Expressive Signing and Storytelling
What this domain tests
Your ability to produce clear, connected signing: self-introduction, description, narration, and short storytelling. Assessors look at handshape accuracy, use of space, sequencing, NMF, and fluency.
Core rules and concepts
- Set the scene first: who, where, when. Use the signing space to place referents.
- Use role shift (body or head shift, gaze change) to show different characters or speakers.
- Use classifiers for movement, size, and handling, such as a vehicle or a person walking.
- Keep a steady rhythm; pause at phrase boundaries rather than signing word-by-word.
- Maintain reference: once a character is placed on the left, point back to the left.
Worked example
Tell a short story: a boy falls off a bicycle. Reasoning: establish BOY on the left and BICYCLE on the right. Show the boy mounting with a handling classifier, then the bicycle moving with a vehicle classifier. At the fall, shift weight, use a sudden facial expression, and show the body hitting the ground with a classifier. Pause. Then show a bystander on the right using role shift to ask if he is hurt. The reasoning: space and role shift make the referents clear without repeating names.
Traps that cost marks
- Telling the story in English word order.
- No spatial setup, so pronouns are ambiguous.
- Dropping a character mid-story.
- Fingerspelling instead of using classifiers.
- Flat facial expression throughout.