SIGN LANGUAGE

Overview

Sign language is the language used within the deaf community to communicate. Begin exploring
this unique "hands-on" language, developing basic vocabulary and sentences that will help you
begin conversing with the deaf. There's also an advanced honor!

The Challenging Part

The most challenging requirement of this honor is probably this:

2. Have a minimum of three hours of instruction in signing.

REQUIREMENT

1. Learn the manual alphabet used by the deaf.

2. Have a minimum of three hours of instruction in signing.
3. Send and receive finger spelling at the rate of five words per minute using a minimum of
25 letters.
4. Learn at least 100 signs from one or more of the below referenced books.
5. Learn and present in sign language (not finger spelling) at least two simple songs.
6. Do one of the following:
a. Explain the difference between Ameslan and signed English, and demonstrate the
use of both.
b. Read and give an oral or written report on a school in your country or state
specializing in deaf education.

Sign Language Answer Key

Learn the manual alphabet used by the deaf.

The American Manual Alphabet is a manual alphabet that augments the vocabulary
of American Sign Language when spelling individual letters of a word is the preferred or
only option, such as with proper names or the titles of works. Letters should be signed
with the dominant hand and in most cases, with palm facing the viewer.
To practice fingerspelling receptive skills try Dr. Bill Vicars website [Link] or
ASLpro's Quizme fingerspelling [Link]

Chart
The ASL alphabet is based on an old Spanish manual alphabet that dates back to at least
the seventeenth century.

It is used with minor modification in Paraguay, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong
Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. The Asian countries just listed modify the T, for the ASL T
is considered obscene. Instead, they use the T of the Irish manual alphabet, which is like
an ASL X, but with the thumb tucked into the index finger (that is, the index finger wraps
around the tip of the thumb). In Thailand, one indicates points on the left hand for the
tone and vowel marks of the Thai alphabet, and aspiration is not indicated. The
Paraguay alphabet is identical to ASL, except for the addition of the letter Ñ, which is an
N swiveled at the wrist so that the fingers move side to side, and the letters LL and RR,
which are L and R plus movement to the side.

It is also used in Germany, Austria, Norway, and Finland, again with a modification for
the letter T. T is like G with the thumb placed atop the first knuckle of the index finger.

German Ä, Ö, Ü, and ß are signed like A, O, U, and S but with a downward motion, while
SCH is a 5 hand (palm forward). In Norwegian and Finnish, the letters Ä, Å, Ö, Ø are
derived by moving A and O (in the case of Å, in a small window-washing circular
motion), and it is the Æ that gets the 5 hand (perhaps somewhat flexed).

Good form

• The hand should either remain in place while fingerspelling, or more often, drift
slightly away from the midline in the manner of text being written out in the air;
although, this is a subtle movement and should not be exaggerated.
• If fingerspelling multiple words or entire sentences, there should be a very brief
pause between terms so as to signify the beginning and ending of individual
words.
• Long nails or excessive jewelry can be distracting when watching fingerspelling
and for this reason people who regularly use sign language usually avoid them.
• When fingerspelling acronyms in American Sign Language, such as with FBI,
NASA, or RID (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf), the letters are often moved in
a small circle to emphasize that they should not be read together as a word.
• Additionally, when fingerspelling the hand should not bounce between letters.
An exception is the case of double letters as with the word carry in which the
double R can be shown by slightly bouncing the corresponding handshape, or by
dragging it, slightly, to the side. Either method is a correct way to show double
letters. However, people who bounce between every letter produce
fingerspelling that is very hard to watch or understand. Those who cannot
overcome the habit of bouncing every letter may find it helpful to hold the wrist
 of the hand doing the fingerspelling with the free hand so that they are forced to
keep the hand from moving up and down while fingerspelling. Usually, only a few
hours or days of this is enough to break the habit of unnecessary bouncing while
fingerspelling.

Common mistakes

Many mistakes made by beginning fingerspellers are directly attributable to how the
manual alphabet is most often shown in graphics.

Letters

In most drawings or illustrations of the American Manual Alphabet, some of the letters
are depicted from the side to better illustrate the desired handshape; however in
practice, the hand should not be turned to the side when producing the letter. The
letters C and O are two that are often mistakenly turned to the side by beginners who
become used to seeing them from the side in illustrations. Important exceptions to the
rule that the palm should always be facing the viewer are the letters G and H. These two
letters should be made, not with the palm facing the viewer or the speaker, but with the
palm facing sideways - the hand in an ergonomically neutral position.

Numbers

Another mistake made by people faithfully following the pictures in most illustrations of
the ASL fingerspelling alphabet is the signing of the cardinal numbers 1 - 5 with the
palm facing out. The cardinal numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 should be signed palm in
(towards the signer). This is in contrast with the cardinal numbers 6-9 which should be
produced with the palm turned to face the person being addressed.

As with the letter O, the zero should not be turned to the side, but shown palm facing
forward.

This applies only to the cardinal numbers however. Using numbers in other situations,
such as with for showing the digits of the time for example, has different rules. When
signing the time, the numbers are always facing the person being addressed, even the
numbers one through five. Other signing situations involving numbers have their own
norms that must be learned on a case by case basis.

Rhythm, speed & movement

When fingerspelling, your hand should be at shoulder height, and should not 'bounce'
with each letter. Your hand should stay in one place and only the handshape changes
(and orientation for some letters). If you have trouble doing this, you might want to hold
your forearm with your nondominant hand in order to force your spelling hand to stay
still. 'Bouncing' the letters makes your fingerspelling difficult to read, even for native
signers.

As well, clear handshapes are much easier to read than fast fingerspelling. Do not
concentrate on speed, as fast fingerspelling with poorly formed handshapes will be
difficult to read. Try to fingerspell the whole word at the same speed, not speeding up
or slowing down. A pause indicates the beginning of a new word, so if you suddenly
slow down because a letter combination is difficult, your reader may think you are
starting a new word, leading to misunderstanding. An exception to this sometimes
appears at the beginning of a word. The first letter may be held for the length of a letter
extra as a cue that the signer is about to start fingerspelling.

2
Have a minimum of three hours of instruction in signing.

Where do you find a sign language instructor? First, if you know a deaf person or
someone who knows how to sign, ask them for a referral. If that doesn't work out, check
with a local high school guidance counselor. They may be able to direct you to either a
free or for-pay program. You can also check into a local social services organization, as
many offer sign language classes for free.

Ideally, you will have a volunteer instructor come to instruct your club, but you may
need to be flexible. Your club may need to come to the instructor. If only a few people
in your club are interested, you should join a class that meets outside of Pathfinder time.
If you invite an instructor to teach at your club, be sure to tell her how many students to
expect before you ask for a commitment.

Once you find a class and instruction begins, we highly recommend that you
take five hours of instruction as required in the Advanced honor rather than just the
three required. It will be a lot easier to continue instruction until you have all five hours
as opposed to resuming classes sometime in the future.

3
Send and receive finger spelling at the rate of five words per minute using a
minimum of 25 letters.
Tips

When you are first learning to sign the letters, a good Bible text to practice with is
Philippians 4:8, as it repeats the phrase "whatever is" several times. Since it is so
repetitive, You should be able to quickly sign the "whatever is" portion to get your
speed up. This verse contains all the letters of the alphabet except j, q, and z which can
be learned afterwards. Learning a text such as this will also force you to learn each letter
on its own (as opposed to always signing K after J). Once a text such as this one has
been learned you may be surprised that you can finger spell just about anything.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
— Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

Graphically

We present this Bible verse graphically here, showing the first 108 letters of the verse. If
you can sign this in under 4 minutes 20, seconds, you will have achieved 5 words per
minute (assuming an average of 5 letters per word).

F I N A L L Y
B R O T H E R S

W H A T E V E R

I S
T R U E

W H A T E V E R

I S

N O B L E
W H A T E V E R

I S

R I G H T
W H A T E V E R

I S

P U R E

W H A T E V E R
I S

L O V E L Y

W H A T E V E R

I S
 A D M I R A B L E

4
Learn at least 100 signs from one or more of the below referenced books.

• A Basic Course in Manual Communication, T.J. O'Rourke, National Association

of the Deaf, 814 Thayer Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20901.

• Ameslan, An Introduction to American Sign Language, Louie Fant, Jr., Joyce

Media, P.O. Box 458, Northridge, CA 91328. Play It By Sign, Ibid. (Joyce Media
also has instructional films.)

• Joy of Signing, Lottie, L. Riekehof, Gospel Publishing House, Springfield, MO.

• Talk to the Deaf, Etc., Gallaudet College Press, Washington, D. C. 20002.

• Expressive and Receptive Fingerspelling for Hearing Adults, La Vera M.

Guillory, Claitor's Publishing Division, P.O. Box 3333, Baton Rouge, LA 70821.

• An Introduction to Manual English, The Washington State School for the Deaf,
Vancouver, WA 98661.

If you cannot find any of these books, substitute something equivalent.

• [Link] Contains three ASL dictionaries and study tools.

• [Link] Also is an excellent source for learning ASL signs.

5
Learn and present in sign language (not finger spelling) at least two simple
songs.

The titles suggested below are popular Christian songs with few words, or words that
repeat (that is our definition of simple). Repetition is very useful when learning
something new, especially a language.

• God is so Good
• This Little Light of Mine
• I've Got the Joy in my Heart
• Rejoice in the Lord, Always

To do:
• Find some freely licensed videos,
upload them to the Commons, and
include them here.

• First Noel. More challenging Christmas

songs [Link]
• Silent Night. More challenging Christmas
songs [Link]

6
Do one of the following:

6a
Explain the difference between Ameslan and signed English, and
demonstrate the use of both.

Ameslan, or American Sign Language, has little connection to English grammar. This
language was developed by the deaf community as an efficient and expressive method
of communication. Signed English, on the other hand, was designed with a more direct
connection to English grammar, the theory being that knowing it would make reading
and writing in English easier. Signed English follows the same word order and syntax as
spoken English, while the word order in Ameslan is conceptually-based.

6b
Read and give an oral or written report on a school in your country or state
specializing in deaf education.

See the Wikipedia article Schools for the Deaf for a list.

References
• The answers to requirement 1 were imported directly from the Wikipedia
article American Manual Alphabet and merged into this chapter. The edit history
reflects contributors from Wikipedia as well as from Wikibooks.
• [Link] Difference between Ameslan and
signed English

See also
• American Sign Language.