American Sign Language (ASL) is a complete, complex language that employs signs made by moving the hands combined with facial expressions and postures of the body. It is the primary language of many North Americans who are deaf and is one of several communication options used by people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
The exact beginnings of ASL are not clear,
but some suggest that it arose more than 200 years ago from the intermixing of
local sign languages and French Sign Language (LSF, or Langue des Signes
Française).Today’s ASL includes some elements of LSF plus the original local
sign languages, which over the years have melded and changed into a rich,
complex, and mature language. Modern ASL and modern LSF are distinct languages
and, while they still contain some similar signs, can no longer be understood
by each other’s users.
Parents are often the source of a child’s
early acquisition of language, but for children who are deaf, additional people
may be models for language acquisition. A deaf child born to parents who are
deaf and who already use ASL will begin to acquire ASL as naturally as a
hearing child picks up spoken language from hearing parents. For a deaf child
with hearing parents who have no prior experience with ASL, language may be
acquired differently. Having a child who is hearing impaired can be life
changing and mean that parents will need to sign to the baby from an early age.
In fact, nine out of 10 children who are born
deaf are born to parents who hear. Did you know that 92% of deaf children are
born to parents who can both hear? Hearing parents who choose to learn sign
language often learn it along with their child. Surprisingly, children who are
deaf can learn to sign quite fluently from their parents, even when their
parents might not be perfectly fluent themselves. Here are some things you
might not have realized about ASL
1.
Around 70% of lip reading is guesswork: We’ve
all seen detective programs where the crime stopping hero lip reads from a Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV). This is often not
the case. It is a well known joke in deaf circles that mouthing the words
‘elephant’s shoes’ without making a sound, looks remarkably like saying ‘I love
you’ - this is one that can often lead to awkward situations!
2.
Not all deaf people can sign: Contrary to common perception not all deaf people use sign
language to communicate. According to the British Deaf Association around
150,000 people use Sign Language as their first language. This must be compared
with the 800,000 people in the United Kingdom who are severely or profoundly
deaf.
3.
Sign language has its own grammar: If
someone raises their voice when speaking, the meaning of the statement or
question can change. Similar to this, when signing the grammar can also change.
For example, when it comes to questions, eyebrow position is important; if you
are asking who, what, when, where, why question, your eyebrows should go down.
Alternatively for a yes/no question they should go up. Getting this wrong is
equivalent to hearing someone speak in a foreign language.
4.
Sign language is not universal: Every language has a different type of sign and like
spoken language these have developed over time. Some words can be signed very
differently in British and American Sign Language; in fact they only have 31%
of the same signals.
“In hearing
culture, facial expression is very limited. If you move your face or body a lot
while you are talking, you can be seen as weird. However, facial expression and
body movement is required for ASL. It’s part of ASL grammar.” (Michelle Jay)[i]
[i] Sources used:
·
“5 things you didn’t know about sign language” by
Jane McGuire
·
“American Sign Language” by NIDCD
· “Closed-circuit television”
from Wikipedia
This post is dedicated to my wife, Bobbi, who is
deaf in one ear.
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