Manually Coded English (MCE) refers to a variety of systems developed to
represent English manually using signs. MCE is not a single system but a
category or umbrella term for communication systems that use manual signs,
cuing, and/or fingerspelling to represent spoken English. These systems were
created in attempts to make English more accessible to Deaf individuals,
especially in educational settings, by providing visual forms of the structure
and vocabulary of spoken English.
Note to students: You do not
need to learn or memorize the following information (unless required by your
local teacher). The point is to simply understand that a number of non-ASL
communication systems have been developed that are not natural languages such as
ASL.
Most culturally Deaf people do not encourage the use of MCE but its existence continues in large part
due to the decisions of Hearing teachers, parents, and
administrators in schools where Deaf students attend. While MCE has
its good points -- skilled ASL users generally consider MCE to be boring,
time consuming, and laborious (takes a lot of
extra work).
Here are some different types of Manually Coded English (MCE) systems:
1. Signed English
A system that uses signs from American Sign Language (ASL) in English word
order supplemented with additional markers to represent English grammatical
structures.
2. Signing Exact English (SEE)
A highly detailed system that attempts to represent spoken English as closely
as possible, including numerous initialized signs as well as grammatical markers
such as verb endings, plurals, and other inflections.
3. Seeing Essential English (SEE 1)
An earlier version of SEE that emphasizes the representation of English at
the morpheme level, using signs to represent root words and their affixes.
4. Linguistics of Visual English (LOVE)
A system that uses a combination of ASL signs and additional markers to
represent English grammar and syntax. It emphasizes a direct representation of
English structure.
5. Cued Speech
A visual system that uses handshapes and placements near the mouth to
represent the phonemes of spoken English, helping with lip-reading and
distinguishing similar-looking lip movements.
6. Rochester Method
A method where every English word is fingerspelled in an effort to provide a
direct representation of spoken language through manual spelling.
7. Pidgin Signed English (PSE)
A contact language that blends elements of ASL and English. It uses ASL signs
in English word order but does not follow English grammar strictly, making it
more of a bridge between ASL and English.
8. Conceptually Accurate Signed English (CASE)
A system that uses ASL signs in English word order but focuses on conveying
the meaning (concepts) accurately rather than strictly following English
grammatical rules.
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