Anger as research paper claims sign languages have ‘very limited set of words’ and grammar which is ‘difficult to understand’

A conference paper published by a group of Indian researchers has come under fire after its abstract claimed sign languages are used by “the deaf and dumb community”, have a “very limited set of words” and use a grammatical structure which is “difficult to understand”.

Literature Review on Sign Language Generation was penned by academics from the Cummins College of Engineering for Women, and released by the science publisher Springer on 22 September.

The paper’s summary reads: “The deaf and dumb community uses sign language to communicate […] Sign languages have a very limited set of words.

“The grammar is difficult to understand. On the contrary, spoken languages across the globe have a rich vocabulary.

“It is difficult for signers to understand a spoken language. There is a need to develop a system that establishes a link between spoken and sign languages.”

“Deaf and dumb” is widely considered to be offensive to deaf people, with America’s National Association for the Deaf describing it as a “relic from the medieval English era”.

The document goes on to add that machine translation has broken language barriers by “automating the process of translation”.

“This development is crucial for the deaf community, as it offers a forum for connecting hearing-impaired and hearing people, as well as equal access to information for the hard of hearing community,” it reads.

The abstract has since faced a wave of criticism on social media, with Deaf academic Kate Rowley describing the summary as “terrible”.

She tweeted: “100% false and ignored decades of research into sign languages. Authors clearly haven’t done a comprehensive lit review.

“I’m deeply offended and appalled. This article should be removed immediately.”

This is terrible. 100% false & ignored decades of research into sign languages. Authors clearly haven’t done a comprehensive lit review. I’m deeply offended & appalled. This article shd be removed immediately. https://t.co/wxrHEPyTsi

— Kate Rowley (@katerowley0) September 28, 2022

Dr Audrey Cameron, a fellow at the University of Edinburgh, added: “This article should not be published. Was it properly peer reviewed? Inappropriate use of sign language and lack of understanding of sign languages.”

The Limping Chicken has reached out to lead researcher Sayali Oak and Springer for comment.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.

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Update – 30/09/22 – 14:40: In a statement to The Limping Chicken, a Springer Nature spokesperson said: “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is one of our highest strategic priorities at Springer Nature and we are committed to ensuring that we play an active role in promoting and celebrating DEI across our company and through our publications and activities.

“We have recently introduced new editorial guidelines to encourage authors, reviewers and editors to ensure that they respect the dignity and rights of groups of people in their work and publications. We are looking into this conference proceedings as a matter of priority and will be able to share more information once the investigation is complete.”