For those of us, like me, who blithely communicate with oral communication every day, the concept of conversation or discussion in a visual means through hand signals, gestures, facial expressions and body language rarely comes to mind.
However, it’s the main form of communication for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community, as well as being increasingly embraced by people with disabilities including Autism, Apraxia of speech, Cerebral Palsy and Down Syndrome.
The ‘creator’ of sign language is commonly attributed to Abbé Charles-Michel de l'Épée, a French Catholic priest. In 1755, he established the first public school for deaf children in Paris, known as the National Institute for Deaf-Mutes. He developed a more comprehensive method for teaching the deaf, creating a signing dictionary and emphasizing that sign language was a complete language. His work and the schools he founded (21 in total) earned him the recognition as the "father of the deaf".
His manual alphabet, which he called French Sign Language, was adapted into American Sign Language a few decades after his death.
Now, there are approximately 300 sign languages in use around the world today and new sign languages emerge frequently through creolization (the process by which different cultures and languages blend together) and de novo (new development) and occasionally through language planning. In some countries, such as Sri Lanka and Tanzania, each school for the deaf may have a separate language, known only to its students and sometimes denied by the school; on the other hand, countries may share sign languages, although sometimes under different names (Croatian and Serbian, Indian and Pakistani).
Deaf sign languages also arise outside educational institutions, especially in village communities with high levels of congenital deafness, but there are significant sign languages developed for the hearing as well, such as the speech-taboo languages used by some Aboriginal Australian peoples.
In the mix are three main elements of communication:
Deaf sign languages, which are the preferred languages of Deaf communities around the world; these include village sign languages, shared with the hearing community, and Deaf-community sign languages.
Auxiliary sign languages, which are not native languages but sign systems of varying complexity, used alongside spoken languages. Simple gestures are not included, as they do not constitute language.
Signed modes of spoken languages, also known as manually coded languages, which are bridges between signed and spoken languages.
The ‘creator’ of sign language is commonly attributed to Abbé Charles-Michel de l'Épée, a French Catholic priest. In 1755, he established the first public school for deaf children in Paris, known as the National Institute for Deaf-Mutes. He developed a more comprehensive method for teaching the deaf, creating a signing dictionary and emphasizing that sign language was a complete language. His work and the schools he founded (21 in total) earned him the recognition as the "father of the deaf".
His manual alphabet, which he called French Sign Language, was adapted into American Sign Language a few decades after his death.
Now, there are approximately 300 sign languages in use around the world today and new sign languages emerge frequently through creolization (the process by which different cultures and languages blend together) and de novo (new development) and occasionally through language planning. In some countries, such as Sri Lanka and Tanzania, each school for the deaf may have a separate language, known only to its students and sometimes denied by the school; on the other hand, countries may share sign languages, although sometimes under different names (Croatian and Serbian, Indian and Pakistani).
Deaf sign languages also arise outside educational institutions, especially in village communities with high levels of congenital deafness, but there are significant sign languages developed for the hearing as well, such as the speech-taboo languages used by some Aboriginal Australian peoples.
In the mix are three main elements of communication:
Deaf sign languages, which are the preferred languages of Deaf communities around the world; these include village sign languages, shared with the hearing community, and Deaf-community sign languages.
Auxiliary sign languages, which are not native languages but sign systems of varying complexity, used alongside spoken languages. Simple gestures are not included, as they do not constitute language.
Signed modes of spoken languages, also known as manually coded languages, which are bridges between signed and spoken languages.
As a GDM contributor from Australia, my focus in this issue is on Australian Sign Language or Auslan, yet most of the world’s versions are all based on the same principles.
Recognition and Importance
Auslan was recognised by the Australian government as a "community language other than English" and the preferred language of the Deaf community in policy statements in 1987 and 1991.
The emerging status of Auslan has gone hand-in-hand with the advancement of the Deaf community in Australia, beginning in the early 1980s. In 1982, the registration of the first sign language interpreters by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI), a newly established regulatory body for interpreting and translating, accorded a sense of legitimacy to Auslan, furthered by the publishing of the first dictionary of Auslan in 1989 (Johnston, 1989). Auslan began to emerge as a language of instruction for Deaf students in primary and secondary schools from the late 1980s—mainly through the provision of Auslan/English interpreters in mainstream (hearing) schools with deaf support units, but also in some specialised bilingual programmes for deaf children.
Learning Auslan for basic communication typically takes around two years of focused study, while achieving fluency and professional-level interpreting skills can take three to six years.
When we see interpreters on news programmes using two hands in sign language it’s for both articulation and grammar. One hand can move while the other provides a stable base or point of reference. Some signs are symmetrical, with both hands moving in the same way, while others are asymmetrical, with one hand moving and the other providing a static or supporting role. Fingerspelling, the visual representation of letters, can also be done with one or two hands, depending on the sign language.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Auslan experienced a period of increased visibility through press conferences from federal and state leaders and health officials, which invariably featured Auslan interpreters. Since 2020, the ABC News channel's Sunday 5pm bulletin has included Auslan interpretation.
Recognition and Importance
Auslan was recognised by the Australian government as a "community language other than English" and the preferred language of the Deaf community in policy statements in 1987 and 1991.
The emerging status of Auslan has gone hand-in-hand with the advancement of the Deaf community in Australia, beginning in the early 1980s. In 1982, the registration of the first sign language interpreters by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI), a newly established regulatory body for interpreting and translating, accorded a sense of legitimacy to Auslan, furthered by the publishing of the first dictionary of Auslan in 1989 (Johnston, 1989). Auslan began to emerge as a language of instruction for Deaf students in primary and secondary schools from the late 1980s—mainly through the provision of Auslan/English interpreters in mainstream (hearing) schools with deaf support units, but also in some specialised bilingual programmes for deaf children.
Learning Auslan for basic communication typically takes around two years of focused study, while achieving fluency and professional-level interpreting skills can take three to six years.
When we see interpreters on news programmes using two hands in sign language it’s for both articulation and grammar. One hand can move while the other provides a stable base or point of reference. Some signs are symmetrical, with both hands moving in the same way, while others are asymmetrical, with one hand moving and the other providing a static or supporting role. Fingerspelling, the visual representation of letters, can also be done with one or two hands, depending on the sign language.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Auslan experienced a period of increased visibility through press conferences from federal and state leaders and health officials, which invariably featured Auslan interpreters. Since 2020, the ABC News channel's Sunday 5pm bulletin has included Auslan interpretation.
Basics of the Alphabet and Fingerspelling
Most people start their sign language journey be learning the A-Z or alphabet equivalent in sign form. The use of the hands to represent individual letters of a written alphabet is called ‘fingerspelling’ and assists signers to manually spell out names of people, places and things that don’t have an established sign.
For example, most sign languages have a specific sign for the word tree but may not have a specific sign for oak, so o-a-k would be finger-spelled to convey the specific meaning.
However, sign language isn’t the only writing system that allows language without sound.
Braille
Braille is a textural communication technique used by blind or visually impaired people that can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers and smartphone devices. Braille can be written using a slate and stylus, a braille writer, an electronic braille notetaker or with the use of a computer connected to a braille embosser. For blind readers, braille is an independent writing system, rather than a code of printed orthography.
Braille is named after its creator, Louis Braille, a Frenchman who lost his sight because of a childhood accident. In 1824, at the age of fifteen, he developed the braille code based on the French alphabet as an improvement on night writing. He published his system, which subsequently included musical notation, in 1829. The second revision, published in 1837, was the first binary form of writing developed in the modern era.
Braille characters are formed using a combination of six raised dots arranged in a 3 × 2 matrix, called the braille cell. The number and arrangement of these dots distinguishes one character from another. Since the various braille alphabets originated as transcription codes for printed writing, the mappings (sets of character designations) vary from language to language, and even within one; in English braille there are three levels: uncontracted – a letter-by-letter transcription used for basic literacy; contracted – an addition of abbreviations and contractions used as a space-saving mechanism; and grade 3 – various non-standardized personal stenographies that are less commonly used.
In addition to braille text (letters, punctuation, contractions), it is also possible to create embossed illustrations and graphs, with the lines either solid or made of series of dots, arrows, and bullets that are larger than braille dots. A full braille cell includes six raised dots arranged in two columns, each column having three dots. The dot positions are identified by numbers from one to six.
There are 64 possible combinations, including no dots at all for a word space. Dot configurations can be used to represent a letter, digit, punctuation mark, or even a word.
While some have suggested that audio-based technologies will decrease the need for braille, technological advancements such as braille displays have continued to make braille more accessible and available. Braille users highlight that braille remains as essential as print is to the sighted.
Most people start their sign language journey be learning the A-Z or alphabet equivalent in sign form. The use of the hands to represent individual letters of a written alphabet is called ‘fingerspelling’ and assists signers to manually spell out names of people, places and things that don’t have an established sign.
For example, most sign languages have a specific sign for the word tree but may not have a specific sign for oak, so o-a-k would be finger-spelled to convey the specific meaning.
However, sign language isn’t the only writing system that allows language without sound.
Braille
Braille is a textural communication technique used by blind or visually impaired people that can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers and smartphone devices. Braille can be written using a slate and stylus, a braille writer, an electronic braille notetaker or with the use of a computer connected to a braille embosser. For blind readers, braille is an independent writing system, rather than a code of printed orthography.
Braille is named after its creator, Louis Braille, a Frenchman who lost his sight because of a childhood accident. In 1824, at the age of fifteen, he developed the braille code based on the French alphabet as an improvement on night writing. He published his system, which subsequently included musical notation, in 1829. The second revision, published in 1837, was the first binary form of writing developed in the modern era.
Braille characters are formed using a combination of six raised dots arranged in a 3 × 2 matrix, called the braille cell. The number and arrangement of these dots distinguishes one character from another. Since the various braille alphabets originated as transcription codes for printed writing, the mappings (sets of character designations) vary from language to language, and even within one; in English braille there are three levels: uncontracted – a letter-by-letter transcription used for basic literacy; contracted – an addition of abbreviations and contractions used as a space-saving mechanism; and grade 3 – various non-standardized personal stenographies that are less commonly used.
In addition to braille text (letters, punctuation, contractions), it is also possible to create embossed illustrations and graphs, with the lines either solid or made of series of dots, arrows, and bullets that are larger than braille dots. A full braille cell includes six raised dots arranged in two columns, each column having three dots. The dot positions are identified by numbers from one to six.
There are 64 possible combinations, including no dots at all for a word space. Dot configurations can be used to represent a letter, digit, punctuation mark, or even a word.
While some have suggested that audio-based technologies will decrease the need for braille, technological advancements such as braille displays have continued to make braille more accessible and available. Braille users highlight that braille remains as essential as print is to the sighted.
