Sign language: How climate change is changing vocabulary

Cameron, who is deaf, leads a sign language project at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, which has just added the new terms to the BSL dictionary.

She described how, in her scholarly career, a lack of vocabulary excluded her from important meetings and conversations.

“I’ve been involved in research for 11 years and attended a lot of meetings, but I’ve never really been involved because I couldn’t understand what people were saying,” she told BBC News. “I wanted to talk to people about chemistry and I just couldn’t.”

Liam McMulkin, a professor of biology in Glasgow, Scotland, also participated in sign-making workshops organized by the Scottish Sensory Centre.

“The beauty of sign language, especially for science,” he said, “is that it is a visual language.” “Some of the concepts are abstract, but sign language can really help kids understand them.”

McMulkin used the sign “photosynthesis” as an example, which uses the shape of a flattened hand to represent a leaf, while projecting fingers—like rays of the sun—on the other hand.

“When I do that [mover a mão do sol em direção à mão da folha]You can imagine the paper absorbing energy,” he explained.

The Scientific Glossary Project, funded in part by the Royal Society, has been running since 2007 and has added around 7,000 new labels to the BSL.

Cameron described the process by which signs are developed. “We took a list of terms from the school curriculum and then worked together to come up with something subtle, but also visual, that was meaningful.”

The glossary is designed to support deaf children in schools.

As 13-year-old Melissa, a deaf pupil at a regular school in Glasgow, explains: “They really help you understand what’s going on.”

Melissa showed the difference between spelling out greenhouse gases and using the new sign that involves moving your clenched fists like gas molecules in the air.

“With the signal, I can see that something is going on with the gas,” she said.

People who hear are “constantly learning and gaining knowledge” wherever they go, “but deaf people miss out on a lot of information,” added McMulkin, who is Melissa’s science teacher and also deaf.

“This is why it is so important to use sign language in school science classes,” he says.

“It allows deaf children to learn in their natural language.”

Cameron also highlighted the value in education of depicting complex scientific concepts in hand motions – for both deaf and hearing children.

Cameron watched a class where five-year-olds were learning how things float or sink.

“They were learning how things that are less dense float, which is very complicated,” he explained. “And the teacher was using the ‘density’ sign.”

The sign explains this concept using a clenched fist and a wrap around the other hand – squeezing and releasing to represent different intensities.

Cameron said, “I thought these five-year-olds wouldn’t understand this.” But sometime after the class was over, they were asked why things float or sink, and they all used the density sign.”

“So I saw the impact it could have. And my passion grew as the glossary grew.”

Professor Jeremy Sanders, Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee at the Royal Society, said:

“We hope these new signs will inspire and empower the next generation of students to use sign language and allow scientists to share their vital work with the world.”

Additional reporting by Kate Stephens and Maddy Molloy