Chapter 15 Gestures and Sign Languages
The Study of Language, 5th Edition
George Yule
Similarities and Differences between Gestures
and Sign
Similarities
• Gestures and signs involve the use of hands and other parts of
the body
Differences
• Signs are like speech and used instead of speaking
• Gestures are used while speaking in order to transmit meaning
Gestures
Emblems are signals such as “thumbs up” that
function like fixed phrases that generally depend
on social knowledge
Iconics echo the content of the spoken message or
indicate something being referred to; replicate the
meaning using gesture
Deitics or “pointing” are gestures to point to
things or people while talking
Beats are short quick movements of hands or
fingers that accompany the rhythm of speech,
used to emphasize sections or mark a change in
discourse
Types of sign Languages
Alternate Sign Language is a system of hand signals developed for
limited communication in a specific context when speech cannot be
used; also known as gestural communication. The users of alternate
sign languages speak another first language
The Stock Market Crash of 1987
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Primary Sign Language is the first language of a group of people who
do not use a spoken language to each other
American Sign Language British Sign Language French Sign Language
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Teaching Methods for Deaf Children
Oralism required deaf students to practice English speech sounds and develop lip-
reading skills
- Results were not positive: less than 10% could speak intelligible English; around
4% could lip-read
American Sign Language (ASL) was culturally acquired by deaf children in contact
with other deaf children, who had learned ASL from their parents
Signed English (also called Manually Coded English of MCE) produces signs that
correspond to the words in English sentence, in English word order.
Designed to facilitate interaction between the deaf and the hearing communities
Facilitates communication between hearing parents and deaf children
Facilitates teaching of deaf children by hearing teachers, so that they can sign and
interact simultaneously
Facilitates simultaneous translation of public speeches or lectures for deaf audiences
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Origin of American Sign Language
ASL developed from the French Sign Language
A French teacher, Laurent Clerc, brought to the US by minister Thomas
Gallaudet to establish a school for deaf children
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This imported version of sign language incorporated features of
indigenous natural sign languages used by the American deaf that
evolved into ASL
American Sign Language:
The Structure of Signs
ASL is designed for the eyes
There are four key aspects of visual information: Articulatory Parameters
- shape or configuration of the hand(s) (“flat hand”, “fist hand”, “cupped
hand”)
- orientation of hand (“palm up”, “palm down” or “palm towards signer”)
- location or place of articulation in relation to the head and upper body of
signer
- movement or manner of articulation as for example, faster or slower movements affect
meaning
- primes or contrasting elements within these four general parameters
- facial expressions accompany parameters and primes
- finger spelling or hand configurations used conventionally to represent the
letters of the alphabet
ASL cont.
Key difference between a system using the visual medium (ASL) and one using
speech:
- spoken language is linear
- visual messages can incorporate a number of distinct elements simultaneously
Signs have their meanings within the system of signs, not through reference to
pictorial images
Signs are represented with one line of manually signed words (in capital letters)
including the extent of the facial expression that contributes to the message
_______________________________q
HAPPEN YESTERDAY NIGHT
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