Kod Tangan Bahasa Malaysia (KTBM), or Manually Coded Malay, is a signed form of the

Malay language Malay ( , ; , Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays (ethnic group), Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The lang ...

recognized by the government in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and the

Malaysian Ministry of Education Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysians, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regardless o ...

. It aids teachers in teaching the Malay language to deaf students in formal education settings. It is not a language but a manually coded form of Malay. It was adapted from

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...

(or

Manually Coded English Manually Coded English (MCE) is an umbrella term referring to a number of Constructed language, invented Manual communication, manual codes intended to visually represent the exact grammar and morphology of spoken English language, English. Differ ...

), with the addition of some local signs, plus grammatical signs to represent Malay affixation of nouns and verbs. It is used in Deaf schools to teach the Malay language. The official

Malaysian Sign Language Malaysian Sign Language (, or BIM) is the principal language of the deaf community of Malaysia. It is also the official sign language used by the Malaysian government to communicate with the deaf community and was officially recognised by the Ma ...

, known as ''Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia'', is the official sign language the Malaysian government recognizes to communicate with the deaf community, including on official broadcasts. It is a language in its own right and not a manual coding of the Malay language like KTBM. It has been found that Malaysian Sign Language is more effective in teaching students than Manually Coded Malay.

References

{{sign language navigation Malay language Malay