The benefits of multilingual education go far beyond just learning new languages. Research has shown that embracing multiple languages enhances cognitive abilities, fosters cultural understanding, and opens doors to diverse career opportunities, but… here’s a question: how often do we think about sign languages when we talk about bilingualism and multilingualism?

Sign languages plays a crucial role in promoting inclusivity and accessibility. Unlike spoken language, which rely on auditory communication, sign languages are visual gestural, making it accessible to deaf and hard of hearing individuals (remember, not all deaf people have profound hearing loss). Now hear me out… by incorporating sign languages into multilingual education programs, educators can create more inclusive learning environments where all students, regardless of hearing ability, can fully participate and engage.

Sign languages have unique characteristics that make them a valuable addition to the multilingual education framework. For example, they promote spatial awareness, fine motor skills, and cognitive development, benefiting both deaf and hearing students. Moreover, recent research highlights the benefits of teaching sign language to babies and toddlers. It helps children and caregivers overcome frustration and communication barriers more quickly. Teaching signing to hearing infants who haven’t started talking yet offers numerous advantages.

Despite all these advantages, and the fact that 41 countries recognise Sign Language as an official language, it continues to be overlooked. Schools often allocate more resources into teaching foreign languages than they do to sign languages. People are generally more inclined to invest in spoken language courses than in sign language courses, indicating a prioritization of communication with foreigners over members of their local deaf community. While there’s growing awareness, it’s still the deaf community that often bears the responsibility of inclusion, as society tends to expect them to accommodate hearing needs first. 

For instance, in 2017, a team of undergraduate students at the University of Washington won the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for creating gloves that translate American Sign Language (ASL), known as “SignAloud”. While this innovation sounds like something out of a Sci-Fi movie and offers hope for resolving communication barriers between the deaf and hearing communities, the reality is that these gloves come with a significant financial cost for the deaf individual. Moreover, they do not address the fundamental issue that the deaf person still needs to rely on lip-reading or written communication to understand others. In essence, these gloves facilitate understanding of ASL, they do NOT enable full communication in ASL. 

Meanwhile, incorporating sign languages into school curricula could greatly enhance communication with the deaf community. Additionally, it has the potential to educate people about deafness, as sometimes even well intentioned attempts at inclusion can inadvertently come across as rude. For example, while most people wouldn’t interrupt a conversation to boast about knowing the same alphabet or speaking the same language as someone else (even in a foreign country), it’s unfortunately not uncommon for people to interrupt when Signing is involved… or become defensive: “You should be thankful, I tried to Sign for you”. These reactions reflect a misunderstanding of the challenges faced by the deaf community, such as the reliance on cochlear implants (which require surgeries) or lip-reading on a daily basis.

By including sign languages in schools curricula, we can foster greater understanding and empathy, paving the way for more respectful and inclusive communication practices in addition to all the benefits previously mentioned.