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Cross-Cultural Communication with Foreign Signers: Fact and Fancy

According to popular belief, sign language is very different from spoken language in several ways. Many people believe that the signs of sign language are always iconic; i.e. that sign language is a "picture language". Others believe that sign languages have no grammar, no "proper" ways of expressing things, but merely "throw together" gestures and pantomimic actions; or they believe that sign languages abridge and corrupt correct spoken language grammar. These myths have been treated in recent years by other researchers, who find that the formal structures and communicative functions of sign languages used by deaf people are comparable to those of spoken languages used by hearing people (Stokoe 1960, 1970; Woodward 1973; Battison 1974; Bellugi & Klima 1975; Baker 1975; Frishberg 1975; Klima & Bellugi 1975; Liddell 1975; Padden & Markowicz 1975; Stokoe & Battison 1975). What we choose to examine in this study is the global and international nature of sign language. We shall examine briefly some popular beliefs or myths about sign language in the world, formulate some questions for study and research, discuss some past work, and present some of our own research findings relevant to these questions. We will deal with some very basic questions about the nature of sign languages used here in the U.S. and in other countries. We will certainly not exhaust the topic, since our own investigations are limited in scope and duration, and are still continuing.