- Filipino Sign Language
language
name=Filipino Sign Language
nativename= (FSL)
states=Philippines
signers=100,000 (1986Gallaudet University ) [ [http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_language.asp?code=PSP Ethnologue 14] - Languages of the Philippines]
family=Related toAmerican Sign Language
iso2=sgn|iso3=pspFilipino Sign Language (FSL) or Philippine Sign Language, is a form of manual and visual communication used by the deaf and those who are unable to speak in the
Philippines . This is a vocabulary of signs and symbols communicated through the use of the hands of a person trained in this skill, particularly those who cannot hear and the mute, but also includes those who served asinterpreters for this form of communication.FSL has a very strong influence from American Sign Language (ASL). Some Deaf even go as far as saying that only ASL is true sign language and FSL is just some kind of home gestures. Also there is a strong influence of Signing Exact English (SEE) which is used in most of the schools for the Deaf in this country. [ [http://www.signwriting.org/philippines/philippines02.html Filipino Sign Language] - Signwriting.org Official Website ] Total communication is used in deaf schools, with teachers both speaking and signing. Used by the USA
Peace Corps ,American Sign Language is well known as a second language. Population of users estimate at about 300,000 hearing impaired individuals and about 100,000 to 4.2 million people who have hearing problems. [ [http://library.gallaudet.edu/deaf-faq-stats-other.shtml Deaf Statistics] - Gallaudet University Library]In 2003, the
Philippine Federation of the Deaf conducted a project for three years to develop dictionaries and teaching materials as well as a database of sign language data. It was funded with the assistance of theJapanese government . [ [http://www.ph.emb-japan.go.jp/bilateral/oda/2003/26.htm Project for Publication of "Introduction to Filipino Sign Language"] - Embassy of Japan in the Philippines News Archive 2003]History
Overview
1600s and 1700s
During the time of the
Spaniards in the Philippines, one of the those who used sign language as a method of teaching catechism and used it also to administer the sacrament of baptism to the deaf was Father Ramon Prat (also known as Raymundo del Prado or Ramón del Prado), a Spaniard who speaks Catalan and who arrived at Dulac,Leyte during the latter days of 1950. Another person who is believed to have first used sign language in the Philippines for communication and teaching was Juan Giraldo, aFrenchman who arrived at Dulac, Leyte in 1595. To achieve an effective manual and visual communication and teaching program, however, the monastic missionaries first had to learn localPhilippine languages . Furthermore, in relation to the general history of signing, Abat and Martinez pointed out that the "interest in" the study of "sign languages is well documented in the life and works" inEurope of an "Spanish ex-Jesuit " named Lorenzo Hervás.American influence
It is believed that the sign language from the
United States had a great influence over the sign language used by the deaf in the Philippines. The "School for the Deaf and Blind (SDB)" – now known as the "Philippine School for the Deaf" was established in 1907. [ [http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/feb/25/yehey/weekend/20070225week1.html A century of absolute commitment] - The Manila Times Internet Edition] It was founded by Delight Rice, an American teacher. Rice, a native ofColumbus, Ohio , was invited to the Philippines to spearhead a pioneering school for the handicapped in the country and its Asian neighbors. The request came from David P. Burrows, then director of education in the Philippines, who trusted the educator’s expertise in special education. Rice, whose parents were both deaf, had immeasurable experience in the field. This school was run and managed by American principals until the 1940s.Another great influence to providing education for the deaf was the assignment of volunteers from the "U.S.
Peace Corps ", who were stationed at various places in the Philippines from 1974 through 1989. Influence from the United States also included the arrival of religious organizations, teachers, publications, and videos that utilized and promoted American Sign Language andManually Coded English linguistic sign systems. [http://web.kssp.upd.edu.ph/linguistics/plc2006/papers/FullPapers/V-3_Abat-Martinez.pdf Abat, Rafaelito M., and Liza B. Martinez. The History of Sign Language in the Philippines: Piecing Together the Puzzle, Philippine Federation of the Deaf / Philippine Deaf Resource Center, Philippine Linguistics Congress, Department of Linguistics, University of the Philippines, January 25-27, 2006, 8 pages] (PDF), retrieved on: March 25, 2008]Native origins in the Philippines
During the early days of the 1990s, one of the local influence were the research activities done by Liza Martinez and Rafaelito M. Abat. Martinez was an individual without any hearing impairment but knowledgable with sign language and also a former member-teacher at the University of Gallaudet, a university for the deaf; while Abat was a deaf researcher. Martinez is the current director of the "Philippine Deaf Resource Center". [ [http://www.phildeafres.org/who.htm "Who we are"] - Philippine Deaf Resource Center Official Website] She was one of the pioneers who begun studies about the use of sign language in the Philippines. She also pioneered the publication of reading materials and the launching of projects about Philippine sign language.
Chronology of events
Rafael Abat and Liza B. Martinez grouped the "milestones and landmark events" of the development of Filipino linguistic signing into four waves, namely those that occurred in the early 1900s, the 1960s, the middle of the 1970s, and the 1990s.
First wave
The emergence of Filipino Sign Language as one of the modern-day sign language disciplines in
Asia can be traced from the founding of the "Manila School for the Deaf" (now called as the "Philippine School for the Deaf") during the early days of the 1900s, a time when first contact with American Sign Language occurred. This was followed by the formation of the "Philippine Association for the Deaf" during the early 70s.econd wave
In the 1960s, contact with American Sign Language continued through the launching of the "Deaf Evangelistic Alliance Foundation" and the "Laguna Christian College for the Deaf". The Bible "Institute for the Deaf" (BID) was started by the Rev. S. Wayne Shaneyfelt, a missionary of the General Council of the
Assemblies of God , USA. He came to the Philippines in October 1962. He founded BID as a ministerial school on October 12, 1962. [ [http://www.agbid.org/history.htm "History of BID"] - Bible Institute for the Deaf Official Website]Third wave
In the 1970s, further contact with American Sign Language - in addition to the influence of the Manually Coded English (MCE) signing systems - continued. The "Southeast Asian Institute for the Deaf" was established, as well the "
Luneta Coffee Shop" managed by the "Philippine Association for the Deaf". From the "second wave" 's meetings of the deaf outside the vicinity ofManila , the deaf community expanded their activities during the "third wave" to the provinces, through the employ of schools and communal gatherings.Also during the middle of the 1970s, the first group of "American Peace Corps" volunteers arrived. With regards to literature, the so-called "love signs" publications were printed, a program which included the documentation of traditional Filipino signs.
Fourth wave
During the fourth wave in the 1990s, the CAP School for the Deaf was launched, together with the "Program for the Hearing Impaired" at
De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde . A computer-skill-related program was also established through the "Manila Christian Computer Institute for the Deaf ". A "School of Special Studies" was also opened, which offered a Bachelor in Applied Deaf Studies at theDe La Salle University -College of Saint Benilde. Deaf organizations proliferated during this period with the Philippine Federation of the Deaf a prominent figure. Influence from Gallaudet University occurred through its batches of Filipino and American graduates. The "National Sign Language Committee" also made efforts to prepare the "Status Report on the Use of Sign Language" in the Philippines.Publications about Filipino Sign Language
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