Sign language is a communication method developed by deaf individuals and those with hearing impairments to converse with their families and those around them. Therefore, it is tied to the culture, environment, and customs of different societies, varying from country to country. It can also evolve over time as culture and concepts change, which can lead to new terms and ideas requiring the creation of new signs to express them, such as the recent sign for the coronavirus.
What distinguishes sign language from spoken language translation is that it fundamentally relies on hand movements, gestures, and facial expressions to convey the general idea of a sentence, whereas spoken language translation provides a synonym for each word in the sentence. Therefore, due to these differences, it is essential to work on developing it and creating a dedicated dictionary to document and record new signs for new terms, phrases, and vocabulary, making them accessible to everyone, especially sign language interpreters.
The primary issue is that sign language is not recognized in our societies, media, and schools. This calls for creating a unique linguistic dictionary for it. Given its importance, we must utilize it in our daily lives, although it differs from one country to another, and even from one region to another. Sign language is considered a weaker language in terms of vocabulary.
Like other languages worldwide, sign language has specific rules and linguistic cultures. According to Ashraf Hamoudi, a sign language interpreter from Jordanian television, "sign language is considered the weakest in terms of vocabulary compared to other languages. Therefore, the number of words in sign language does not exceed approximately ten percent of the phrases and terms found in Arabic." For this reason, sign language interpreters rely on this vocabulary or spoken linguistic base to convey information by interpreting ideas for individuals with hearing disabilities.
He explains to "Wardna" that the weakness of sign language is due to the lack of prepared schools and early intervention programs for deaf children. He gives an example of the difference between a child born deaf and another who is not; the first will not acquire language from his family, while the second will acquire language from his parents, developing a vocabulary of approximately six thousand terms before the age of five. This vocabulary is relied upon during education in schools, thanks to communication with those around him.
This conversational base does not function normally when the student is deaf, according to Hamoudi. He points out that the problem may multiply if the parents are also hearing impaired, asking, "On what base will this student rely for learning?" The teacher is not equipped to teach students with disabilities, especially in Arab countries, and does not master sign language professionally because our society is not inclusive.
In Jordan, for instance, the Ministry of Education, after realizing that a student struggles with reading and writing, assigns interpreters in exam rooms to provide assistance and accommodations, a practice that is also applied in universities. Hamoudi notes, "Each country has its own dialect, just like spoken language. Thus, the Egyptian dialect will differ from the Jordanian and Gulf dialects. We can say that deaf individuals living in Egypt have a different dialect from those in Jordan, for example."
#### Jordan as a Model for Developing Sign Language
Hamoudi gave an example of the sign for "home" in the Gulf, which differs from the sign for "house" in Jordan and the sign for "home" in Lebanon. Hence, there is no unified Arabic sign language, unlike the unified classical Arabic language in all Arab countries. He explains that Jordan has created three sign language dictionaries: the first relates to legal terms via the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the second includes phrases related to courts, and the third focuses on entrepreneurship, youth, and development. These dictionaries are linked to the deaf community to enhance their cultural and scientific level and improve communication between them and interpreters.
#### Unifying Sign Language
Hamoudi states, "Social media has helped bring some synonyms closer to people, and media has also contributed to the development of this language, just as it is happening now on Al Jazeera and Jordanian television. Everyone can understand this language. However, the information will reach the individual at about 80 or 90 percent. As journalists, translators, and content creators, we must rely on a professional interpreter at a very high level to ensure the message reaches multiple deaf individuals in several Arab countries. However, the fundamental step lies in unifying sign language.”
He shares his experience of visiting France to meet the French national team, stating that French sign language differs significantly from other Arabic languages. "We tried to communicate with them through gestures and movements to convey even a little information. Naturally, we could use symbols universally recognized, but these symbols are not considered sign language as they are not officially recognized by the International Federation of the Deaf. They are merely symbols created by deaf individuals to facilitate their dialogue among themselves.”
#### Project for Implementing Sign Language in Lebanon
In Lebanon, a project was proposed to develop and enhance sign language to create an accessible reference for learners. However, it faced the challenge of a lack of trust in deaf individuals' ability to manage this project related to them, even though the project's foundation is sign language, and those objecting do not master it. Thus, the project to develop sign language by documenting it across various aspects, considering the diversity of vocabulary, terms, and concepts arising from it, requires extensive research and time to remain faithful to the sign language stemming from deaf individuals themselves.
#### Education and Translation
Dr. Hussein Ismail, who is deaf and holds a Ph.D. in Educational Administration - is the founder and director of the learning center for the deaf, president of the Lebanese Deaf Union, and Lebanon’s representative in the World Federation of the Deaf. He informs "Wardna" that he is "working on developing a training curriculum for sign language interpreters" due to the pressing need for this language by presenting the curriculum to the General Directorate of Vocational and Technical Education for approval. He expresses his intention to collaborate with relevant partners to organize the profession, securing the rights of deaf individuals to access information through rich and effective communication.
Due to the need and lack of available resources, Dr. Ismail confirms that "a temporary project is currently underway to provide vocabulary related to political and rights-demanding topics to meet the needs of interpreters. This initiative has been ongoing between the Lebanese Deaf Union and the Learning Center for the Deaf to assist interpreters, and it has been decided to document these terms in a current reference."
According to Dr. Ismail, the main obstacles to using sign language translation include: firstly, the lack of interpreters (the current interpreters are basically children of deaf parents who learned sign language naturally from them), and their number is very limited. "The erroneous wait for the unification of sign language," despite the fact that deaf individuals come from diverse backgrounds and communicate together in sign language with some differences. Other hindrances include the limited vocabulary of sign language related to cultural levels across various fields, not just academics, where hearing individuals wish to develop vocabulary that aligns with spoken language.
Dr. Ismail emphasizes that "it is crucial to recognize that sign languages are not merely a visual representation of spoken languages; they have their own rules and grammatical and vocabulary structures. New signs evolve organically within the deaf community and should be recorded rather than imposed to be made available quickly."
The idea of unification, in his opinion, is a contentious issue. "Sign languages, like spoken languages, can include regional and cultural variations that must be acknowledged and respected. Therefore, what is required is not unification but rather documentation of the language to make it accessible to everyone, to enhance it, promote it, and recognize it as the language of Lebanese signers. However, while it may not be suitable to attempt to unify sign language, it is important to ensure that the language can facilitate communication among different sign language users."
He explained that if "the development of new signs is rushed without considering whether similar meanings are already present, or without allowing for the natural evolution of the language, it could lead to confusion or even exclusion of individuals from the deaf community."
#### Non-Inclusive Media
Article 5 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), especially paragraph three, stipulates the right of persons with disabilities to inclusive media and their right to access and obtain information and enjoy the programs, films, and other media materials provided to the public by facilitating reasonable accommodations such as using sign language, simplifying language, and providing captions for audio content and describing displayed scenes.
It is well-known that Lebanon completed its ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which will lead to amendments of all local laws to align with its principles and texts. Accordingly, Lebanese media must provide inclusive media materials for individuals with disabilities, including deaf individuals and those with hearing impairments, to enable them to exercise their rights by providing sign language interpreters, at least in news bulletins, news supplements, and press conferences, in addition to providing written text that exactly matches 100% of the spoken content or audio recordings or dubbing.
In her conversation with "Wardna," Dr. Atab Shuaib, an expert in inclusive design and an academic researcher in disability and inclusion at the Lebanese Studies Center, emphasizes that it is essential to adopt a local sign language tailored to the country, provide licensed sign language training centers approved by the Lebanese government, and make available trainers who are deaf and sign language interpreters with high competence and experience in communicating with deaf individuals to train those who wish to learn, whether they are deaf individuals, those with hearing impairments, their families, or those wishing to become sign language interpreters.
She added, "Schools, institutes, and universities should provide inclusive and adapted educational curricula for individuals with hearing impairments and deaf individuals to enable them to acquire knowledge, ideas, and concepts in various scientific and cultural fields, allowing them to subsequently develop sign language to keep pace with ongoing cultural and scientific development."
#### References:
- UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Articles 3 and 4: "State parties shall consult closely with persons with disabilities, including children with disabilities, through organizations representing them, regarding the enactment and implementation of legislation and policies aimed at giving effect to this Convention and in other decision-making processes concerning matters relating to persons with disabilities, and shall actively involve them in this."
- Paper on the unification of sign language.
- Paper prioritizing the role of deaf individuals in activities related to sign language and in teaching sign language.
- United Nations - International Federation of the Deaf.
