Monday 8 October 2018

Should we have a Universal Sign Language?

The BBC reports that 
"A petition for British Sign Language (BSL) to be recognised as the first language of many deaf children in Wales has been submitted.Deffo! Cymru, a forum for young deaf people in Wales, wants the Welsh Government to widen access to education and services in BSL.
The petition gathered 1,162 signatures and the National Assembly's petitions committee has recommended changes.
The committee's report will now be considered by the Welsh Government.
One of the report's recommendations is the development of a national charter for the delivery of services, including education, to deaf children, young people and their families."
 BSL is currently recognised as a minority language by the Welsh Government.The report also suggests giving children at all levels of education a chance to learn BSL, and asks the Welsh Government to continue exploring the creation of a GCSE first-language sign language qualification.
David Rowlands AM, chair of the petitions committee, said: "We believe that it is vital for parents and siblings of deaf and hard of hearing children and young people to be offered an opportunity to learn how to communicate through the medium of BSL.


David Rowlands AM, chair of the petitions committee

"While recognising that it is up to local authorities and further education colleges to determine their own spending priorities, we are of the view that the Welsh Government could do more to guide local authorities to treat BSL as a language need, rather than a response to a medical need, which may help to reframe the conversation about adequate provision."
 I know that he's a Ukip member but that's no reason for any of us to oppose it 
 Recent reports have said that 

In a previous report the Beeb reported that



Families with a deaf child are having to spend hundreds of pounds on British Sign Language lessons to be able to communicate with them.The Children's Commissioner for Wales Sally Holland said many were not able to afford to pay for classes.Some families have also expressed concerns about the lack of provision for children in mainstream schools.The Welsh Government said it had supported training to increase the number of translators in Wales.According to the British Deaf Association, there are about 6,000 British Sign Language (BSL) users in Wales, of which about 4,000 are deaf.

I don't know how the Deaf community feel about this but is it not about time we had a Universal Deaf Language.


It may seem strange to those who don't speak sign language, but countries that share a common spoken language do not necessarily share a common sign language. American Sign Language (ASL or Ameslan) and British Sign Language (BSL) evolved independently of one another, so it would be very difficult, or even impossible, for an American deaf person to communicate with an English deaf person. However, many of the signs in ASL were adapted from French Sign Language (LSF). So a speaker of ASL in France could potentially communicate clearly with deaf people there, even though the spoken languages are completely different.
There is no direct correlation between natural sign languages and spoken languages -- speakers of sign language communicate through concepts, not words. While it is possible to interpretsign language into a spoken language such as English (and vice versa), such an interpretation would not be a direct translation.
A Universal Sign Language or adoption of ASL,could be something that is taught as part of the curriculum potentially in every school.
Deaf people would benefit ,from nearly every citizen ,could communicate via sign language. and not only they but hearing people in a country where they do not speak the language, could also find it of great use.
Of course it would take a massive movement with countries changing their, own developed form of signage.
But it could succeed where a  constructed auxiliary languages like Esperanto have failed.


3 comments:

Alan said...

It already exists. Kind of.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Sign

One issue with a global sign language is that most sign languages are heavily influenced and shaped by the primary oral/written language in use locally.

Therefore the pesky issue of international politics rears its ugly head. If an Universal Sign Language is to be codified, ASL is possibly not the best 'template' given anti-American sentiments in parts of the world. You mention that ASL has roots in France - true, but those roots are centuries old now and ASL has evolved(as has LSF).

There's also the issue of self-determination - would the World Federation of the Deaf or a similar Deaf-led organisation be given high, if not full, autonomy and funding to oversee such a thing? Or would the project be in the hands of hearing people?

glynbeddau said...

Thank you. As a hearing person I obviously don't fully appreciate the whole complicity of what I proposed and even if we who can hear would benefit from this .If clearly should be developed and run by the Deaf community.

Leigh Richards said...

Many thanks for bringing this serious issue to peoples attention glyn. As a hearing impaired person myself - I'm deaf in one ear - I can't tell you how inadequate we are as a society when it comes to accommodating deaf people. PS it's scandal people have to pay for these classes - they should be provided free.