Background: (adapted from ‘British Sign Language Facts’)

British Sign language is a visual-gestural language which makes use of three dimensional space and the movement of hands (and other parts of the body) to convey meaning. It has its own vocabulary and syntax.

An aid to understanding British Sign Language can be helped by understating the processes of spoken language. Spoken language involves the use of the oratory faculties to produce sounds mapped against specific words and grammatical combinations. The oratory elements are then received by the auditory faculties and processed accordingly. British sign language however, makes use of the visual faculties as opposed to the auditory faculties. In the same way that spoken language makes use of rules to produce comprehensive messages, British Sign Language is also governed by a complex grammar which allows both the tangible and the non tangible to be discussed thoroughly.

Contrary to the beliefs of significant parts of the speaking population, British Sign Language is not a mixture of arbitrary signs modelled solely on the visual referent.

The History of British Sign Language:

British Sign Language has fought a difficult battle throughout history – a battle which is still being fought today.

The following information will give an overview of British Sign Language and some of the battles that it has had to endure throughout history.

One of the first official historical record of British Sign Language dates back to 1576, when a wedding ceremony was conducted in sign language in Leicester.

The 18th and 19th Centuries appear to have been a far more positive time in history for individuals using British Sign Language. Examples of events during this period are as follows:

  • Reference to the development of a sign language finger alphabet, developed by Daniel Defoe, was documented in 1720. Incidentally, this method of communicating alphabets is still in use today (with a few minor adjustments)
  • The first public school for Deaf children was established in 1755 by Charles-Michel de l'Épée. Charles-Michel de l'Épée continues to be celebrated as a pioneer in educational services for the Deaf. Following his death, he became recognised as a ‘Benefactor of Humanity’ and it was hence declared that deaf people had rights according to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (this declaration was documented during the French Revolution and defines individual and collective rights).
  • Not long after this, Thomas Braidwood established a school for the Deaf in Edinburgh in 1760. Twenty three years later he established the Braidwood Academy for the Deaf and Dumb in Hackney, London. One of Thomas’s graduates was Joseph Watson, who also went on to establish a well known school for the deaf. In turn, Joseph’s most famous graduate was the inspirational John Lowe who became famous not only for being an excellent barrister but also, for being the first recorded Deaf Barrister.
  • In 1917, Laurent and Lerc (a graduate of l'Épée’s School for the Deaf) established the first ever School for the Deaf in America. This school had a great reputation for excellence in its field and became state sponsored in 1819.

Unfortunately, the history of sign language takes a negative turn at this point in history. From the 1860’s onwards, oralism became popular in Deaf education and as such a number of Oral only schools were established. Twenty years later, delegates at the Conference of Educators of the Deaf, voted to implement oralism as the sole method in schools.

At this point, life became difficult for significant numbers of Deaf children. Forbidden to use sign language, and as such unable to express themselves and engage fully in learning opportunities the potential and well being of many Deaf children became stunted at the best and inhumanely violated at the worst.

The History of the Deaf did not start to take a more positive direction until 1974 when it was agreed that British Sign Language is a language in its own right. From this point, great attention and respect became generated for British Sign Language from broader society and Deaf people became better able and equipped to express themselves in the educational arena. As such, the acceptance of British Sign Language as a viable and positive language and method of communication, presented the catalyst for Deaf children to be able to achieve both personally and educationally.

The fights for British Sign language which have been fought throughout history have still not ended however. Although 2003 saw the British Government recognising British Sign Language as a language in its own right, they have yet to give it legal status. As such, the accessibility to necessary information and literature which the hearing population take for granted (such as health, legal, benefits and employment information) is not automatically made available in the necessary formats to the Deaf population. As such, this is a fight that continues to be fought.

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