Category Archives: Voting

Global versus Universal?

“Global” reflects the nuance of culture and language, “Universal” assumes that one size fits all.

voting hands around the world Working with UNICEF and the AAC Cohort is one of the most exciting things we have been doing recently. We have had telemeetings with lots of discussions about opening the world of AAC symbols to the widest possible audience. Topics have ranged from different open licences such as Creative Commons and open source software to what it takes to develop Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) symbols that can be used across the world and on to more complex ideas including Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning and AAC!

You might ask why are we thinking about the meaning of words such as ‘Global’ and ‘Universal’ whilst building a symbol repository. We feel that global recognises different languages, cultures, religions and social settings and environments. In part this is because we have promised ourselves that we will not be introducing yet another symbol set that includes symbols that are universally recognised. We accept that there are many symbols that can be said to be universal because they are recognised worldwide, but we are looking at the nuances that occur in different countries and where localisation is important.

what time is it?

What time is it?

drink

We discussed the idea of “Symbols for different settings across the world” when we were working on the Tawasol Symbols in 2016 and looked at some of the issues that W3C highlighted for web developers thinking about localisation and globalisation or internationalisation. such as:

“Numeric, date and time formats
Use of currency
Keyboard usage
Collation and sorting
Symbols, icons and colors
Text and graphics containing references to objects, actions or ideas which, in a given culture, may be subject to misinterpretation or viewed as insensitive.
Varying legal requirements
and many more things.”

We discovered that No.8 ‘many more things’ included the criteria below when working on the Tawasol Symbols and that these features came about as a result of our voting sessions with AAC users, their families, carers and the professionals working with them. criteria for symbol design

Global Symbols aims to ensure that all the open symbols we add will have been reviewed by those using AAC and those involved in supporting AAC users in the locality where they have been developed, whilst also allowing for personalisation.

Watch this spot for all the changes we plan for the Global Symbols web site in the coming months! The first group of symbols will be coming from the UNICEF AAC cohort members – Jellow designed by those developing the app in India and cBoard, developed in Argentina and Israel, at present using the Mulberry Symbols from Straight Street that were voted on by users and AAC supporters in the UK over a period of several years.

hello

We will be updating this blog as we add symbols and please join us on Facebook to discuss the changes! We will also be tweeting about updates

Thank you UNICEF for this very thought provoking, challenging and interesting partnership.

Voting on symbols at Awsaj Academy

tablet with symbol It has always been felt that it was essential that AAC users and those with communication difficulties should evaluate our symbols as part our research into symbol acceptance with real participation at all stages. We felt that this would ensure that the very people who would be using the symbols would provide us with feedback so we could tailor the symbols to their needs.

The team contacted the Speech Therapy team at Awsaj Academy for students with special needs to see if we could do a voting session with some of their students. Dr. Biji Philips arranged for 11 students to vote individually, with 15 minute time slots to complete the task. 2 students; a Tobii user with Cerebral Palsy and another with severe Autism required 30-45 minutes.

student voting The students were given 20 of our symbols to vote on and a thumbs up and thumbs down symbol to communicate their like/dislike for the symbol. Some students preferred to use okay as an option as well. Based on the student’s capacity judged online, Nadine and I asked why they liked/disliked the symbols. Some of the older students were superb and gave us detailed feedback relating to the need for more detailed facial expressions, or adding context to the symbol rather than just characters. Others did not want to let us down and said they liked the majority of the symbols. Here are the results of the voting sessions:

Student comments

	Good	Ok	Bad	Comments
Hello (Assalumu alaikum)	11	1		– Not clear, waving or speaking – Saying hi and smiling – He tells how are you – Goodbye – Nice because he’s wearing Thobe – Nice clothes – Clear – Goodbye
Rice & Chicken	12			– Only chicken – Doesn’t look like our food – Chicken
Children	10	2		– Not nice hair – Put them in uniform – Boys
Dance	12			– Very nice – Sing – Nice because he’s dancing properly – Nice design
Eat	9	2	1	– Looks angry – I don’t see plate or water; I like that he’s opening his mouth and has spoon – Eat with hands – Don’t wear Thobe when you eat – Holding pen
First	11		1	– Won – Appropriate for Qatar
Friends	10		2	– Uniform – Like because it has 2^nd and 3^rd – Clear – Thobe are same – It’s nice how they hold each other – All the shoes black color – Shoes different – They shouldn’t hold their hands, it’s a shame
House	12			– White + door white/gray; It’s big – White + smaller – Two thumbs up – Like our house – Qatari houses are different
Hug	12			– Change clothes color – The girl is hugging her mother – Mom cuz wearing Abaya
I	10	1	1	– Needs arrow on top of head – Picture matches meaning – Full body – Not clear
Mother	10	2		– Add rainbow color + lighten colors to look more happy – Child holding hand + smiling – Put Abaya – Should be in Abaya. I know non-Muslims don’t wear it. Should wear Abaya wherever you go – Black Abaya
Pray	11	1		– I like he’s praying – Like him praying – Put him in the house. You don’t pray in the middle of the road – Clear
Nursery	12			– Kids are playing and smiling – Good – School – The colors are nice – Nice colors
Please	5	2	5	– Add text – She’s saying please and child should be angry – Open hands – Tilt head – Telling secrets – Not clear, I can’t see the two hands – Talk – Greeting
Souq Waqif	10	2		– Add a lot of people – It has Thobe and Abaya – Looks like the old days – Didn’t know – Change the buildings
Pray	7		5	– Needs more colors + full mosque – Not clear – Put someone praying + purple sky – There’s a bird – Didn’t know – It’s a mosque, not clear, maybe add colors. – I prefer the other praying symbol – Add colors
Thank you	8	1	3	– Hand gesture is more I love you ; handshake – Hold and shake hands – I do this for thank you – No hand on chest – He’s saying the national anthem – I don’t use this gesture for thank you – Hands greeting
Travel	10		2	– More sky + men with yellow clothes – Need stairs or bus – Terminal – Dad looks like brother – Add airport
You	10		2	– They should look at each other – Context. Add playground – Clothes are so different and shoes are different – Didn’t know – Not clear – Come
Bye	9	1	2	– Show side profile + say bye to someone else – Sad face for saying bye

Boys on a stand as winners

Overall it was a great voting session with some valuable feedback obtained. Speech therapists reinforced the need for such a project, giving the example of one student who “could not look at” a picture card used for inferencing emotions due to the image of the boys not covering their arms (picture below). Teachers also reported that students felt empowered by giving their feedback, as they had always been accustomed to receiving help, but on this occasion they felt they were able to help others.

The outcome of a summer of voting on further batches of symbols

In June 2016 Tawasol concluded its second to last voting session for the Arabic Symbol Dictionary Project. 24 therapists voted on 60 symbols from 3 organisations; AWSAJ Academy, Hamad Medical Corporation Speech Therapy department and The Hamad Child Development Centre. Although traditionally 40-60 voters participate from a wide range of organisations and
AAC contexts, it was difficult to facilitate similar numbers to previous occasions because the school year end was coming to a close for 3 months of summer vacation.

Unfortunately, with a technical hitch, all voting took place on paper rather than our usual online voting. This, we believe skewed our data as on the online symbol manager you are not able to submit a comment unless you enter numeric ratings for the criteria. Although the significance of completing numeric ratings on paper was explained to voters, 101 symbols had comments but no numeric data. The team discussed this and decided that the best way to proceed would be to review the comments and if there was an element of negativity in the comment, it would be given a score of 2 out of 5 and if it was a positive comment it would be given a 4 out of 5. The results for the 4 sets of criteria over 4 batches of symbols are as below:

Voting criteria averages batches 1-4

We believe it is because of this change in voting settings that the ratings related to ‘feelings about the symbol’ and ‘represents word/phrase’ were not as favourable as in previous voting sessions. We also believe that the recent concepts (for which we are developing symbols), are becoming more and more abstract and more difficult to depict. A commonly repeated statement throughout the voting sessions was “I don’t think of this word when I see this symbol but it’s a hard concept to convey and I can’t come up with a better way to visually depict it.” It was pleasing to see the colour/contrast and cultural sensitivity ratings and comments improve.

However, there were advantages of not using the technology in that we received more in depth comments and participants appeared to be willing to be more critical which was immensely helpful.

Summary of the comments provided from the voting sessions.

Zoom In!

For a number of symbols the voters requested that we zoom in on the essential parts of the symbol to emphasise the facial expressions, essential details and focus the user on the intended meaning. They communicated that a whole body depiction wasn’t needed in symbols like thirsty and quiet and preferred that just the head and neck were showing or in the case of “tummy” that only the chest down be shown.

quiet thirsty

Oops! Didn’t think of that!

Voters in batch 4 really helped us to focus on the details in symbols, as this can make a big a difference to first impressions and comprehension. For example for the concept “easy” the thinking bubble actually had an equation that wasn’t necessarily “easy”. They all said stick to 1+1=2. Also, in the symbol for nanny, the character is wearing an apron which they said can be confused with a maid. In Qatar, a nanny looks after the children while the maid carries out house duties.

easy nanny

Swap it!

It was interesting to hear voters say “this symbol would be perfect for your other word just change x”. For example they suggested we use the symbol for “contribute” for “teacher” but just add an arrow to the teacher. This was also the case for “something” where voters suggested this could be the symbol for “choose” just with the finger making direct contact with one of the objects.

contribute, something, teacher and choose symbols

contribute symbol above teacher and something above the choose symbol going from top left.

That’s not the word…

Voters picked out a few words in Arabic which they believed were not accurate. For example “canteen” transliterated in Arabic to “cafeteria” was not acceptable and suggested the word “مقصف”. This was also the case for “dictionary” in Arabic where it was suggested that the term we had used “قاموس” was specifically a dictionary for translated terms where as a dictionary with words and their meanings should be referred to as a “معجم”.

Compare the pair.

For some difficult concepts voters suggested that it would be easier to grasp the concept if there was a comparison within the same symbol. For example; fast and slow were a bit difficult to understand as standalone symbols but when put together into one symbol and fading the unintended concept, it became clearer. They also requested this for “organised” i.e. to have a “messy” office side by side with an “organised office otherwise the symbol could be interpreted as “office”.

slow

organised

How rude!

Despite the rise in positive cultural suitability ratings, a few cultural issues are still being raised. The symbol for “come” using the index finger is seen as rude, belittling and disrespectful in the Arab culture. Although they all agreed it was very clear that it was “come” they didn’t think it was appropriate. Some voters also were unhappy with the boy uncovering his stomach for the “tummy” symbol and preferred that his stomach be covered and to indicate stomach with an arrow.

come

Put it into context.

Voters reminded us of the importance of including context in symbols. For example the symbol for “active”, they suggested that they need to be in a park and for “teacher” although she did look like a teacher they thought it was essential to put her in a classroom.

active

teacher

Is this symbol really needed?

Some voters questioned how essential some of the symbols were and whether they were really needed e.g. manufacture and emotional faces.

manufacture

emotional faces

It was very insightful once again to hear the perspectives of those working with AAC users. All their comments have been passed onto the graphic designer and changes will be made to the symbols discussed.

During our voting session at AWSAJ Academy, we provided participants with resource packs that included a variety of communication scenarios made with our symbols. This included bathroom routines, prayer position sequences, fire drill execution charts, fill in the gaps worksheets, what I did on the weekend worksheets, The life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) symbol book with corresponding worksheets, basic requirements communication boards, refugee communication boards, I want charts and many more. You can download all the resources from the Tawasol symbols website.

We also gave every teacher and therapist evaluation forms to see whether the symbols were meeting their needs. In the coming weeks we will update you on the results of the symbol evaluations.

Report by Amatullah Kadous

What do symbol users think of our symbols?

voting AWSAJ As part of our project, it is essential that AAC users and persons with communication difficulties evaluate our symbols. This will ensure that the very people that will be using them can provide us with feedback and we can tailor the symbols to their needs. The team contacted the Speech Therapy team at AWSAJ Academy for students with special needs to see if we could do a voting session with some of their students. Dr. Biji Philips arranged for 11 students to vote individually, with 15 minute time slots to complete the task. 2 students; a Tobii user with Cerebral Palsy and another with severe Autism required 30-45 minutes.

The students were given 20 of our symbols to vote on and a voting AWSAJ2 thumbs up and thumbs down symbol to communicate their like/dislike for the symbol. Some students preferred to use okay as an option as well. Based on the student’s capacity judged online, Nadine and I asked why they liked/disliked the symbols. Some of the older students were superb and gave us detailed feedback relating to the need for more detailed facial expressions, or adding context to the symbol rather than just characters. Others did not want to let us down and said they liked the majority of the symbols. Here are the results of the voting sessions:

	Good	Ok	Bad	Comments
Hello (Assalumu alaikum)	11	1		– Not clear, waving or speaking – Saying hi and smiling – He tells how are you – Goodbye – Nice because he’s wearing Thobe – Nice clothes – Clear – Goodbye
Rice & Chicken	12			– Only chicken – Doesn’t look like our food – Chicken
Children	10	2		– Not nice hair – Put them in uniform – Boys
Dance	12			– Very nice – Sing – Nice because he’s dancing properly – Nice design
Eat	9	2	1	– Looks angry – I don’t see plate or water; I like that he’s opening his mouth and has spoon – Eat with hands – Don’t wear Thobe when you eat – Holding pen
First	11		1	– Won – Appropriate for Qatar
Friends	10		2	– Uniform – Like because it has 2^nd and 3^rd – Clear – Thobe are same – It’s nice how they hold each other – All the shoes black color – Shoes different – They shouldn’t hold their hands, it’s a shame
House	12			– White + door white/gray; It’s big – White + smaller – Two thumbs up – Like our house – Qatari houses are different
Hug	12			– Change clothes color – The girl is hugging her mother – Mom cuz wearing Abaya
I	10	1	1	– Needs arrow on top of head – Picture matches meaning – Full body – Not clear
Mother	10	2		– Add rainbow color + lighten colors to look more happy – Child holding hand + smiling – Put Abaya – Should be in Abaya. I know non-Muslims don’t wear it. Should wear Abaya wherever you go – Black Abaya
Pray	11	1		– I like he’s praying – Like him praying – Put him in the house. You don’t pray in the middle of the road – Clear
Nursery	12			– Kids are playing and smiling – Good – School – The colors are nice – Nice colors
Please	5	2	5	– Add text – She’s saying please and child should be angry – Open hands – Tilt head – Telling secrets – Not clear, I can’t see the two hands – Talk – Greeting
Souq Waqif	10	2		– Add a lot of people – It has Thobe and Abaya – Looks like the old days – Didn’t know – Change the buildings
Pray	7		5	– Needs more colors + full mosque – Not clear – Put someone praying + purple sky – There’s a bird – Didn’t know – It’s a mosque, not clear, maybe add colors. – I prefer the other praying symbol – Add colors
Thank you	8	1	3	– Hand gesture is more I love you ; handshake – Hold and shake hands – I do this for thank you – No hand on chest – He’s saying the national anthem – I don’t use this gesture for thank you – Hands greeting
Travel	10		2	– More sky + men with yellow clothes – Need stairs or bus – Terminal – Dad looks like brother – Add airport
You	10		2	– They should look at each other – Context. Add playground – Clothes are so different and shoes are different – Didn’t know – Not clear – Come
Bye	9	1	2	– Show side profile + say bye to someone else – Sad face for saying bye

voting AWSAJ 3

Overall it was a great voting session with some valuable feedback obtained. Speech therapists reinforced the need for such a project, giving the example of one student who “could not look at” a picture card used for inferencing emotions due to the image of the boys not covering their arms (picture to the left). Teachers also report that students felt empowered by giving their feedback as they have always been accustomed to receiving help but on this occasion they felt they were able to help others.

Communication Boards and early examples of Tawasol Symbol Usage

In recent weeks Nadine has begun to develop communication boards that are using the Arabic Symbol Dictionary customised symbols alongside ARASAAC symbols. This is all part of the ongoing development and evaluation process with participants in particular AAC users whose opinions we are seeking. Examples are provided below as a slide share presentation and soon therapists will be able to download the sample symbols developed under a creative commons license.

Arabic Symbol Dictionary Sample Communication Boards

Mohammed and Prayers

Introducing Mohammed, a 24 year old symbol user from Qatar who communicates using a Tobii eye gaze system. Mohammed has worked with a speech and language therapist to develop a personalised vocabulary that includes the use of localised and culturally sensitive symbols in particular those related to his religion.
Mohammed looking at his computer screen

Mohammed was finding it hard to take part in the daily prayers as a Muslim and felt isolated when other members of the family worked through the various actions and he had to sit quietly watching.

With the support of the Tawasol symbols Mohammed and his therapist worked through his exact requirements and were able to provide a way for him to take part in the prayers with his family that was both respectful and at one with that special part of the day.

Mohammed taking part in prayer

When Mohammed was asked about his feelings concerning the new symbols he said:

“Now that I have my system and the graphics I can take a much fuller part in prayer, as each step of the prayer takes place I point my eyes at the symbol that represents that step. I sequence the images through my eyes as others sequence their movements. Its hard to explain how important this is to me, I know there are others who want to take part in prayer alongside their family and community. By working with people who understand, it can be a lot easier to do than you might expect.”

A further quote from the speech therapist indicates the way in which culturally and linguistically sensitive symbol systems can have a huge impact on AAC users.

“Building a system for communication is not just about the people communicating. Here in Qatar we share many daily experiences around our faith and culture, as therapists we are very good at helping people express their physical and emotional needs, but perhaps not so good at helping those that want to express their spiritual need, their belief and faith. it is so easy to ask the wrong questions, and hence never get those crucial answers if there is no common cultural experience.”

Maryam enjoying a weekend out

Finally Maryam has been able to tell her story using symbols that are much more relevant as would be explained at AAATE 2015 later in the year.

Maryam using ARASAAC symbols

Maryam using Tawasol symbols

Voting on lexical concepts for the classroom and for communication.

This report comes thanks to Amatullah Kadous

Comparing ARASAAC symbols on left to Arabic Symbol Dictionary versions.

On May 12th, 2015 the Mada Assistive technology Center hosted the first voting session for the second batch of symbols. The session was attended by 10 voters, including 3 Mada staff members, 3 speech therapists from the Child Development Centre in West Bay, 3 staff members from Shafallah special needs school and the Head of the Speech Therapy Department at Qatar Academy.

Via the online symbol management “quick vote system”, participants voted on 66 symbols that had been developed or adapted from the ARASAAC symbol such as “drive” or “Allah” (God).

There was a debate as to the importance of words used in the classroom with older students and those words or phrases needed for daily communication. Some felt that there should be a mix at this stage despite the fact that the words had been provided by schools. Dr. Imad Deeb a speech therapist specializing in developing Arabic literacy programs for people with special needs made the comment that “there are 3 different levels of vocabulary: General academic vocabulary, Specific academic vocabulary and the common vocabulary; (some of) the words presented today are academic and from the MSA (from texts) and the MSA doesn’t represent any dialect, nobody uses these words to communicate, the vocabulary presented today is so different than the level of a child with disability. The words are abstract and complex, they don’t match the needs of our children”

An example of this were the words “collective response” and “manners” (translated from the Arabic list) provided by a school covering a wide age range (K-12). Many voters said that they had never used such a symbol with the AAC users they were supporting, one voter stating, “It’s a very abstract word, very difficult to explain it to a child, I’ve worked with children for more than 20 years, I’ve never used this word, why is it in your list?” But if the Arabic had been adapted to represent ‘everyone answer’ and ‘please be good’ would there have been a different reaction.

“Woe to the makers of literal translations, who by rendering every word weaken the meaning! It is indeed by so doing that we can say the letter kills and the spirit gives life.” Voltaire

It was time to re-evaluate the methods used to collect the core vocabularies. It was decided that different lists may have to be targeted at different voters in the AAC forum whilst prioritising the core communication vocabularies. For example 3 lists from a specific special needs school in Qatar had come from the Arabic department who had come together and created the vocabulary based on words commonly used in text books and concepts from Islamic Studies – these were the lists that contained words such as collective response, manners, memorise and even monotheism. All the other lists were based on symbols used in conversation or taken directly from classrooms including visual timetables, communication boards, grids, what speech therapists working with AAC users perceived as the most commonly used symbols and symbols used for signage around the special needs school. By keeping the 3 curriculum based lists separate the final core vocabulary list reflected a communication based vocabulary and any more complex words or word phrases would be kept for a separate higher level literacy based vocabulary.

The team also discussed the possibility of arranging for a group of users, parents and professionals supporting AAC users to vote on the final core vocabulary; to add and remove words they believed should or shouldn’t be in place. In this way there would be a local consensus that the collected data was valid based on usage. This was actually a suggestion that originally came from one of the voters “you have to set your proper list of vocabulary and invite us to vote on the list before starting to create new symbols” ! It highlights the value of using a participatory approach and including users and their supporters in the decision making processes.

There was also another discussion about the clothing type to be used throughout the Arabic Symbol dictionary i.e. traditional Qatari clothing (black dress and hijab for women and white dress and headpiece for men) or clothing more suitable for the broader Arab region (coloured clothing with hijab for women). One speech therapist explained how her Egyptian student would not be able to identify with the character in our symbol that was wearing Qatari clothing. She also questioned what the scenario would be like for a Qatari AAC user who travelled abroad. Her suggestion was that we use stick figures. The team had already discussed this issue at the beginning of the symbol designing process, and decided that this problem needed to be put to those who would be using the symbols most. A symbol survey was created which 50 therapists, parents and special needs teachers completed regarding their preference for clothing type (Qatari vs Arab clothing) and drawing type (stick figures vs full drawing of male and female characters). The results noted in the previous blog entry showed a preference for clothing that represented the broader Arab region and full drawing depictions as opposed to stick figures.

The team has realized how passionate everyone is for their opinions to be heard as all have valid rationales for their preferences. In order for the dictionary to be useful and for it to be used, it is essential to cater for the broadest range of users and supporters possible. it has been decided to incorporate characters with Qatari clothing in the situation where there are more than one character but leaving the majority of characters in Arab clothing. Furthermore, it will be possible to make as many stick figure options available via the ARASAAC symbol lists as well as those developed for a research project by one of the team members as part of her Master’s degree from the University of St. Joseph in Lebanon.

Final voting on Batch One Symbols with AWSAJ Academy and two AAC users.

Voting to decide on types of clothing and types of action symbols

In the past month there have been final voting sessions on the first batch of adapted symbols and the voting on whether symbols should portray individuals just in Qatari dress or a mix and if action words (verbs) where gender is an issue should be portrayed by stick figures or would the dictionary need to have both male and female representations.

More votes on this subject may yet come in from the AAC Forum, but it is felt that the initial 50 votes, as a result of face to face meetings, could be revealed at this stage.

Voting shows 68% want a mix of clothing types

Voting shows 86% want gender specific verbs

Comments for the type of dress needed on the symbols included the following:

“less distracting”, “I like both, but prefer option 1 for Qatar” (voted for just Qatari dress) “one uncovered”, “make one of them dressed in Abaya”, “Make one of the girls wear abaya and one of the males wear a thowb”, “one in abaya and one with no headcover and for male one in thobe”, “add one person from action one”, “I prefer one to wear the abaya, one to wear a normal hijab and one without a hijab”, “with one uncovered hair”, “one girl/boy can be in Arabic traditional dress, one girl can be not covered”,

Comments for the type of drawing needed for verbs included the following:

“To make it more culturally representative and to bring out contrast of figure – around differentiation”, “the colours are clear”, “don’t like stick figures” “colour the stick”.

The decision has been made that we need to have a mix of clothing and verbs will be represented in both male and female where required.

Further voting sessions for adapted symbols took place with AWSAJ Academy teachers working with Arabic AAC users. The online Quick Voting system was used. To date 62 participants’ votes have been logged on the Symbol Manager resulting in 2341 votes for the initial batch of 65 symbols! These now need to be analysed for the comments received and the level of marks given out of 5 for each of the voting criteria – the voters feelings about the symbol generally, whether it was found to be a suitable representation of the word or phrase presented, whether it had sufficient colour contrast levels and cultural sensitivity. For all these criteria the average scores were above 3.9. Where individual symbols have received lower scores in any of the criteria further adaptations will be made taking into account any comments received. These redrawn symbols will be submitted for voting once again alongside new symbols developed for the next batch of voting that will take place in May.

Average scores for symbols in Batch 1 all over 3.9 out of 5

Aejaz and Tullah also met up with two young AAC Users on separate occasions. Aejaz set up a batch of 21 symbols on a grid with 5 versions of thumb positions for the 5 scores for A aged 8, with the support of his father he voted on the symbols and the results were positive with only 3 symbols being marked below the mid point as can be seen with the results below.

When working with M in the Shafallah Center, the criteria for voting was simplified to thumbs up for an acceptable symbol straight across for in the middle and thumbs down for a reject. The latter worked well and once again most symbols were found to be acceptable. It is hoped we will have more case studies to share and batch 2 of the adapted symbols will be voted on during May and early June before Ramadan.

Student comments

Good

Ok

Bad

Comments

Hello (Assalumu alaikum)

11

1

– Not clear, waving or speaking

– Saying hi and smiling

– He tells how are you

– Goodbye

– Nice because he’s wearing Thobe

– Nice clothes

– Clear

– Goodbye

Rice & Chicken

Children

Dance

Eat

First

Friends

House

Hug

I

Mother

Pray

Nursery

Please

Souq Waqif