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Linguistic research enhances sign language
Let your fingers do the talking
Example of Chinese sign language: classmate. (Ma Ka Wa)
By Nickie Wong
Thanks to new research on sign linguistics at The Chinese Uni-versity of Hong Kong, students will soon have more opportunities to learn sign language.
The Centre
for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies was established in December 2003.
With financial support from The Research Grants Council, recent budget
cuts will not affect the center’s operations.
One of the center’s projects involves the development of a Hong
Kong Sign Language for deaf children.
Gladys Tang, associate professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Intercultural Studies, said, “We wish to find out how language processing is done when sign language is one’s first language.”
Another ongoing project at the center is the Asian Sign Language Project.
The project allows the university to develop more qualified teaching materials for sign linguistics courses.
Prof. Tang said adding language components to sign language could make learning it similar to learning other languages, like Italian and German.
She also said that existing sign language dictionaries in Hong Kong are not based on linguistic standards.
Realizing this shortcoming, the center is in the process of publishing a sign language dictionary based on sign linguistics.
These recent developments in improving sign language education was made possible because of Prof. Tang and Dr. James Woodward of the Department of English.
They realized that there was not much information available on sign languages and deaf people in the Asia-Pacific region.
Therefore, in 1992 they applied to the Research Grants Committee for an earmarked grant to conduct “in-depth formal research into sign language varieties used by deaf people in Hong Kong”.
In 2000,
the Chinese University’s Department of Modern Languages and Intercultural
Studies started a sign language studies course.
Trevor Johnston, associate professor at the University of Newcastle,
visited the Chinese University in February. He shared his experience
on sign linguistics in Australia.
He said, “People mistakenly regard sign language as merely gestures and representatives of spoken language.
“Despite some associations with the spoken language, sign language is an independent language. It has its own grammar and linguistic patterns.”
One example of association between sign and spoken language is finger spelling. In American Sign Language, finger spelling is used to represent different characters of the alphabet.
Some Chinese
Sign Language also resembles Chinese characters.
However, the grammar of Chinese Sign Language is different from the
verbal and written varieties.
For example,
numerals come after nouns, as in, “cars 10”.
Said Prof. Tang: “In fact, language is not in our mouth. It is
in our brain. Our mouth or hand is just a tool of communication.”
Throughout his 20 years of research in sign linguistics, Prof. Johnston has developed dictionaries and encyclopedias for sign language.
Prof. Johnston’s current project is to computerize sign language dictionaries, making learning sign language easier through the use of CD-ROMs.
He said, “By using video clips to show a sign, it is easier to learn than seeing a stationary picture.”
He believes that sign language is crucial in learning and communication, while lip reading helps deaf people interact with the community.
He said, “It is especially important for young children with hearing loss to have complete access to their first language, which is sign language, not lip reading.”
Prof. Tang agreed.
“Lip reading is effective only when one has a strong foundation of the spoken language. It does not apply to people with hearing loss.”
Another area currently being looked into at the Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies includes a school project cultivating deaf children’s interest in reading and writing Chinese.
Compared with deaf education, sign linguistics has a short history of development.
The emergence of sign linguistics led to the verification of sign language as a language.
Hence, sign language is expected to have equal status with spoken languages in the near future.
Jenny Ho is a sign language instructor at Stewards Limited, a registered Christian charitable organisation. She has been teaching there for 4 years.
Ms. Ho pointed out a popular misconception — that deaf people cannot speak. Actually, it is the inability to hear that hinders their ability to speak.
She said, “In the last few years, people have become more aware of sign language due to television dramas.”
However, it is difficult to implement sign language education in deaf schools because the government does not advocate it.
Ms. Ho said, “The government encourages people with heaing problems to wear hearing aids and to learn lip reading so that they can interact with the hearing community.”
In reality, though, a number of ways are used to communicate ideas. Ms. Ho said some deaf children create their own signs to express their ideas.
If impromptu signs do not get the message across, ideas are written down.
Judy Tse, a housewife and one of Ms. Ho’s students, said, “I have a deaf relative who is in his 60s. I learned sign language because I wanted to communicate with him.
“He did not receive any sign language education. He created his own sign language to communicate with others.”
Ms. Tse used to serve deaf people in community centers along with Ms. Ho.
Ms. Tse said that they had to learn from the deaf while communicating with them, because they could not totally understand their sign language.
Ms. Ho added, “A lot of patience and a humble attitude is very important when communicating with deaf people.
“When you pay no attention, show no response, or even avoid eye contact, they will probably think that you do not respect them.”
With computers, deaf people can dramatically widen their social circles.
Deaf people are also very active. Some of them join tours and travel around the world.
Ms. Ho said, “They are very confident of their own abilities. Most of them can read despite having a lower education level.”
She used to lead a group of deaf youths for cultural exchanges with their counterparts in Beijing, Japan and Taiwan.
She was amazed by how fast they could get along, although they used different sign languages.
Said she: “In the first 2 days, they were too shy to ‘talk’ to others. But by the third day, they ‘chatted’ like close friends.
“At the end of the activity, they agreed to become pen pals.”