BSL RE/SIGN: Deaf Community Reclaims Their Language

Deaf Community Reclaims Their Language

  • The UK’s leading awarding body for deaf communication takes a stand against fake sign language.
  • Recipe and Signature create BSL dance challenges to take on fake sign.
  • BSL is trending on TikTok, but fake sign language is spreading.

Monday 29th July: In a first of its kind, today Signature (the UK’s leading awarding body for British Sign Language and a major charity for deaf communication and language qualifications) launches RE/SIGN – a Tiktok campaign aimed at challenging fake sign language, in partnership with Recipe and The Sweetshop.

75% of Gen Z trust TikTok for their learning. And it has become the go-to platform for learning British Sign Language – the official language used by deaf people in the UK.

With over half a billion views across #deaftok, TikTok is a thriving and inclusive community for young deaf people. However authentic content is being crowded out by people teaching ‘Fake Sign’ – Sign language that is inaccurate and misrepresents the deaf community. In fact, a staggering 89% of people fluent in sign language have experienced fake sign.

The danger is that this content is spreading faster than accurate BSL. And the more it trends the more it’s shared, compounding the problem.

RE/SIGN is a social first idea created by full-service independent agency Recipe. It attempts to redress the balance of authentic BSL on TikTok, by out-trending Fake sign using the language of young people – dance.

The objective of this campaign is to spread awareness of the problem and get young people interested in learning BSL, to learn from authentic voices like deaf creators or qualified teachers at Signature.

The lyrics to three trending music tracks (‘Hotter Now’ by Lu Kala, ‘This Is Me’ by Kullah featuring Jessy Covets and ‘Get A Load of Me’ by Kyla Krush) were translated into BSL by BSL Consultant Cherie Gordon. They were then turned into dance challenges choreographed by

deaf performers Raffie Julien, Chris Fonseca and Sarah Adedeji. The films were directed by deaf filmmaker, Sam Arnold.

Along with the dances, three tutorials show viewers a step-by-step breakdown of the BSL incorporated into the dance.

Created by Recipe and produced by The Sweetshop, this campaign was brought to life by a predominantly deaf team and the outcome is an authentic voice from the UK’s deaf community to the hearing community.

The pro-active initiative was sparked when Recipe creative, Youmna Hazzaa, witnessed a deaf person in A&E trying to communicate through sign language to a doctor and not getting anywhere. Seeing first-hand the frustration and experiencing the helplessness made her realise how critical it is for people to have some knowledge of BSL. However, when looking on TikTok to learn, she discovered a proliferation of incorrect sign videos, which inspired the idea of RE/SIGN.

Lindsay Foster, Executive Director at Signature said: “Signature is proud to partner with Recipe on this purpose-led campaign to educate people about BSL and the impact fake sign is having on young deaf people. TikTok as a platform has huge potential to reach a younger audience and make them feel part of a community; something which can be difficult to find for deaf young people in particular. Using dance as a conduit for our campaign objective will hopefully help to spread awareness of fake sign in a way that is relatable and impactful.”

Vanessa Robinson, Creative Director at Recipe said:

“You can’t spot fake sign language unless you are fluent in sign language. When we discovered people were accidentally teaching and learning incorrect sign language, it was a shock. Creating this campaign has been really rewarding from working on a deaf-friendly film set, with our extremely talented crew, to finding a creative way to fight back, re-educate and re-claim sign language for the deaf community.

Morgan Whitlock, Managing Director at The Sweetshop said: “Building the right team and creating the platform for them to realise this message in an authentic and impactful way was an exercise in empathy and true creative collaboration. Ed and James (D.A.R.Y.L) brought an understanding of the issues and a connection to a deaf filmmaking community that cannot be developed by experience alone. Their generosity in helping shape a campaign only to find the right director, step aside and support Sam as he stepped into Directing was incredible. By creating a welcoming and inclusive environment on set our team allowed everyone involved to shine, and make the best possible films for Signature.”

Sam Arnold, Director at Re/Sign said: “Sign language has become a pop culture trend in music and social media, but it is often overshadowed by incorrect teaching and cultural appropriation.

The collaboration with Signature, Recipe, and The Sweetshop has been instrumental in bringing awareness to our mission: to provide an accurate platform for teaching BSL, educate TikTok users about cultural appropriation and incorrect or fake sign language being taught across social media, and reshape the representation of BSL in social media to respect our deaf culture and beautiful BSL. We also aim to spotlight the deserving talents of deaf dancers in the music industry, celebrating the richness of sign language.”

 

Credits:

Creative Agency – Recipe
ECD: Andre Hull
Creative Directors: Vanessa Robinson, Michael Plumridge Art Director/Creative: Youmna Hazzaa
Social strategy: Clare O’Hanlon and Jimmy Treen Business Director: Luciana Bhangu
Senior Account Manager: Evie Thomas
Head of Production: Lisa Dawson
Agency Producer: Anni Dawson
Assistant Producer: Lily Doswell
Editors: Lukey Pamment, Anu Gopalakrishnan
Head of Design: Ben Longden
Motion Designer: James Fisher

Post Production:
Music Supervision and Licensing: Sam Macnamara, Ibou Dia at Wake the Town Sound Design & Mix – Paminos Kyriazis at Absolute Post
Colourist – Karol Cybulski at Cheat

Music:

Media Agency – Social & PR Agency –

The Sweetshop:

Director Sam Arnold
Creative Directors D.A.R.Y.L
Executive Producer: Morgan Whitlock / Lucy Powell Producer: Theo Youngstein
Production Assistant: Johanna Lee

BSL Monitor: Cherie Gordon Interpreter: Sophia Stavrou Interpreter: Harry Jardine 1st AD: George Cassavetti 3rd AD: Fa Al-Kalamchi

DOP: Rik Burnel
Focus Puller: Stephanie Kennedy 2nd AC: Claire Seymour
Camera Trainee: Jamie Harrison Steadicam: Gary Kent

Gaffer: Alex Gibbons
Electrician: Ellis Griffiths Phipps

Video playback: John Joe ODriscoll Sound playback: Nigel Albermaniche Sound recordist: Kylion Buck

Hair & Make Up: Alice Lawson Choreography: Raffie Julien / Chris Fonseca

Dancers: Raffie Julien / Chris Fonseca / Sarah Adedeji

-End-

About Signature

Signature is proud to be the leading awarding body for deaf communication and language qualifications in the UK. Over the past 40 years, Signature has supported more than 500,000 people to learn British Sign Language, and this number is only rising. The qualifications that are

delivered are created to the highest standard, ensuring learners are provided with the necessary skills to build successful careers and improve communication. Alongside qualifications in BSL, Signature also deliver deaf awareness courses which provide individuals with the knowledge and skills for enhancing communication with deaf people. To learn more, visit: https://www.signature.org.uk

About Recipe www.reci.pe

We’re NOT NORMAL. Sorry to shout, but it’s kind of a big thing for us. Recipe didn’t start in the normal way, we don’t work in the normal way, and won’t make normal work, because it never works as well as you’d hope. So if you want to stand out, don’t stand for normal.
Recipe is a top 3 UK independent full-service agency, aligning thinking across media, strategy and creative. Alongside working with our clients that include Coca-Cola, P&G, Zurich, Auto Trader, Audible, New York Bakery Co., Sky, Channel 4, Interactive Investor and Deli Kitchen, we have a side-hustle with a heart. It’s an initiative called Recipe With Love. This scheme encourages our teams to proactively come up with ideas to support causes they’re personally passionate about. If we can make it happen, we do. From raising funds for the Turkey/Syria earthquake to getting people to learn proper British Sign Language, we do it purely because it’s meaningful to us and will hopefully make a difference. Good people, great work. Get in touch

at rea@reci.pe

About The Sweetshop www.thesweetshop.tv

From humble beginnings in New Zealand in 2001, we carry with us the legacy of the brand established alongside the company’s conception over two decades ago. Our ethos has always been to discover and nurture the world’s most extraordinary storytellers, to create the most highly crafted and engaging advertising and entertainment films in the world. We also put a key emphasis on taking responsibility for our impact as a company on the environment and local communities.

 

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