Running Head: MYTH BUSTED ABOUT SIGN LANGUAGE 1

Myth Busted about Sign Language

Abdullah Alofi
MYTH BUSTED ABOUT SIGN LANGUAGE 2

Myth Busted about Sign Language

Have you ever refrained from something? Such as a certain habit or a type of food. What

was the reason? Was it your grandmother's advice or did you read it on the media? And guess

what? It was a myth. Human beings have inherited many legends in all domains of life. The

reason is that ancient civilizations did not have enough knowledge to interpret the various

phenomena; therefore, we have these myths (Leeming, 2010). Now with great progress in

science and research, many of these myths have been refuted. Yet, some people still believe in

some myths. So, I advise you when your grandmother tells you about some myths; do not

immediately tell her that these are myths because she will get angry! Try to convince her

nicely.

We also said that myths spread in many areas. The same could be applied to languages.

For example, in spoken language, parents believe that exposing their child to two languages at

the same time (bilingualism) will lead to late language acquisition, which is completely

incorrect. Because studies have demonstrated that acquiring multiple languages is a smooth

process that occurs naturally (Fish & Morford, 2012). And the same is true for children who are

deaf and hard of hearing; as bilingual children, they can acquire sign language and spoken

language in parallel. Sign language is not far from these linguistic myths that surrounded it. Here

you will see the most frequent myths about sign language.

If Children Sign, then they Won’t Talk

On the contrary, studies have found that babies who are exposed to sign language have many

benefits, even for children with cochlear implants. Many individuals believe that exposing deaf

children to oral language is better than sign language. In fact, learning sign language first enables

them to learn the second language. Developmental interdependence hypothesis is a relationship

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between mastering the first and second languages. The relationship between the first and second

languages has shown that mastering the first language helps in mastering the second language

and mastering the second language develops language skills in the first language; for example,

English language as the second language, especially for deaf children (Cummins, 1979). Now do

you seriously consider teaching your deaf baby sign language? If you do not, think again!

ASL is not a “Real” Language

Signed languages are real languages. Hearing people often ask this question: is there a sign for

every word? Do sign language have many words or are they limited? In short, is sign language a

real language? Well, sign languages are real languages. Studies have shown that all sign

languages are real language, and the studies are based on three axes: linguistic, sociolinguistic,

and biological. Also, the development of sign languages happens naturally (Stokoe, 1960). Well,

I can say that you do not have to worry about your deaf child because he/she has the ability to

develop language skills like hearing children, if he/she is exposed to sign language at an early

age.

The parts of the brain that process spoken languages are different from the parts of the

brain that process signed languages

In fact, the parts of the brain that process the spoken language are almost the same as those

that process sign language. Neuroimaging studies with hearing signers found that the tissues

which processed spoken language had almost the same language that process with the sign

language (Mayberry, 2011).

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There is one Best Communication Approach For all Children

Every individual is different; therefore, families often look for the best approach to

communicating with their deaf or hard of hearing child. But there is absolutely no one approach

to communicate with all children. Therefore, families should give their children the opportunity

to experiment with more than one approach, this exposure will allow them to arrive at the

appropriate curriculum. So, specialists should not pressure families to choose one approach, but

rather should consider which is the best approach for their child (Sass-Lehrer, 2014).

Any early intervention specialist or speech-language pathologist can provide appropriate

services for infants and toddlers who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families

Indeed, individuals with special training are needed to provide services to the deaf, hard of

hearing, and their families. Due to the increase in the number of infants receiving early

intervention services, families often accept an early intervention non-specialist who specializes

in deafness. These advices may lead to misinformation being given to families inadvertently

when specialists leave out other options (Sass-Lehrer, 2014).

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Here are some sources that may help you

SERVICE LOCATION PHONE EMAIL

NUMBE

Greater Los 2222 Laverna Avenue (323) 478- info@gladinc.org

Angeles Los Angeles, CA 90041 8000

Agency on

Deafness, INC

(GLAD)

Baby Sign www.babysignlanguage.co (855) 827-

questions@babysignlanguage.co
Language. com m 5275
m

Communicatio 1445 No Loop West, Ste (713) 807- scheduling@caag4.com

n Access 310 1176

Ability Group Houston, Texas 77008

National National Association of the (301) 587- nad.info@nad.org

Association of Deaf 1788

the Deaf 8630 Fenton Street, Suite

(NAD) 820

Silver Spring, MD 20910

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References

Cummins, J. (1979). Linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children.

Review of Educational Research, 49(2), 222. doi:10.2307/1169960

Fish, S., & Morford, J. P. (2012, June). The benefits of bilingualism: Impact on language and cognitive

development (Research Brief No.7). Washington, DC: Visual Language & Visual Learning

Science of Learning Center. Retrieved from

http://vl2.gallaudet.edu/files/5613/9216/6289/research-brief-7-the-benefits-of-bilingualism.pdf

Leeming, D. A. (2010). Creation myths of the world. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO.

Mayberry, R. I., Chen, J. K., Witcher, P., & Klein, D. (2011). Age of acquisition effects on the functional

organization of language in the adult brain. Brain and Language, 119 (1), 16-29.

doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2011.05.007

Sass-Lehrer, M. (2014). Early beginnings for children who are deaf or hard of hearing: guidelines for

effective services. Gallaudet’s Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center. Retrieved from

http://www3.gallaudet.edu/clerc-center/info-to-go/early-intervention/family-and-professional-

resources/early-beginnings/references.html

Stokoe, W. C. (1960). Sign language structure: An outline of the visual communication system

of the American deaf (Studies in Linguistics, Occasional Papers, Vol. 8). Buffalo, NY:

University of Buffalo.

Using sign language with your child (2017). Seattle Children’s Hospital. Research. Foundation

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