Teaching Hands Speaking: Two Tasks, One Love
Between showing signs and teaching a language, there is a gap that we are rarely aware of.
Continuing Teachers’ Day Discourse
I am interested in Ms. Salina Mohammed Rashid’s article dated May 12, 2026 in the RTM News Portal, which is entitled “Teaching without voice, only hands speak.” Ms. Salina has opened an important space in this year’s Teachers’ Day discourse, which is highlighting the voice of Deaf teachers as teachers who are most qualified for their own language. I want to record my appreciation to Ms Salina because this realization is not only touching, but also opening up a conversation that has not been the focus of the general public.
As a person who is part of the teaching world of Malaysian Sign Language or BIM (Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia), I would like to continue the discourse that Ms Salina has started by adding a layer that the audience might have overlooked. This layer relates to the difference between teaching sign and teaching the language behind the sign itself.
The Wave of BIM Content on Social Media
Over the last few years, we’ve seen one very encouraging development. More and more Deaf friends are coming forward to produce BIM teaching content on various social media platforms, such as, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok. They shareeveryday signs for routine activities in daily life, introduce new vocabulary, and highlight the culture of the Deaf community to hearing people.
This effort deserves to be praised and celebrated. It not only helps spread awareness about BIM in an organic way, but gives the Deaf community a self-advocacy platform in a language that is natural to Deaf persons. More importantly, it normalizes the presence of BIM in public spaces, an achievement previously unimaginable. In short, the wave has helped BIM move from the fringe to a wider stage, reaching more people.
A Culturally-Nuanced Language
Regarding this positive development, there are nuances for hearing people to understand.[i] It is not the intention to invoke these nuances to diminish the value of existing social media content on signs and signing, but rather to help learners understand what they’re actually learning and, in turn, achieve more meaningful learning outcomes.
Teaching Sign and Teaching Language Linguistics
Consider this simple analogy. Every native speaker of Malay can say the words for “eat,” “sleep,” and “go.” They can demonstrate how to articulate the words correctly, and can use them in everyday sentences. However, not all native speakers of Malay can explain the active and passive sentence structure, the system of affixation (prefixes, suffixes, infixes in spoken/written languages), or the morphology of the language itself (the internal structure of words, how meaning is built or modified). To understand the linguistic aspect of a language, we refer to a trained language teacher, not just any native speaker.
The same principle applies to BIM. Deaf speakers can sign accurately and use those signs in everyday conversation. However, teaching BIM linguistics is a task of a different nature. It involves explaining spatial grammar, the role of facial expressions as grammar markers (non-manual markers) and not just expressions of emotions, sentence arrangements that differ from that of the Malay language, as well as a welding system (classifiers) unique to BIM. This task demands a different pedagogical expertise than just mastering BIM.
In other words, teaching the sign for a particular word is one matter. Teaching the language behind the sign is another matter.
Be Careful in Self-Learning
This is why learners need to be cautious when relying completely on self-learning via social media. There is social media content that is labelled “BIM” but actually presents signs from Manually Coded Malay or KTBM (Kod Tangan Bahasa Melayu). These two differ from each other. KTBM is a manually coded system of hand signs that are used to represent directly the grammar and vocabulary of spoken Malay. KTBM was created for the purpose of educating Deaf students in Malay as the official written and spoken language. BIM is the natural language of the Malaysian Deaf community, with its own grammar, structure and cultural nuance.[ii]
I don’t blame the Deaf people who made the social media content on signing. Often, the ensuing confusion reflects a wide awareness gap in society about the differences between these two systems. However, for learners who are serious about communicating with the Deaf community, this difference is no small matter. Learning KTBM, while misunderstanding it as BIM, can cause learners to not be able to connect with Deaf friends, even after months of learning.
BIM is a Living Language
Another interesting aspect of BIM is that it is a living language, not a language that is frozen in time. It’s true, some of the arbitrary signs in BIM used today come from KTBM. Yet many of them have evolved and been replaced with iconic signs over time, reflecting the way the Deaf community itself chooses to convey meaning.
Because BIM lives and evolves with its native speakers, the vocabulary changes and grows with the times. Signs for new technologies, current events, and emerging concepts continue to be created and spread in Deaf communities. This is why learners who learn from outdated resources, or who are isolated from active Deaf communities, are at risk of learning signs that are outdated or no longer used.
Learn from the Right Source
Since Malaysia does not yet have a formal recognition system for BIM teachers, the safest way for those who are serious about learning BIM is to attend structured courses organized by a registered association of Deaf persons. Courses like these are usually framed with a deeper linguistic understanding, delivered by experienced instructors, and validated by the Deaf community that uses BIM in daily life.
Social media content still plays a significant role. It has introduced, attracted and raised early awareness of BIM. However, it is most effective when made a complement to structured learning, not as a substitute. With this combination, learners would gain a solid foundation and a more complete understanding of BIM as a language.
Different Ways, Same Service
Although the celebration of Teachers’ Day has passed, the spirit of appreciating teachers is never limited to a single day. Allow me to express my appreciation to two groups of BIM teachers. The first group is Deaf friends who actively build content on social media, which opens the door of awareness to the general public. The second group is the BIM teachers who teach BIM in a structured manner, with in-depth linguistic and pedagogical understanding, in lecture halls and course rooms organized by a registered association. Both contribute to the same goal, with different roles.
As Ms. Salina emphasized, Deaf persons are the most qualified to be the teachers of their own language. When given the opportunity, proper pedagogical training, and recognition on par with other language teachers, they will not only teach signs. They will transmit the language, culture and history of the Malaysian Deaf community to a new generation of more learners.
Thank You!
Heartfelt appreciation to all teachers, especially the BIM teachers who teach patiently, diligently, and with love. Your hands not only speak, but also carry a great responsibility in honouring the language that you love.
Mohamad Firdaus bin Mat Resid is Assistant Secretary, Pahang Association of the Deaf; Alumni of SRPK Kuantan (1993-1998); Alumni SMPKPP (1999-2003); Deaf NGO activist (2004-present).
[i] The signs taught by one Deaf person may not necessarily represent the signs used by the wider Deaf community. Some signs may be regional, family signs, personal signs, home signs, or signs influenced by KTBM rather than BIM. Therefore, when BIM learners meet other Deaf people, they may discover that some people use those signs, while others do not.
[ii] Under the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2008, BIM is recognized as the official sign language of Malaysia.
