Without a
standard way of communicating, the Deaf in Ghana have difficulty expressing
their thoughts to members of the hearing community in Ghana. There is the
need to standardize GhSL and make it an official lingua-franca for the Deaf in
Ghana. Efforts are being made by institutions like the Ghana National
Association of the Deaf (GNAD) and University of Education, Winneba (UEW)
to promote the correct use of SL in Ghana and to train more people,
especially hearing persons, in SL. GhSL instruction in Ghana is important
because it will help lead to the creation of a more inclusive society as more
Ghanaians gain awareness about Deafness and the benefits of SL (see
Appendix A). Knowledge of SL among more hearing people in Ghana will also
help mainstream schools that are implementing the Ghana Education
Service’s (GES) Strategic Plan of Inclusive Education by 2015 [38]. An
inclusive society will help Deaf Ghanaians overcome the communication
barrier they face.