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The YoGoTe project seeks to foster multilingualism and international understanding through international gestures as an additional communication channel.
There are several precedents that support this intention.
Signs of the Native American Nations
The first recorded collection of international signs in history was developed by the Indian nations of the North American prairies. They spoke more than a hundred different languages and used common gestures as an additional channel of communication.
The following quotations refer to these signs:
-You need to remember that this is largely the skeleton of a language, because synonyms are usually covered by the base word.
- Sign language is so true to nature and so natural in its expression that it is likely to never die.
- The Indian rarely uses facial expression, but still maintains a composite and dignified face, the signs are enough on their own
-. Sign language can be used to advantage at a distance that can be reached by the eye, but not by the ear.
-The beauty of a conversation with signs depends on how you make the gestures. The movements should not be angular or uneven, but should be rounded and radical in their interpretation.
Mudras
On the opposite side of the world, Indian culture has created a collection of gestures that are a very important part of it: Mudras and Hastas (Hastas are more spiritual signs and Mudras are more concrete). These gestures are understood by people who speak many different languages.
These hand gestures are used for a variety of reasons, they can be used to mimic the meaning of a song, also to meditate, or they can be simple aesthetic ornaments. Some have a very limited meaning and others are used to represent a wide variety of ideas. In cases where an idea is conveyed, it is more important to communicate clearly with hand gestures (adapting them if necessary) than to carry them out with a rigid correction.
Gestuno
Gestuno is a constructed sign language, which was originally discussed in 1951 by the World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf. In 1973, a committee created and standardized a system of international signs. They tried to choose the most understandable signs from the different sign languages so that it was an easy language to learn for everyone, not only for deaf people, but also for anyone who was interested in it.
The name "Gestuno" is from Italian, meaning "the unity of sign language." The Gestuno is used by some deaf people at the World Games for the Deaf, as well as at the Deaf Way Conference and Festival in Washington, DC, but its use is very limited.
The commission published a book with about 1,500 signs. It doesn’t have a concrete grammar, so there are those who say it’s not a real language.
Later it was published in different editions, corresponding to different and ample cultural contexts:
ISL
Gesture signs, as they lack grammar, do not form an authentic language and for this reason they are developing a new language of international communication for deaf people under the name ISL(International Sign Language).
There is a web page with information about various SSI-ISL gestures, such as the following video (from the word "color"):
ISL, like any sign language, has its own grammatical structure. This makes it difficult to use them simultaneously with spoken languages. The reason is that each language has a different grammatical structure. No sign language can be accommodated with a grammar of its own. to the grammatical structures of spoken languages without causing distortion.
Gestures for language learning
Learning languages at a basic level can be facilitated with the use of gestures as a teaching and learning tool. The reason is that gestures can convey the meaning of what we are learning to say and understand in a new language. Students can use their hands to help and reinforce what they are saying and the interactions are more meaningful.
Several methods for language learning are based on this:
School integration with signs:
One of the consequences of the globalization process is the growing influx of students to schools where they do not understand the language of instruction. The use of signs and gestures can help to integrate students into school life, while they can be used for a first approach to the language used in school.
The Makaton program was initially designed to provide a means of communication for people who cannot communicate efficiently by voice. It later became a method for the introduction to the English language and for the school integration of new non-English speaking students. This method is used in schools in the UK and other countries. Several gestures can be seen in videos in English and Polish.
Learning a second language:
There are several methods for learning a second language that use gestures and signs as a teaching tool, such as the following:
AIM is a method for learning a second language (mainly French, but also Spanish and English) that is widely used in Canada and other countries. The use of gestures is explained in these videos.
Kunisawa is the name of a teacher who developed a method that uses gestures to learn Japanese.
YoGoTe
As stated above, the YoGoTe project tries to use international signs in favor of multilingualism and better understanding.
These signs take advantage of the existence of a parallel channel of communication between speakers of different languages.
The YoGoTe collection of signs shares some characteristics with those previously mentioned:
- The idea of a common set of gestures that can be used as a communication tool for international contact situations is directly related to the historical experience developed by the American Indians.
- The use of YoGoTe signs as a plastic and choreographic added value in poetry presentations and music shows is related to the use of Mudras in Hindu cultures.
- The collection of 600 signs derives mainly from Gestuno's gestures
- Some additional signs were taken from the ISL, and even more could be added if it were necessary.
- The proposal for the use of YoGoTe signs as a tool for the school integration of the children of immigrants, as well as for the literacy in indigenous and mother tongues is in some way related to the experience of Makaton.
-The use of international gestures as a tool for the initial learning of a second or third language has similar aspects with the AIM proposal.
The YoGoTe signs, however, also have some differences from the previous ones:
- They are not specific to a culture, such as American Indian signs or Mudras, which allows them to be used in different cultural contexts.
-There is only one sign for each concept, unlike Gestuno, where some signs are for two and even three gestures. In addition to this, YoGoTe signs are designed to be used by hearing and speaking people, not just deaf people.
- There is no underlying grammatical structure, such as ISL has, and for this reason YoGoTe signs can be added to any language.
-YoGoTe materials are free and accessible online, unlike the teaching materials used by the learning methods mentioned above.
And a unique feature of YoGoTe signs is the existence of a writing system that allows gestures to be incorporated in written form in texts, instead of using photographs or drawings. You can check HERE that the YoGoTe gestures are very natural, and also HERE that the written signs are quite easy to interpret.
Example of on-line presentation of the gesture for "bird" and related concepts, in the Dictionary:
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