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National Deaf Services
Sign language communication
British Sign Language (BSL) is a complex visual-spatial language that is used by the Deaf Community in the UK. It is a linguistically complete, natural language. It is the native language of many Deaf men and women, as well as some hearing children born into Deaf families.
BSL shares no grammatical similarities to English and should not be considered in any way to be a broken, mimed or gestural form of English. In terms of syntax, for example, BSL has a topic-comment syntax, while English uses Subject-Object-Verb.
Some people have described BSL and other sign languages as ‘gestural’ or ‘manual’ languages. This is not correct because hand gestures are only one component of BSL. Facial features such as eyebrow motion and lip-mouth movements are also significant in BSL as they form a crucial part of the grammatical system. In addition, BSL makes use of the space surrounding the signer to describe places and persons that are not present.
Sign languages develop specific to their communities and are not universal. For example, BSL is totally different from American Sign Language even though both countries speak English.
‘International’ Sign Language?
There is no ‘universal sign language’ or real ‘international sign language’. There is a sign form called Gestuno that was developed by a committee of the World Federation of the deaf. It is not really a language, more a vocabulary of signs that they all agree to use at international meetings. But no one really signs Gestuno as a native language, just as no one really uses Esperanto as their native spoken language. In Europe, because of the increasing trade and mobility, there is a lingua franca being developed, a creole sign language that some have taken to calling International Sign Language. But neither Gestuno or the new European creole are true natural languages from the linguistic perspective. Perhaps as a new generation of deaf Euro-kids grows up, they will develop a new, natural Euro-sign language.
BSL Grammar and Linguistic Studies
As mentioned above, BSL has a very complex grammar. Unlike spoken languages where there is just one serial stream of phonemes, sign languages can have multiple things going on at the same time. This multiple segmentation makes it an exciting language for linguists to study and learn. BSL has its own morphology (rules for the creation of words), phonetics (rules for handshapes) and grammar that are very unlike those found in spoken languages. BSL and other sign languages promise to be a rich source of analysis for future linguists to come.
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Many of the Deaf patients seen by the service are people who have psychological problems because they have had limited access to language and Deaf Culture. Staff use British Sign Language (BSL) and Sign Supported English (SSE) to enable patients to express themselves and to be fully understood. |
Once a patient's language and culture are fully understood, their psychological problems can improve dramatically. |
Code of Practice for Sign Language Interpreters Working in Mental Health
Many Deaf people prefer to communicate with mental health professionals directly in British Sign Language. This code of practice offers guidance to the interpreter working in the field of mental health, where the client, family member, professional or clinician is a BSL user, and where other parties are not fluent in BSL.
Download the Code of Practice for Sign Language Interpreters Working in Mental Health in pdf format, written by Esther Thomas, Lead Interpreter for the National Deaf Service, South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust.
For information on the skills of Deaf Interpreters please see the Deaf Interpreters Network information at www.asli.org.uk.
