This Turkish Language Isn’t Spoken, It’s Whistled
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l117wfB0g3o (2.40 mins)
What are the other forms of communication used by people around the world?
Language is thought to have originated when early humans started gradually changing their early communication systems. The structures of language as having evolved to serve specific communicative and social functions. Language is not the creation of one person or of one period but it is an institution, on which hundreds of generations and countless individuals have worked on.
Below are some languages that are used by many people in society to communicate:
Sign Language
American Sign Language (ASL) is a language completely separate and distinct from English. It contains all the fundamental features of language, with its own rules for pronunciation, word formation, and word order. ASL is expressed by movements of the hands and face. It is the primary language of many North Americans who are deaf and hard of hearing, and is used by many hearing people as well.
While every language has ways of signalling different functions, such as asking a question rather than making a statement, languages differ in how this is done. For example, English speakers may ask a question by raising the pitch of their voices and by adjusting word order. ASL users ask a question by raising their eyebrows, widening their eyes, and tilting their bodies forward. They use their body language to assist in effective communication as well.
Image credits: https://cdn.kinsights.com/cache/3b/71/3b717325ca92a13b01ed3b8496e18878.jpg
Image credits: https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/american-sign-language
Fingerspelling is part of ASL and is used to spell out English words. In the fingerspelled alphabet, each letter corresponds to a distinct handshape. Fingerspelling is often used for proper names or to indicate the English word for something.
Did you know Starbucks Malaysia has a store dedicated to employing deaf employees?
Starbucks Malaysia Official Signing Store
CHP officer helps woman communicate with DMV workers using ASL
Did you notice that there is braille in most of the lifts?
Image credits: https://thesmartlocal.com/read/sg-upgrades/
This allows the visually impaired to use lifts independently.
New bus interchanges even have braille on handrails, for persons with visual impairment to identify which bus lane they’re in and where the waiting areas are.
Image credits: http://blog.smrt.com.sg/smrt-mobility-features/
Braille is a tactile reading and writing system used by blind and visually impaired people who cannot access print materials. It uses raised dots to represent the letters of the print alphabet. It also includes symbols to represent punctuation, mathematics and scientific characters, music, computer notation and foreign languages.
Braille is not a language. It is a code by which all languages may be written and read. Through the use of braille, people who are visually handicapped are able to review and study the written word. It provides a vehicle for literacy and gives an individual the ability to become familiar with spelling, punctuation, paragraphing and other formatting considerations.
Image credits: https://www.dotsrpg.org/learn-braille
In Braille, the numbers 1-9, followed by the number 0, are made using the letters A-J respectively. To distinguish numbers from letters, Braille utilizes a number symbol in the cell proceeding the letter. To create numbers larger than one digit, a number symbol is followed by a series of cells with letters, one per cell. For example, the number 20 would use 3 cells: A number symbol, the letter B (represents 2), and the letter J (represents 0). To simplify the numbers on the dice to one cell, each die face has a ridged line that designates the bottom of the cell as a point of orientation for the dots. The Letters A-J represent the numbers 1-10 respectively, and the letters K-T represent the numbers 11-20 respectively. Below is a quick reference chart to help you learn the letters, and the numbers they represent!
Image credits: https://www.royalblind.org/national-braille-week/about-braille/braille-facts
Languages are important for humans to communicate and there are various modes of communication to make everyone in society feel a sense of inclusion. The easy accessibility and availability of other forms of languages used can give people with special needs the confidence to navigate the society they live in independently.
Morse Code
One of the Morse code systems was invented in the United States by American artist and inventor Samuel F.B. Morse during the 1830s for electrical telegraphy. The original “American” Morse Code invented by Samuel F.B. Morse is hardly in use today. However, International Morse Code is still used by the United States Navy intelligence specialists, amateur radio operator afficionados who form the International Morse Code Preservation Society, and aviators who communicate abbreviated identifiers via Morse Code.
International Morse Code uses combinations of dots and short dashes to represent letters of the alphabet, numerals and punctuation marks by an arrangement of dots, dashes, and spaces. In addition, the International Morse Code uses dashes of constant length rather than the variable lengths used in the original Morse Code. For example, the universal distress signal “SOS” is communicated by three dots, three dashes, and three dots—three dots denoting the letter “S” and three dashes denoting the letter “O.”
Image credits: https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/learn-your-name-in-morse-code-day/
See and hear Morse Code:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J8YcQETyTw (0.59 secs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy8BaMs_JuI (3.28 mins)
Extension Activity:
You are advised to write between 180 – 250 words for this activity.
You feel that students will benefit from learning a new language in school. Write your email in a formal and polite tone with the aim to convince your principal to offer an enrichment course on languages in school.
You must include the following details:
- at least 2 convincing reasons for learning new languages
- which language(s) you hope will be taught and why
- suggested duration of the enrichment course
- recommend which level of students should attend
Some key points mentioned in the website:
Importance of language for individuals
- Importance of language for Career Development
- Importance of language for Understanding Culture
- Importance of language for Developing Children
Importance of language to society
- Importance of language for improved social contact
- Importance of language as culture-carrier
- Importance of language for spreading ideas
Visit this website: https://www.importanceoflanguages.com/ to read about the importance of language. You may rephrase relevant information from the website in your email.
PS: Please remember to credit your sources!
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Morse-Code
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/american-sign-language#1
https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/inventions/morse-code.htm
https://www.importanceoflanguages.com/
https://www.royalblind.org/national-braille-week/about-braille/braille-facts
