Language in Motion: Preface, page 8

Preface to Language in Motion: Exploring the Nature of Sign continued . . .

How did sign language become so popular? Why is there a sudden interest in it and why did interest emerge so slowly? When and where did sign languages originate? How did they develop? Are they easy or difficult to learn? Who teaches them and where? How are they used for day-to-day interactions among deaf people and between deaf and hearing individuals? Is there an international sign language? Are there other forms of signed communication, other ways to convey messages with one's hands alone?

Answering these questions will take us through art into science and back again, seeking to solve the mysteries of sign langugage. Some questions about sign language have no firm answers at present. Research in many aspects of sign language has begun only recently. But what has already been observed, studied, validated, and catalogued provides a thorough restructuring of some well-established beliefs about sign language and deaf people--and about language itself. Such cognitive restructuring forces a weakening, if not a complete rejection, of a few cherished ways of thinking--not only about our language, but about our culture. This survey of sign language will take us to the theater, to industry, into courtrooms, among educators and rehabilitators, and, most fascinating of all, into the lives of deaf people.

So much for what this book is about. What it is not is a sign glossary. It has a great deal to say about how to make oneself understood in sign language; it offers information about where to get sign language instruction and how to identify good teachers; it will help the reader sort through the recenta lesson book. It introduces you to an intriguing language and to the people who use it and, if the book succeeds, it will open your mind to possibilities as yet unrealized for an ancient form of communication that has only recently been accorded its correct place in the linguistic spectrum.

Disciplines

The study of sign language is not the sole province of linguists. Anthropologists, educators, neurologists, psychologists, sociologists, and others have begun to look at sign language to provide enlightenment on language and on human interactions. Ever since the revolution in physics, scientists have recognized the centrality of language to their activities. One of the major contributions of Einstein and the philosophers who interpreted his revolutionary thinking about physics was to explain how our definitions of research terms influence the results.(10) Thus, the newly aroused interest in sign language comes naturally to educators, scientists, and the general public. They have all recognized the centrality of language to our thinking.

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