SILENT LANGUAGES CHAPTER 5 SIGN LANGUAGE

SILENT LANGUAGES CHAPTER 5

SIGN LANGUAGE • FOR MANY YEARS PEOPLE DID NOT THINK SIGN LANGUAGE WAS A ‘REAL’ LANGUAGE • THEY THOUGHT IT WAS RANDOM GESTURES • THIS IDEA REFLECTS LINGUISTIC IDEOLOGY CALLED ORALITY • THIS MEANS THAT PEOPLE TOOK FOR GRANTED THE IDEA THAT SPOKEN LANGUAGE WAS BETTER THAN ANY OTHER TYPE OF LANGAUGE • THEREFORE EDUCATION FOCUSED ON THE ORAL APPROACH OF FINGERSPELLING AND LIPREADING AND MANUALLY CODED ENGLISH • ARTIFICIAL LANGUAGE THAT FOLLOWS EXACT STRUCTURE OF SPOKEN ENGLISH

SIGN LANGUAGE • WILLIAM STOKOE, JR LEARNED AND TAUGHT MCE BUT SAW THAT STUDENTS USED SIGN LANGUAGE TO COMMUNICATE OUTSIDE OF CLASS • THIS SIGN LANGUAGE HAD ITS OWN UNIQUE LANGUAGE STRUCTURE

HISTORY OF SIGN LANGUAGE • AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE (ASL) WAS DEVELOPED FROM FRENCH SIGN LANGUAGE IN THE 1800 S BY GALLAUDET AND CLERC • ALL SIGN LANGUAGES ARE DIFFERENT (BRITISH, FRENCH , NICARAGUAN, ETC. ) AND DEAF PEOPLE CANNOT SPEAK TO EACH OTHER IN THESE DIFFERENT FORMS OF SIGN LANGUAGE • WHILE MOST DEAF PEOPLE WERE TAUGHT THE ORAL APPROACH, THEY KEPT USING SIGN LANGUAGE AS A WAY TO COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER OUTSIDE OF CLASS

ASL • ASL HAS A DIFFERENT STRUCTURE THAN SPOKEN ENGLISH • ONE-HANDED SIGNS ARE MADE WITH THE DOMINANT HAND, SO THEY MAY BE MADE WITH EITHER THE LEFT OR THE RIGHT

ASL • ASL HAS A DIFFERENT GRAMMAR THAN SPOKEN ENGLISH AS WELL • ENGLISH IS SUBJECT-VERB-OBJECT WHILE ASL IS TIME-TOPIC-COMMENT • EXAMPLE: • I ATE A BANANA YESTERDAY • DAY-PAST ME EAT BANANA • QUESTION WORDS (WHY? HOW? ETC. ) ARE AT THE BEGINNING OF SENTENCES, NOT THE END • EXAMPLE: • WHAT DID HE BUY? • HE BUY WHAT?

ASL • SOMETIMES ONE SIGN CAN STAND FOR A PHRASE OR SENTENCE • THERE IS ONE SIGN FOR ‘I ASK HER’ • THIS IS DIFFICULT FOR NON-ASL SIGNERS TO LEARN, SINCE THEY WANT TO MAKE A NEW SIGN FOR EACH SPOKEN WORD • FURROWING EYEBROWS OR OTHER FACIAL FEATURES ARE ALSO PART OF ASL COMMUNICATION • ASL GRAMMAR: HTTP: //WWW. YOUTUBE. COM/WATCH? V=3 QC 9 UYAW 8 J 8

MANUALLY CODED SIGNS • THIS IS NOT NATURAL SIGN LANGUAGE • IN MCS, PEOPLE ATTEMPT TO TEACH SPOKEN ENGLISH TO THE DEAF AND USES THE EXACT STRUCTURE OF SPOKEN ENGLISH • SO, IN ORDER TO SING THE WORD ‘IMPROVING’ YOU WOULD NEED TO SIGN THE WORD ‘IMPROVE’ AND THEN SIGN THE SUFFIX ‘ING’ • IN NATURAL SIGN LANGUAGE IMPROVING HAS ITS OWN SIGN • WHEN DEAF CHILDREN ARE TAUGHT MCS, THEY BECOME VERY CONFUSED ABOUT MORPHEMES AND HOW TO USE THEM

DESCRIBING AND ANALYZING SIGNS • REVIEW: • PHONEME = MINIMAL MEANINGFUL PORTION OF LANGUAGE • CHEREME = STRUCTURAL UNIT OR BASIC DESCRIPTIVE UNIT OF SIGNING; ALSO CALLED PRIMES OR SIGN PHONEMES • SIGN LANGUAGE PHONETICS HAS: • DEZ: HAND SHAPE AND ORIENTATION • TAB: HAND PLACEMENT • SIG: HAND MOVEMENT • THESE ARE THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE LANGUAGE

DESCRIBING AND ANALYZING SIGNS • SIGN LANGUAGE PHONETICS HAS: • DEZ: HAND SHAPE AND ORIENTATION • FLAT HAND, FIST HAND, INDEX HAND, CUPPED HAND • “A, ” “B, ” ‘C, ” AND ‘D’ (SEE PG. 123) • TAB: HAND PLACEMENT • NEAR THE FACE, HEAD, AND UPPER BODY • SIG: HAND MOVEMENT • UP, DOWN, TOWARD THE BODY, AWAY FROM BODY, TWISTING, AND ACROSS BODY • PRACTICE THE DIFFERENT SIGNS FOR APPLE AND CANDY ON PG. 123

CHANGE IN SIGN LANGUAGE • LIKE ANY OTHER LANGUAGE, SIGN LANGUAGES CHANGE OVER TIME • NEW SIGNS GET INTRODUCED • CHANGES OCCUR IN PLACEMENT • VARIETIES EXIST IN NORTHERN/SOUTHERN SIGNERS • THERE ARE DIFFERENCES BY REGION; WHAT WE CALL ‘DIALECT’ • DIFFERENCES EXIST BETWEEN AGES, GENDERS, AND ETHNICITIES • THE VARIETY OF (ANY) LANGUAGE YOU CHOOSE TO SPEAK/SIGN CAN CONVEY INFORMATION ABOUT YOU, INCLUDING YOUR IDENTITY, WHAT GROUP YOU BELONG TO, ETC.

MODALITY • MODALITY IS THE CHANNEL THROUGH WHICH A LANGUAGE IS EXPRESSED • SPOKEN LANGUAGES USE ORAL CHANNEL • SIGN LANGUAGES USE VISUAL-GESTURAL CHANNEL • EXAMPLE: PRONOUNS • IN SPOKEN ENGLISH, WE HAVE THESE FOR PEOPLE, NUMBER, GENDER, ETC. • IN ASL, POINTING INDICATES THE PERSON • FOR A PERSON NOT PHYSICALLY THERE, AN INFINITE NUMBER OF PRONOUNS CAN BE MADE BECAUSE THE SIGNER USES THE EMPTY SPACE TO DESCRIBE HIM OR HER • DOES THIS DIFFERENCE IN THE LANGUAGES MEAN THAT THE PEOPLE USING THEM HAVE DIFFERENT VIEWS OF THE WORLD? . . .

ASL IN NON-HUMANS • WE WILL DISCUSS THIS MORE IN A LATER CHAPTER, BUT CHIMPANZEES AND GORILLAS HAVE LEARNED TO COMMUNICATE THROUGH ASL • WASHOE (CHIMP) • KOKO (GORILLA)

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION • DIFFERENT CULTURES USE DIFFERENT GESTURES TO MEAN DIFFERENT THINGS • YOU CANNOT EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE IN A CULTURE UNTIL YOU KNOW GESTURES AND NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION • THIS INCLUDES • GESTURES • POSTURE • FACIAL EXPRESSIONS • WHAT WE CALL ‘BODY LANGUAGE’

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION • OVER 60% OF MESSAGES ARE CONVEYED NONVERBALLY • SOMETIMES NONVERBAL CUES CAN OVERRIDE VERBAL SIGNS

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION • THERE CAN BE MANY MISUNDERSTANDINGS • IN NICARAGUA, YOU POINT WITH YOUR LIP AND SIGNAL A QUESTION BY WRINKLING NOSE • IN COMORO ISLANDS, YOU SIGNAL ‘COME HERE’ WITH WHAT LOOKS LIKE ‘GO AWAY’ • THUMBS UP CAN BE A BIG INSULT • ‘OKAY’ SIGN CAN MEAN MONEY IN JAPAN BUT AN INSULT IN GERMANY • THERE ARE SOME GUIDEBOOKS FOR THIS, BUT REMEMBER: • THESE CONSTANTLY EVOLVE • THESE CAN REINFORCE STEREOTYPES • READ “ 9 INNOCENT GESTURES THAT WILL GET YOU PUNCHED IN THE FACE OVERSEAS ”

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION • PROXEMICS IS THE STUDY OF HOW PEOPLE PERCEIVE AND USE SPACE • THESE VARY BY CULTURE • AMERICANS TEND TO NOT LIKE TO TOUCH • HOW MUCH SPACE IS BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR CLASSMATES RIGHT NOW? • EVEN IN SUBWAYS, NEW YORKERS LEAVE SPACE BETWEEN EACH PERSON, WHILE IN TOKYO PEOPLE ARE DENSELY PACKED INTO EACH TRAIN • HTTP: //WWW. YOUTUBE. COM/WATCH? V=E 7 KOR 5 NHTZQ

PERSONAL SPACE • THERE ARE FOUR TYPES OF SPACE: • INTIMATE • FOR AMERICANS, 0 -18 INCHES • PERSONAL • 18 IN – 4 FEET • SOCIAL • 4 -12 FEET • PUBLIC • 12+ FEET

PERSONAL SPACE • WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SOMEONE FROM ANOTHER CULTURE THAT VALUES CLOSER SPACES MOVES INTO YOUR SPACE? • HTTPS: //WWW. YOUTUBE. COM/WATCH? V=NGVSIKEI 3 MM • SPACE CAN ALSO MARK STATUS OR DOMINANCE, SO MANY TIMES WOMEN FEEL DOMINATED IF MEN COME TOO CLOSE • SPACE IS ALSO IN WORKPLACE • CEO HAS BIGGEST OFFICE, THEN VP, …. DOWN TO CUBICLES • SPACE IN HOME • MASTER BEDROOM FOR PARENTS AND SMALLEST ROOM FOR YOUNGEST

KINESICS • KINESICS IS THE STUDY OF BODY MOVEMENT, FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, AND GESTURES • GESTURES ARE NOT THE SAME AS SIGNS; THEY ARE SUPPLEMENTAL TO LANGUAGE • FIVE CATEGORIES: • EMBLEMS: DIRECT VERBAL TRANSLATIONS (WAVING HELLO) • ILLUSTRATORS: ILLUSTRATE WHAT IS SAID (MIMICKING TALKING ON PHONE) • AFFECT DISPLAYS: CONVEY EMOTION (SMILES OR FROWNS) • REGULATORS: CONTROL OR COORDINATE INTERACTION (INDICATING IT IS SOMEONE ’S TURN TO TALK) • ADAPTORS: FACILITATE RELEASE OF BODY TENSION (NERVOUS TAPPING)

KINESICS • KINESICS ALSO INCLUDES FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, BODY MOVEMENTS, GAZE, AND POSTURE • DIRECT EYE CONTACT IS EXPECTED IN SOME CULTURES AND FORBIDDEN IN OTHERS • EYEBROW MOVEMENT IS PART OF ASL • GESTURES CAN BE SIMPLE SYSTEMS OR COMPLEX SYSTEMS

KINESICS • KINESICS ALSO INCLUDES FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, BODY MOVEMENTS, GAZE, AND POSTURE • DIRECT EYE CONTACT IS EXPECTED IN SOME CULTURES AND FORBIDDEN IN OTHERS • EYEBROW MOVEMENT IS PART OF ASL • GESTURES CAN BE SIMPLE SYSTEMS OR COMPLEX SYSTEMS • SIMPLE: • ROUTINE (EXAMPLE: SIGNALS BETWEEN PITCHER AND CATCHER) • COMPLEX: • CAN BE USED ALMOST EFFECTIVELY AS SPOKEN LANGUAGE • DEVELOP IN SITUATIONS IN WHICH PEOPLE CANNOT VERBALLY SPEAK • FOLLOW SYNTAX OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE

KINESICS • FACIAL EXPRESSIONS ARE MOST IMPORTANT • SOME ARE UNIVERSALLY RECOGNIZED, AND SOME ARE NOT, AND SOMETIMES PEOPLE ARE DECEITFUL

LANGUAGE AND POWER • LANGUAGE’S POWER, OR EFFECTIVENESS IN COMMUNICATING, ALLOWS PEOPLE TO USE IT TO INCREASE THEIR PERSONAL POWER, OR INFLUENCE. • VERY COMMON IN POLITICS (WE WILL DISCUSS THIS MORE IN CHAPTER 7)

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION • VIDEO LOG: • HTTP: //ED. TED. COM/LESSONS/YOUR-BODY-LANGUAGE-SHAPES-WHO-YOU-AREAMY-CUDDY