Do adult Deaf communities generally rely on sign systems designed to represent English in daily communication?

• A. No, they do not rely on these sign systems as natural languages in daily use.
• B. Yes, they rely primarily on these sign systems in daily life.
• C. Yes, they use them only for literacy activities.
• D. They rely on written English rather than sign systems.

Answer: (A)

Deaf communities typically rely on natural sign languages for everyday communication, not on sign systems that are designed to represent English. Sign systems like manually coded English are educational tools meant to support literacy or bridge to English, and they’re mainly used in classroom or instructional contexts. In daily life, adults use a natural sign language with its own grammar and structure, such as American Sign Language, rather than English-representing sign systems. So, the best view is that these sign systems are not the usual means of daily communication for adults in Deaf communities.