Apple device or you can go to: https://www.nzsl.nz/ which is the online version. Why don’t you give it a go? Just one sign a week? And maybe one day you’ll be able to communicate to a Deaf person!!!
