If you are to reach masses of people in this world, you must do it by sign language. Whether your vehicle is commerce, literature, or politics, you can do nothing but raise signals, and make motions to the people - John Jay Chapman
The general definition of sign language is a system of communication using visual gestures and signs, as used by deaf people.
When you think of sign language, what comes to mind is the language for the deaf. However, sign language is a form of language. People learn it for communication purposes. There are many reasons for signing besides the inability to hear.
The topic of "sign language" is broader than what people think. People focus on only one aspect of sign language for the deaf while disregarding everything that sign language represents.
The way people learn other languages to make them bilingual is the same way you can learn sign language as a new language for communication. Learning sign language provides all the same benefits as learning a foreign language.
Several sign languages vary from nation to nation. However, we have two widely known sign languages. ASL (American Sign Language) and BSL (British Sign Language).
In Nigeria, we have sign languages like the Hausa sign language, Bura sign language and Yoruba sign language.
For example, the Yoruba community in Nigeria developed the YSL (Yoruba Sign language). YSL is an indigenous sign language of the Deaf community in Yoruba-speaking communities of southwestern Nigeria.
If you count yourself among the hearing population, you may never have thought about learning how to sign. We want to discuss that in this article with well-laid-out arguments and some points you possibly have not thought about when it comes to signing language.
Let us take a look at how learning sign language today will be beneficial to you.
What Is The Meaning Of Sign Language?
Sign language: any of various formal languages employing a system of hand gestures and their placement relative to the upper body, facial expressions, body postures, and finger spelling, especially for communication by and with deaf people
We decided to search the internet for the general definition of sign language. The above meaning of sign language is by Dictionary by Merriam-webster.
Take a close look at the definition of sign language put forth by the dictionary by Merriam-webster. The idea that signing is only for people who cannot hear was replicated in Collins and Oxford, the preferred dictionaries in the US, also Wikipedia.
Vocabulary.com and Encyclopaedia Britannica were the first sites we ran across that did not directly link sign language to deafness. The word ''Deafness'' was featured in their further explanations. However, it was not the first reason given for people to sign.
Sign language is not only for people classified as deaf. Sign language is one of the earliest and most basic forms of human communication. People who do not have a hearing defeat regularly use sign language as a means of communication without being aware.
We use signs when we wave hello or decide to point at something we want and use body language to emphasize an idea.
Sign language is a means of communicating that generally involves using the hands, arms and sometimes upper body to convey ideas. The gestures and movements of sign language each have a specific meaning and, for the most part, are language-specific.
For example, someone proficient in American sign language might sign ''please'' by taking their dominant hand with fingers extended and held together and thumb extended and sticking out. They would take the hand with palm facing in and rub it in a circle on their chest.
By contrast, someone signing in BSL or British Sign Language would flat their hand and start by placing their fingertips on the chin. The hand moves down and away from the signer to say please.
Signing is signing, regardless of the languages represented.
While discussing sign language, let us not confuse our body language with signing.
However, we can compare it to being in a loud, crowded market and signalling your friend who is further away from you to come to meet with you. You can do that by stretching your hands toward them to come to meet you.
When seen in the context illustrated above, we can assure you that sign language has been around since before spoken languages.
Wrong Perceptions Of Sign Language
Besides the popular wrong perception that sign language is only for the hearing impaired, there are other incorrect perceptions about sign language that persists to date.
From our discussions, you should know that there are different sign languages. We discussed an example of ASL versus British sign language, but the disparity goes even further.
Just like there are several languages from countries worldwide, there are an estimated 300 sign languages around the world. They are all represented by graceful, expressive movements that anyone signing executes.
Is there a universal sign language adopted by everyone worldwide?
The answer to the above question can be a YES or NO, depending on how you want to view it.
We say yes because there is one thing sign languages have in common - the graceful, expressive movements that anyone signing executes. It can be viewed as a no because we have several sign languages, and each has different ways of communicating through signing.
However, there is a sign language called Gestuno. It is an artificially devised sign language or a communication system established by the World Federation of the Deaf. Its vocabulary is words selected from different sign languages that Deaf people conventionally agree to use at international events and meetings.
Different sign languages are available in various countries or regions. Some countries adopt features of ASL, BSL or both.
So, if a Chinese signer meets someone who uses Yoruba sign language, there would be barriers to their communication. It is just like there would be if they communicated verbally in their indigenous languages.
People who use sign language as their primary method of communication connect with spoken language by reading lips and by reading and writing.
Sign Language Interpreters
Sign language is one of the easiest languages to learn.
A sign language interpreter is a person who is not only bilingual but has also received specialized training and credentials to develop the skills and expertise needed to mediate meanings across languages and cultures. A signer can communicate with people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
You can choose to learn signing as a career. We have a body that governs sign language interpreters in Nigeria.
The Association of Sign Language Interpreters of Nigeria (ASLN) is the Umbrella body of the sign language interpreters of Nigeria aimed at developing the profession of sign language interpreters within the country.
Reasons To Learn The Language Of Signing
Sign language is commonly known as a form of communication for the hearing impaired, but sign language has a lot to offer to not just the deaf community.
It is a known fact that most people would take up language studies for reasons like travel, work, schooling, being bilingual or exercising their brain. However, many do not contemplate learning sign language unless they have issues or are with people with hearing problems.
There is no doubt that signing is the perfect communication tool for many deaf and hard-of-hearing people. Sign language is also for people who can hear but cannot speak.
Parents can learn and teach their young children to sign as a form of communication, especially when they are at the age they cannot speak but are aware of their feelings but cannot communicate them properly. Most children at the age of two are at this stage. It is the reason they are the terrible twos because those toddlers have ineffective communication skills.
Children are not too young to sign. Parents can teach them basic signs for words like more, drink, sleep, food, etc.
By establishing this early means of communication, you will provide your child with a way to forestall frustration at not being understood, all while jumpstarting the language learning processes in his brain.
Sign language can help you when spoken words are impossible, such as talking underwater, talking through glass, from a distance, at a loud music concert, and talking with your mouth full.
Just like being bilingual, one reason to learn sign language is that it would make you versatile in communicating. It also has the same health benefits linked to learning a new language.
Learning a language boosts our concentration, listening and thinking skills!
Benefits of Knowing How to Sign
Our discussions have already highlighted many pros associated with learning sign language. However, let us take a closer look at the benefits of learning to sign.
We now present advantages to signing that have nothing to do with the deaf or hard of hearing.
- It is easy to learn: Unlike other languages that may be difficult and take time to learn, sign language is one of the easiest to understand.
- Have secret conversations: nobody will overhear you say anything in sign language.
- Opportunity to communicate with the deaf community: Learning a foreign language immerses you in a new community and a different culture. The same is true for sign language, which opens us up to the Deaf community and its culture.
- Creates job opportunities: Asides from being a sign language interpreter, learning how to sign is something that attracts employers if t is on your CV.
- Ability to communicate in a noisy environment: Sign language can also let you talk to someone without interrupting others with noise. You would also be able to speak with someone who understands signing in a noisy place.
- Healthy for the brain: signing enhances cognition, creative thinking, brain functionality, memory, spatial awareness, mental rotation skills and more.
- Improve parent-child communication: It increases the bond between parents and kids. Research has found that when parents teach toddlers how to sign, it can help parents and toddlers understand each other.
As you learn sign language, your facial expressions become more targeted, mirroring what your speech is saying, and your gestures will become more graceful and fluent than when speaking your first language.
If you are interested in learning sign language, you can get one on Superprof Nigeria.
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