Sign Language: The Language Of Life (1981)

[music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> No, Lauren. We are going to eat lunch first, and then maybe candy. How about >> [music] >> an orange now? Okay? Human communication [music] is probably the most important thing in everyone's life. And a great deal of communication [music] just took place without a lot of talk. It's only in the last 50 years, [music] with a strong push from the wider use of signs, that deaf people are enjoying the experience of communicating [music] and can look forward to richer, more meaningful futures. It was the Greek philosopher Plato >> [music] >> who wrote more than 2,000 years ago, "If we had neither voice nor tongue, yet we wish to manifest [music] things to one another, should we not signify our meaning by the hands, head, and other parts of [music] our body?" And though all of us experience the use of signs every day of our lives, and though most of the time we understand these kinds of signs, these signs are not a language. Merely gestures of command and direction. The first important step in the development of a language of signs took place in Spain in the 16th [music] century. There, we think it's possible that monks who had undertaken vows of silence developed a way of communicating with each other. >> [singing] >> Finger spelling. C. D. A sign for each letter of the alphabet, so that words could be spelled. A visual way to get [music] ideas across, but still not a language. In general, and in most languages, the hand shape somewhat [music] resembled the written letters, but you had to have known a language to use them. Still and all, it was helpful at certain moments. Obviously an important [music] step, but still not a language. Still no help to those born deaf or hearing impaired at an early age. The major step took place in France at about 1750 through the work of Abbé Charles Michel de l'Épée, one of the giant figures [music] in the history of the education of the deaf. His search for a simple vehicle of thought and reason led him to the conclusion that gestures and signs were the natural language of people born deaf, and that it could be [music] the basis for a visual language where hand signs took the place of voice [music] sounds. Not finger spelling, but a sign language where each sign represented a concept. The great advantage of sign language was the ease and rapidity with which it could be learned. After l'Épée's death, his work was carried on by his successor, the Abbé Sicard, and it was Sicard who introduced the American pioneer in deaf education, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, to manual communication. >> [music] >> Gallaudet persuaded Sicard's associate, Laurent Clerc, a deaf Frenchman, to return to the United States with him. There, Clerc [music] became the first teacher of the deaf. Sign languages and alphabets differ. [music] French from English from German, but American Sign Language, which is based on French Sign Language, owes much to the pioneering work of Gallaudet and Clerc. >> [music] >> Today, every day, you can see the excitement of learning, promise, growth [music] in deaf classes all over the country. Deaf children learning to express themselves. I'm going to have you pick one picture, and then tell me a sentence after I ask you a question, okay? Julie, would you like to come up here and pick one picture? I see the train. Okay, you see a train, right? You're talking about Now, you see a train in the picture. Okay, if I was to put this away, and I ask you the question, "What did you see in the picture?" past, what would you say? I saw the train. Okay, Danny, what did Julie see in the picture? She saw the airplane. Brenda, if I picked another picture, what do you think you will see in the picture? I will see a bicycle. I I see the I want you to get the doll. Batman read the book. Okay. Let's go on. I think you got the idea. In today's schools, hearing impaired students use every means they can for communication. [music] The hearing they have left, if any, lip reading skills, including facial expression, and in most schools, finger spelling and sign language. Good girl. Take the pencil out of the box. Good girl. Okay. Now, take the orange car out of the box. Because of this, today's hearing impaired youngsters are experiencing a world with real and heartwarming opportunities. What have you found? A bee? Could you see it clearly? Yeah? What color was it? Brown? Okay, let me look. Hey, that's really wonderful. Could you see it? Oh, that's good. I want the other kids to see it. Come here, Mary Lou, Roberta, come here. Oh, yeah, that's in good focus. That's good. Look at it. I want you to see that. You know what that is? A bee sting. A bee stinger? Could you see it? Did you get it? Yeah, it was in good focus. I am really proud of all of you. So, from infancy through high school and beyond, deaf and hearing impaired youth are beginning to realize their potential through education, including the conferring of higher degrees. The range of courses offered is wide [music] and included are courses in the theory of sign language. Poetry and verse represent artistic achievements in verbal language. This is just as true in sign language. Poets write words that tell a story, and I find signs that tell the same story. >> [music] >> My ears are deaf, and yet I seem to hear sweet nature's [music] music in the songs of man. For I have learned from fancy's [music] artisan how written words can thrill the inner ear. Just [music] as they move the heart, and so for me, they also seem to ring [music] out loud and free. In silent study, I have learned to tell each secret shade of meaning, and to hear a magic harmony [music] at once sincere that somehow notes the tinkle of a bell, the cooing of a dove, the swish of leaves, the raindrops' pitter-patter on the eaves, the lover's sigh, and thrumming of guitar, and if I choose, [music] the rustle of a star. >> [music] >> It's been a long journey from the Middle Ages to the present, and the Abbé de l'Épée and his sign language [music] beginnings tower over the route. Today's sign language [music] is a real language, used at an early age to extend knowledge and feelings, [music] and to serve creative needs. Today, anyone can [music] take a course in sign language and develop understanding of and modest proficiency [music] in this language of the deaf. In time, you could easily [music] learn some phrases. Hi. Please. I'm [music] pleased to meet you. Good. The growth and use of sign language and its recognition as a language >> [music] >> enables the deaf and hearing impaired to be a respected, self-supporting, and contributing part of our society. Much has been [music] done, and though we have lots to do and a long way to go, a great start [music] has been made. Sign language is a language of life, not just for those who depend [music] on it, but for all of us. >> [music]