Rebecca A Withey: British Sign Language – why it isn’t “one size fits all”

A friend of mine was at a gathering with deaf friends using BSL when a deaf person who she had never met before suddenly stopped her mid-sentence.

“Where are you from?” The newcomer demanded to know.
“London,” my friend replied, baffled at the sudden question. 

The stranger went on to scold her, “you just used a sign that is Scottish so you shouldn’t be using it because you’re from London.”

Taken aback by the bluntness of this delivery and the manner in which she had been interrupted, it isn’t a surprise that my friend felt uncomfortable by this new person’s remark.

“It’s the BSL police!” another friend joked, attempting to lighten the situation.

This is just a real life example of the conflict sometimes felt in the BSL community when discussing the variation of signs and when it is appropriate to use these variants. I don’t claim to be a linguist or an ‘expert’ but as someone who works in the media and sees all sorts of regional and national signs, I am always intrigued by how sign language evolves and changes according to region, age, influence or context.

Only recently I was at a media event where a group of us were chatting about all of the signs we commonly use that aren’t actually British at all. A lot are American, a few international and a couple of friends even shared that they had picked up a few signs on their overseas travels which they continue to use at home in Britain.

Just like how a hearing person may be influenced by certain spoken languages on their travels, and continue to use some phrases long after they’ve returned home, I have seen many deaf friends adopt beloved signs from overseas.

With the growing use of social media and the ability to watch and learn so many forms of sign language online, it isn’t any wonder that our own knowledge of varied sign languages is increasing, thus influencing how we use it in our every day lives.

We can also be heavily influenced by the different cultures or nationalities we may be part of. My husband, for example, has an Irish mother (who is deaf) and Irish grandparents and so we often use the one handed Irish alphabet to finger spell things out. The Irish sign for ‘yes’ is also a prominent sign in our household.

I wouldn’t however, teach this Irish sign to my hearing friends who may ask to learn a few BSL signs because if there’s one thing I’ve learnt in all my years of consultancy it’s this:

Context. Is. Everything.

With context, we mean the circumstances that form the setting for the use of the sign. It relates to the environment, the purpose, the person using the sign. Therefore, I find it impossible to be quite so intolerant towards individuals as the stranger I wrote about at the start of this article, as the signs we personally use tend to derive from so much more than just the area that we currently live in.

Context also influences how signs are used in theatre or television productions. At a recent job I was working on involving a deaf actor, I found myself challenged by a certain sign that the young actor was using. I had seen the sign before, and knew what it meant but it wouldn’t have been my sign of choice and so I questioned him on this.

“This is what me and my friends always use.” He reassured me. “We always say this. This is normal for us.”

Although I would have personally used a different sign, this young deaf actor was using language that was current for his generation. Therefore, he wasn’t ‘wrong,’ and neither was I but we were each using language that was appropriate for us.

When I work with actors on plays or pieces for television and film, I find myself taking a very much person-centred approach. I like to know where the character is from, what their exposure to BSL was like growing up, who influenced them and then we take it from there as we work with fusing sign into the script. My priorities when consulting are as follows;

  1. That the actor in question feels comfortable with the signs used
  2. That the actor is understood by others and – especially – by the audience

I can recall how uncomfortable I once was years ago on an acting job when a consultant was ‘telling me’ how to sign a sentence. Each time I read an English line from the script the consultant would say ‘do it like this’ without any consideration for me or the character I was playing.

Later on in my acting career I met BSL consultant Jean St Clair who positively influenced how I work with other actors now. Jean would always ask me, ‘how would you sign that phrase?’ whilst encouraging me to ‘not over think it, just see what feels right’ and then she would pull out what I had said and offer insightful feedback.

From Jean I learnt that a consultant is there to ensure the signs used are in context, as well as appropriate for the character you are playing. Jean taught me that the role isn’t to spoon feed an actor with the ‘right way’ of signing, but merely to bring out the most natural and realistic way you can perform in BSL.

I have met many other consultants since with similar ideals, and it is encouraging to see – for example – those who are Welsh being hired to consult on deaf theatre based in Wales, or Birmingham born consultants working on art for the Midlands based Commonwealth games.

A job I will soon be undertaking in Doncaster has even employed another consultant who specialises in signs from that region, and the deaf community in the area are also getting on board to ensure the delivery of the signs in the production is appropriate for the area.

When producing theatre, film or television it is important to consider your audience and ensure the signs used are native to the region the production is either delivered in or which the story is based. Doing so allows us to preserve the purity of the regional language and give it a unique chance to shine.

Therefore, despite the bluntness the ‘stranger’ used when berating my friend for using a Scottish sign, I do understand that there are growing concerns that BSL will lose its purity the more it diversifies. There is a sense of protectiveness towards BSL, and rightly so after years of oppression and negativity aimed towards it.

However, like any other language on Earth, BSL varies from region to region, and equally from person to person.  So many of us are influenced by and exposed to varying sign languages so it isn’t any wonder that as individuals we tend to use BSL from all across the UK, if not the world.

I very recently learnt some new East Anglian signs after visiting friends over in Norwich. To use these new signs with my friends back in the Midlands would be confusing for them, and so I remind you of my original idea which is that context is everything.

If you ask someone in London, Walsall and Derby what the sign for ‘red’ is – you will get three different answers. None of the answers are actually wrong. But when working in the arts, I would encourage you to use signs which originate from the area you are working in or delivering to.

The diversity of BSL is grand and beautiful, and most definitely not a ‘one size fits all.’

Fun question – how do you sign the colour ‘purple?’ I bet it’s different to mine! 🙂

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