Feature
Volume 4 Issue 15 - August 01, 2006
Sign Language - the Life Line for Deaf People
D.S. Chauhan, General Secretary, Delhi Association of the
Deaf, tracks the origin and progress of sign language, shares
his views on its status in

About the origin of sign language,
nothing much is known. But as there must have been deaf people even in by
gone ages, some mode of communicating with them, must have existed. The earliest
references are about a Christian sect whose members took vow of silence and
communicated with each other through signs and gestures.
Over the ages, sign language has
progressed and now in certain countries, it has developed so much as to acquire
status equal to the spoken and written language. It is freely used as a mode of education to
the highest degree in education that is Ph.D. and even beyond. There is also the world’s first sign language
based University,
Because of the fact that some sort
of silent mode of communication has been there all along and the fact that
a child born deaf, learns to express him/her self through signs, sign language
came to be regarded as the mother tongue of the deaf people. This has now been proved to be true. Extensive, scientific research has established
that a child born deaf begins to learn and use signs at the same age at which
a hearing child begins to learn his/her mother tongue. Hence sign language is the natural mother tongue
of the deaf people.
Lingua Franca of the Deaf People
Over the ages, sign language has
been the lingua-franca of the deaf people.
With its enrichment and development, it became medium of instruction
as well. Now whether educated or uneducated,
(barring those who have learnt lip-reading and not been exposed to sign language)
deaf people use it day in day out.
Sign language is the visible mode
of communication. Though a language, it has no script. It is also non-verbal in that it can not be
spoken. In this system ‘the fingers speak and eyes hear’. In sign language,
a sign performs the same role as a word performs in the written sentence.
As words in a sentence, signs too have to be used in proper sequences to convey
a meaning. Also signs used must be same for the same word and must have won
universal acceptance within the country concerned.
To be recognised as a language,
sign language too has to meet some standard requirements. It must be rich,
versatile and vibrant. Signs should be standard and uniform, used and understood
by a vast majority of the deaf people. There should also be rigid grammatical
rules to maintain its purity and uniform standards. It also has to have its
own literature and above all must enjoy acceptance of the vast majority of
its users. It should be capable of meeting all the linguistic needs of the
deaf people.
At places, especially in large countries
where more than one language is used, there are bound to be regional sign
languages. In these, while the basic
structure may be same, the signs, especially those based on customs and practices
are bound to differ. These signs are used locally and such sign language is
treated as a dialect which can and does co-exist with the country’s standard
sign language.
International Scenario
As the languages differ from country
to country, so does their sign language. But the basics are the same. In all cases, sign
language remains the visual mode of communication. Here too the hands/fingers
speak and eyes hear. The level of development of sign language differs from
country to country. Some like the U.S.A. seem to have reached the ultimate
heights while in others it may even be non-existent, with deaf people still
using self devised signs and gestures as means of self-expression.
In more than thirty countries, sign
language has been recognized as official language because these fulfill all
the pre-requisites for such recognition. In
such countries, while the dialects co-exist with the officially recognized
sign language, it is the later that is used as the medium of instruction and
is uniformly understood across the country. Official recognition of sign language
and its uniform usage across the country have benefited the deaf people the
most – raised their standards of education, opened new fields for training
and increased their employment opportunities. State recognition has also ensured
popularization and propagation of sign language across the country, with more
and more hearing persons learning sign language. This in turn has broken the
deafness induced communication barrier between deaf and hearing people.
This sea-change has been possible
due to the efforts of vigilant deaf people who exercised their rights. The
society at large also responded positively to the needs of the deaf people
because of awareness about their cause. However, the real credit should go
to their Institutes of Technology, Universities and Colleges which helped
in putting in place a rich and vibrant sign language and now continue to ensure
that sign languages continue to develop and grow.
Indian Status
Here it is pertinent to mention
that a child born deaf can not learn any language – not even his/her mother
tongue through the natural process of hearing. He/she has to be taught language
through formal education. The tragedy is that in
Therefore, rightly speaking there is nothing like Indian Sign Language in existence at present. Just two attempts have been made so far to collect, classify/codify Indian Signs by Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped (1987-90), Sri Rama Krishna Mission Ashram, Coimbatore (1998-2001) which resulted in production of two sign language dictionaries with a combined total number of 2444 words/signs with many being common in both. Hardly a rich harvest, and strange as it may appear, on the strength of these words/signs, AYJNIHH has launched a nine months long training course for Interpreters of the Deaf! From where the requisite signs have come remain a mystery. This is more so as all along, the stand of this National Institute has been that deaf will themselves develop their own signs – a tall order considering the fact that those deaf who know language, do not know or use signs and those deaf who know and use signs have no idea of any language. Nay, most of them just do not know even their name or its meaning.
The Way Out
From the foregoing, it will be evident
that the Indian deaf people are placed in a difficult situation and only wide
ranging, strenuous, broad based efforts with liberal funds allocation can
help improve matters but even then, it will be a long haul.
The first and foremost is that an
access to a language, sign language in this context, has to be treated as
a matter of human right and not as a matter of favour or concession. Since it is impossible to create adequate infrastructures
– schools, trained teachers etc. for formal education of all the deaf, at
one go, provision of an access to a uniform or common Indian Sign Language
to the deaf people across the country has to be ensured, being most cost effective,
also of use ad-infinitum.
This will involve development of
a rich and versatile sign language for use across the country. It is a stupendous
task and requires Herculean efforts and investment of large funds. The right
course will be to set up immediately an Indian Sign Language Academy, put
at its disposal sufficient funds, man it with persons having high academic
attainments and commitment to sign language, involve, nay win whole hearted
cooperation of the deaf community and make all out efforts to put in place
at least 20,000 words/signs within the shortest possible period so that these
could form the base for further growth.
Thanks to the intervention of National
Human Rights Commission on a petition by Delhi Association of the Deaf, a
beginning has been made to develop a sign language for pre and primary school
level deaf children. Much will depend
upon successful completion of this project. For the first time in
Awareness about sign language too
needs to be created and the full potential of mass media – both print and
visual has to be tapped. Popularisation and propagation
of sign language has to keep pace with its development. Official use, particularly
in telecast of news and serials in the sign language so developed will earn
it ready acceptance.
A word of caution
at the end. However fine a sign language may be, if it does not win
acceptance of the stake-holders – the deaf, it will be of little use. Therefore,
in a democratic way, giving a larger say to the deaf and giving due consideration
to their views has to be ensured. The deaf community should be given the final
say in all sign language related matters.
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