Signing

From SPARK

A sign language is a language that uses a system of manual, facial, and other body movements to communicate, especially among deaf people.

There are three major components of all known sign languages: the shape of the hand, the movement of the hand, and the location of the hand in relation to the rest of the body. Just like spoken English distinguishes between “sit” and “kit” by changing one letter, so a sign language can distinguish between its words by changing any one of the three components.

For example, in spoken English, just by changing the first sound of the word “sit”, you can produce whole new words: hit, pit, fit, etc. That first sound must be meaningful and unique because if it is changed, you have an entirely different word. The same contrastive procedure of finding minimal pairs can be used in a signed language to identify meaningful handshapes, movements, and locations.

Other movements, such as raising the eyebrows or shoulders, and leaning forward are also units of meaning.

According to Sign Media, Inc., a large producer of videocassettes and printed material about American Sign Language, linguistic research has demonstrated that all the world’s indigenous sign languages meet all of the requirements for human languages. Each is a rule-governed, grammatical symbol system that changes over time, and that members of a community share. Linguists rarely debate whether signed languages are languages anymore because the research results are so overwhelming.

Considerations

As with all media, an evaluation should be done to understand the worldview, come up with the barriers and key factors that may influence results, and the content should be contextualized.

• Pictures on paper may be cheaper to produce than videocassettes or DVDs. Paper is easily cut or torn for posting or sharing with others. It can be copied easily for non-deaf friends. Some cultures do not have ready access to videocassette players or DVD players.
• Getting local artists to draw can increase interest in a sign language project.
• Video cassettes or DVDs may show movements better than still pictures can. Good skill in using the video camera is necessary to get a clear picture of movement.
• The choice of signer for a video production is important. Will his social status, religious status, or physical movements be a distraction to viewers? Is his particular dialect acceptable to your target audience?