“Sign languages appear to develop spontaneously wherever deaf people come together to form a community, just as spoken languages do. There is historical evidence that sign languages were in use amongst deaf people in the UK (and elsewhere in the world) long before schools for deaf children were established.”
At the start of the school term this year, Google Doodle featured a story about Thomas Braidwood, the man who established the first school for deaf children in the UK. The Edinburgh-based Braidwood Academy began in 1760. Most importantly, Braidwood is known to have used the ‘combined method’ in educating deaf children, using British Sign Language (BSL) as a language of instruction alongside English. Today, the majority of deaf children are educated in mainstream settings, but there are still over 20 specialised schools for deaf children, some of them continuing the tradition of using both BSL and English (Birmingham’s Longwill School is amongst them).
Google Doodle’s story provided an unexpected and very significant opportunity to raise awareness of Braidwood as an important figure in the history of deaf education in the UK, and the vital role of British Sign Language (BSL). As might be expected, the story by Google Doodle led to significant media coverage, with follow up stories published in major British newspapers, such as The Independent and The Telegraph. You will not find the original version of these stories online now, however, as they contained a number of factual errors and erroneous assumptions about BSL that led to an outcry from academics (including myself) and deaf activists on social media.
On the same day that these newspaper stories appeared, the British Deaf Association issued a statement. Journalists moved quickly to correct many of the most offensive mistakes in the online versions of these articles. The misinformation and the ensuing Twitter storm, however, revealed a great deal about the myths and misconceptions that surround the sign languages of deaf communities, including BSL.
The most egregious error in the press was the assumption by some in the media that Braidwood ‘invented’ BSL. We see this in the original title of the article in The Independent: ‘British Sign Language…How an ingenious system of hand gestures gave voice to millions’. It seemed to rest on the idea that deaf people are isolated and lonely individuals, without any agency, who were simply suffering in silence while apparently waiting for some magnanimous hearing individual to give them a ‘voice’. There is, in fact, no evidence that any single individual, hearing or deaf, invented any of the sign languages used in deaf communities around the world today.
Moreover, sign languages appear to develop spontaneously wherever deaf people come together to form a community, just as spoken languages do. There is historical evidence that sign languages were in use amongst deaf people in the UK (and elsewhere in the world) long before schools for deaf children were established. There are, for example, references to the use of sign language amongst deaf people in the writings of Plato. In the UK, references to signing deaf people begin to appear in writing from the 14th century onwards, when the first documented case of sign language interpreting appeared in court records (as University of Birmingham PhD student, Anne Leahy, has shown). John Bulwer’s 1648 book, Philocophus, describes a small number of signs in use by two deaf brothers, some of which are very similar to signs still used in BSL today. The deaf writer, Pierre Desloges, describes an active deaf community in Paris in the 18th century, before deaf education began.
Although we do not know much about how Thomas Braidwood came to learn BSL, we do know that Abbé de l’Epée, who established the first school for deaf children in France in the late 18th century, learned French Sign Language from two deaf sisters in Paris. This very approach was recommended by John Wallis in the late 17th century, who suggested that educators learn deaf people’s sign languages in order to teach them to read and write.
How deaf communities create their own sign languages has been documented by linguists studying the emergence of Nicaraguan Sign Language since the middle of the twentieth century. In 1979, a new socialist government in Nicaragua opened the first school for deaf children. Although the language of instruction used by the hearing teachers in the new school was Spanish, the deaf children who were brought together for the first time at the school began to share in the school playground the signs that they had developed at home with their families. These pooled linguistic resources soon led to the emergence of a new sign language. Later, this new sign language was adopted by the teachers and became the language of instruction in the school. In the case of Thomas Braidwood, his real achievement was not, in fact, the ‘invention’ of BSL, but the introduction of the language of the British deaf community into the classroom from the very start.
FAQs
Many people mistakenly believe that American Sign Language (ASL) is English conveyed through signs. Some think that it is a manual code for English, that it can express only concrete information, or that there is one universal sign language used by Deaf people around the world.
Are ASL and British Sign Language very closely related? ›
It is easy to assume that American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL) would be similar, but they are actually two completely different languages. Only about 30% of the signs are the same, even though they are based on the same spoken language.
Why is British Sign Language important in communication? ›
By learning basic signs, you will be able to communicate deaf people around you, such as deaf colleagues, family or friends. Having this skill will boost your communication skills, and deaf people will appreciate the effort.
Can American and British Sign Language understand each other? ›
There is no universal sign language. Different sign languages are used in different countries or regions. For example, British Sign Language (BSL) is a different language from ASL, and Americans who know ASL may not understand BSL. Some countries adopt features of ASL in their sign languages.
Why do people think ASL is not a real language? ›
Because of its unique modality -- visual/gestural rather than aural/oral -- many people wrongly assume that ASL is fundamentally different than spoken languages.
Why was sign language banned in America? ›
So in 1880, Bell and 164 other educators-- (only one of them Deaf) met at a conference to create recommendations for Deaf education in the U.S. and Europe. They believed that sign language was a lesser imitation of spoken language and that Deaf kids shouldn't be taught to sign in schools.
Is it better to learn ASL or BSL? ›
It actually depends on the person willing to learn the language. However, you should consider which sign language is used the most in the area you live in. If you live in the UK, you should learn BSL, and if you live in the US or in the English-speaking regions of Canada, you should go for ASL.
What is the closest sign language to ASL? ›
French Sign Language (LSF)
French Sign Language is similar to ASL – since it is in fact the origin of ASL – but there are minor differences throughout. LSF also has a pretty fascinating history.
Do more people know ASL or BSL? ›
In the UK, BSL is the most widely used sign language, with around 151,000 users.
What is the problem in British Sign Language? ›
Description: Extended thumb of dominant hand taps twice against palm of non-dominant hand.
American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL) use different signs, although some words and phrases may be very similar. ASL uses one hand, whereas with BSL it's two hands. It should also be remembered that different signs can mean different things in each ASL and BSL.
What are the disadvantages of BSL? ›
What are the disadvantages of sign communication? As for the disadvantages, there is really no disadvantage to using sign language for communication. The only slight hindrance that may annoy sometimes is the fact you need to be able to see the person clearly to know what they are signing.
What two countries use ASL the most? ›
American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canada.
What is the most used sign language in the world? ›
As of 2021, Indo-Pakistani Sign Language is the most-used sign language in the world, and Ethnologue ranks it as the 151st most "spoken" language in the world. Some sign languages have obtained some form of legal recognition.
Does ASL count as bilingual? ›
People using both a sign language and a spoken language are considered bimodal bilinguals because their two languages primarily occupy two different modalities: auditory/vocal and visual/gestural.
Are all ASL signs iconic True False? ›
Iconicity came with much misconceptions. Any language in signing is not iconic, but it does have some iconic words as in onomatopoeia also found in spoken languages. Iconicity and onomatopoeia are two different words, but they are the same concepts.
What is incorrect in ASL? ›
Meaning: Not correct or true; unjust, dishonest, or immoral. Pronunciation (sign description): Dominant "Y" hand (handshape), palm in front of the signer (orientation), moves toward (movement) the chin (location). The repetition of movement is once or twice, depending on the contexts.
Why was sign language controversial? ›
Proponents of oralism believed that sign language was ideographic and thus less abstract than spoken English and, as such, that using sign language would limit the intellectual development of deaf students.
Does the United States recognize ASL as a language? ›
In 1988, California recognized ASL as a foreign language, allowing it to satisfy language requirements for a high school diploma. ASL isn't just pantomime — its expressive, intricate movements and gestures are vital to understanding the language.
