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Gestures and Sign Language

This document discusses different types of sign languages and gestures. It describes primary sign languages like American Sign Language and British Sign Language, which are full natural languages used by deaf communities. It also discusses alternate sign languages developed for limited communication without speech, and gestures like emblems, iconics, and deictics that accompany speech. The document traces the origins of American Sign Language to a French Sign Language brought over from a school in Paris in the early 19th century.

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89 views11 pages

Gestures and Sign Language

This document discusses different types of sign languages and gestures. It describes primary sign languages like American Sign Language and British Sign Language, which are full natural languages used by deaf communities. It also discusses alternate sign languages developed for limited communication without speech, and gestures like emblems, iconics, and deictics that accompany speech. The document traces the origins of American Sign Language to a French Sign Language brought over from a school in Paris in the early 19th century.

Uploaded by

Zynb
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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When we considered

the process of
language acquisition,
we concentrated on
the fact that what is
naturally acquired by
most children is
speech.
The deaf children of
deaf parents naturally
acquire sign (or sign
language).
Although both sign
and gestures involve
the use of the hands
(with other parts of
the body), they
rather different.
Sign is like speech
and is used instead
of speaking.
Gestures are mostly
used while
speaking.
Emblems are
signals such as
“thumbs up” (=
things are good) or
“shush” (= keep
quiet) that function
like fixed phrases
and do not depend
on speech.
Emblems are
conventional and
depend on social
knowledge.
Iconics are gestures
that seem to be a
reflection of the
meaning of what is
said, as when we trace
a square in the air
with a finger while
saying I’m looking for
a small box. By itself,
an iconic gesture
doesn’t “mean” the
same as what is said,
but may add
“meaning”.
Another common
group of gestures are
described as deictics.
The term “deictic”
means “pointing”. We
can use deictics in the
current context, as
when we use a hand
to indicate a
table(with a cake on
it) and ask someone
Would you like some
cake?
There are another
gestures, such as
those described as
beats, which are
short quick
movements of the
hand or fingers.
These gestures
accompany the
rhythm of talk and
are often used to
emphasize parts of
what is being said.
Types of Sign Languages
There are two general categories of language that involve the use
of sign languages.
An alternate sign language is a system of hand signals developed
by speakers for limited communication in a specific context where
speech can not be used. These signals are also described as
gestural communication to make it clear they are not the same as
languages.
In contrast, a primary sign language is the first language of a
group of people who do not use a spoken language with each other.
British Sign Language (BSL) and French Sign Language(FSL)
Another method generally
known as oralism
dominated deaf education
during most of the
twentieth century. This
method required that the
students practice English
speech sounds and develop
lip-reading skills. Despite
its resounding lack of
success, the method was
never seriously challenged,
perhaps because of an
insidious belief among
many during this period
that, in educational terms,
most deaf children were
not going to achieve very
much anyway.
Substantial changes in
deaf education have
taken place in recent
years, but there is still
an emphasis on the
learning of English,
written rather than
spoken. Signed English
is essentially a means of
producing signs that
correspond to the words
in an English sentence,
in English order.
Origins of ASL
Historically, ASL developed from the French Sign
Language used in a Paris school founded in 18th C.
early in the 19th C. a teacher from this school, named
Laurent Clerc, was brought to the United States by an
American minister called Thomas Gallaudet who was
trying to establish a school for deaf children.
Clerc not only taught deaf children, he also trained
other teachers. During the 19th C. this imported
version of sign language, incorporating features of
indigenous natural sign languages used by the
American deaf, evolved into what became known as
ASL. Such origins help to explain why users of ASL
and users of BSL (in Britain)

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