I remember reading in Talking Hands about how important facial expressions are when signing to someone. I’ve been told that I use a lot of facial expressions when I speak and was interested to see just how signers utilize them as well.
Facial expressions are very important in assisting signers and helping them to understand one another. An example of possible expressions, besides typical expressions that show emotion (smiling when we’re happy, etc), include eye gazes, eye shifts, clenched teeth, tilting one’s eye brows and head shifts. These signs may be especially important in certain situations because some signs used in sign language can be used to show two different things, depending on how one moves their head or the expression that they have on their face. If one actually mouths words while signing it also helps their partner learn to lip read and associate certain words with certain mouth gestures. In this way the mouth can also be an integral part of communicating.
In the same way that a person can be unenthusiastic with their speech, which may confuse their conversational partner, signers can be halfhearted when they sign. Just as this would confuse a verbal partner it also confuses a signer’s partner of what exactly they are signing. It can also send a message that they are not interested in speaking with them. Therefore the importance of using facial expressions properly is very important, especially because the audience of a signer looks at their face more than the signer’s hands when conversing with them.
Comments (1)
I think you raise a very interesting point. Nonverbal communication is an important part of communication, and the overall message. In spoken languages as well, facial expressions definitely play a role. However, in sign language, you cannot use emphasis using your voice. I would imagine signers pay more attention to their and others facial expressions and movements. I do not know if a halfhearted expression would be necessarily negative. Perhaps it is the same way in spoken language -- a continuum of understanding of what something means.
On a related note, how would sarcasm look in a signer? In studies I'm looking at for my paper, sarcasm is displayed through the tone of voice. Do signers have a sarcastic look?
Posted by Rachel Learned | April 25, 2008 5:07 PM
Posted on April 25, 2008 17:07