Articles | Sign Language, Inclusion and Sailing

Gesture Language and Sign Language

Before turning to sailing terminology in Russian Sign Language, we suggest familiarising yourself with several terms that are important to know and distinguish.

Sometimes people who see deaf people think that they communicate with one another in a “gesture language”, but that is not the case. Gesture language is body language common to all people. It includes postures, body movements, and facial expressions through which we can convey emotions, but cannot fully express a thought. Folded arms, a lowered gaze, or shifting from one foot to the other all belong to gesture language.

Deaf people, by contrast, use sign language for communication — a natural language through which, as with any language, any thought can be expressed. Sign languages differ from country to country. In Russia, Russian Sign Language (RSL) is used. Like other sign languages, RSL is an independent linguistic system and a full-fledged language. The lexicon of RSL consists of signs. Each sign, in turn, includes five components. More on these components can be found below.

Sign language is used not only by deaf and hard-of-hearing people, but also by hearing parents of deaf children, hearing children of deaf parents (CODA — child of Deaf adults), sign language interpreters, and people who encounter deaf people in their work and want to come as close as possible to their culture and to be understood.

Sign language is constantly developing and changing; its vocabulary is enriched in different ways, for example through borrowing from other sign languages and through the creation of new signs.

For a long time, in many countries, sign language developed only at the everyday level: it was not taught in higher education, sign language interpreters were not always available, and concepts corresponding to specialised fields were often absent. Today, however, more and more opportunities are emerging to enrich the language thanks to the development of accessibility in different spheres.

Iconicity in Sign Language

Iconicity is the phenomenon in which the form of a sign resembles the form or properties of the real object or action it denotes. In other words, in many signs there is a non-random similarity between some part of the referent, or a concept associated with it, and some part of the sign. This property is called the iconic motivation of one or more parameters of the sign.

Iconicity plays an important role in the formation of new signs and the expansion of sign language vocabulary. Many signs have a transparent origin: for example, the sign “BOOK” in RSL is performed with a hand movement resembling the opening of a book, while the sign “WRITE” resembles the act of writing with a pen on paper.

At the same time, not all signs are iconic. As a language develops, the original iconicity of signs may be lost, turning them into conventional signs that are perceived without reference to their initial form.

Terminology: Formation, Use, and Change

Terminology in sign language is formed in different ways: through borrowing from other sign languages, through calquing from spoken language, and through the creation of new signs, including those based on the principle of iconicity.

In this dictionary, the signs for points of sail relative to the wind were borrowed from Polish Sign Language; the rest were created according to the principle of iconicity during classes and training sessions. The signs reproduce the shape of the boat, its gear, the wind angle relative to the boat, and the actions performed on board.

When this terminology was created, special attention was paid to the practical conditions in which the signs would be used. For reasons of safety and convenience, the signs used directly on the boat are performed with one hand rather than two. This factor was taken into account when developing the new terms, making them more functional and accessible in the context of sailing.

The creation of specialised terminology is an important process that contributes to the development of sign language and to its adaptation to new spheres of activity. In scientific, technical, and sporting fields, the emergence of new terms makes more precise and effective communication possible within the Deaf community.

This dictionary does not attempt to impose terms; it merely proposes variants that may later be changed or supplemented by native signers. Sign language is a living system, and its terminology develops naturally, reflecting the needs of the community. Many of the signs included here have already changed, and their original forms differ from those currently used in sailing classes. This is due to the principle of economy, which is characteristic of every language and reflects the tendency to simplify and minimise effort.

Components of a Sign

In order to sign the terms presented in this dictionary correctly in RSL and to understand the descriptions next to the illustrations, below is a short guide to what every RSL sign consists of and what should be kept in mind while producing a sign. A sign includes five components:

Handshape is the shape of the hand. In Russian Sign Language, a handshape may correspond to fingerspelling letters, number signs, or have its own arbitrary form. For example, handshape “А” is a closed fist, while handshape “В” is an open palm with straight fingers held together. Handshape “1” means four fingers are together while the index finger is extended, and handshape “5” means all fingers are extended and do not touch one another. There are also handshapes that do not correspond to letters or numbers. The number of possible finger combinations is large and diverse.
Orientation is the position of the palm in space in relation to the signer’s body, as well as the position of the hands in relation to one another. Signs may be one-handed or two-handed. In one-handed signs, the palm may face down, up, right, left, or be turned edgewise toward the body. In two-handed signs, the palms may face each other, be parallel, touch each other, and so on.
Place of articulation is the area in which the signer performs the sign. A sign may be produced on the head, on the body, or in the neutral space in front of the body at head or torso level.
Movement is the movement of the hand from one place to another. When moving the hand, attention should be paid to direction, such as movement in a vertical or horizontal plane, and to the character of the movement, for example straight, curved, smooth, sharp, and so on.
Non-manual component includes movements of the head and body, facial expression, and articulation. In the case of terms, it is important to remember articulation: silently mouthing the corresponding Russian word while performing the sign.

Conclusion

The development of sign language, including its terminology, is a natural process linked to changes in society, technological progress, and the integration of deaf people into different spheres of life. The terms proposed in this dictionary are part of that process, and their further use and adaptation will be determined by native signers themselves. Thanks to this, sign language will continue to develop, becoming a richer and more functional tool of communication.

Nika Chupyatova

Tatyana Losikhina

A Few Words about Inclusion

When inclusion or an accessible environment is mentioned, many people picture a ramp at a clinic or tactile paving at a pedestrian crossing. These are common and necessary examples of the good idea of accessible mobility. With this work, I want to draw attention to the accessibility of language, education, and freedom, as well as to the benefits such accessibility brings to society.

Over the years of working in the field of inclusion, I have encountered a wide variety of attitudes and opinions — from praise for good deeds, both from colleagues and from outside observers, to denunciations branding me a fraud and a freeloader. Behind these reactions lie empathy and compassion, grief and joy, everyday uncertainty, and primitive fear. In this reflection, I suggest stepping away from emotions and personal experiences and looking at what the social sciences can show us about inclusion.

“Inclusion (from the Latin inclusio — ‘inclusion, involvement’) is an important process of transforming society. It means the active inclusion of all people in social life, regardless of their particular characteristics.”

But why do we need to include anyone at all?

Stigmatising anyone who differs from us may seem like a perfectly sensible, evolutionarily conditioned mechanism. But it worked 10,000 to 40,000 years ago, when infectious burden was high, people lived in small groups, and fought other groups for extremely limited resources. Cities, division of labour, anonymity, and the idea of universal human value are cultural answers to the question of how to govern societies in which the old heuristics have broken down. The concept of the “neighbour” as any human being, and not only a blood relative, is a cultural superstructure specifically designed to suppress the ancient coalition instinct.

In the complex realities of the modern world, inclusion is about how accessible the most exclusive good is to the person with the fewest resources. Amartya Sen distinguished between possessing a resource and having a real opportunity to use it. A yacht club, for example, may be formally open to everyone and yet remain closed to a deaf person who has no words for this sport in their language. Where there is no sign, there is no deaf person. Where there is no deaf person, there is no sign.

We already know that RSL is a language, an independent linguistic system. But this knowledge is only now becoming the norm. Not long ago, the claim that “signs are monkey language” was considered normal. In some parts of our country — and beyond — this opinion still exists. That is why, in addition to my main pedagogical work, I consider it necessary to speak about accessibility and diversity as key needs of the new era in every language available to us — in the language of adaptive sport, bilingual education, and entrepreneurship.

For a long time, the education system was built around the needs of the industrial economy. It needed conveyor-belt people — predictable, standardised, and easily inserted into a repetitive process. School produced precisely such interchangeable cogs for the industrial body. Difference from the norm was perceived as a flaw: it had to be corrected or isolated.

The era has changed. Everything a machine can do, a machine does. Human value is concentrated precisely in what a machine cannot do: communicate, understand another person, and find non-standard solutions where there is no ready-made algorithm. The new economy is built around service, communication, and living people interacting with one another. The standardised person of the twentieth century does not fit into it as well as we once thought.

The education system has not yet restructured itself. It still tries to produce conveyor-belt people according to old manuals. But what helped someone fit into the system yesterday prevents them from surviving in it today. Sen distinguishes between two concepts of education. The first is education as the production of human capital: a person is valuable insofar as they are useful to the system. The second is education as the expansion of freedom: the system exists for the person, not the other way around.

Therefore, now more than ever, it is important to ask: “Are we moving in a favourable direction?” “Shouldn’t we assess the shifts of the wind, compare the compass readings, and measure the temperature of the water overboard?”

Medicine is doing its job, life expectancy is rising, and migration is mixing what used to be homogeneous. Society is becoming more and more diverse not only because we have become kinder or more far-sighted — although that too — but simply because this is how demography is unfolding.

That is why we say that education must adapt to the person. To the person of a new world and a new economy, living in a more diverse society. Those who learn to work with this earlier, those who can adapt, will gain an advantage.

Returning to school, we can observe another maladaptive scenario. In stories of school bullying, it may seem that the most different child is the one subjected to violence, and that if the most distinctive person is removed from the system, the level of violence in the class should decrease. Intuition says: remove the different ones, remove the conflict. Reality shows otherwise: “The most violent structures are precisely uniform structures, consisting of people of the same age, the same sex, and people who resemble one another.” Remove the “different” children from a class, and those who remain will find a new scapegoat. Violence will not disappear; it will be redistributed.

“Diversity lowers the overall level of violence: it is not the isolation of those who differ, but their incorporation into the social organism that allows everyone else to benefit from the resulting safety.”

Richard Florida, drawing on Jane Jacobs’s research, notes that “a community needs individual diversity in order to generate new ideas.” A diverse team solves complex problems faster. Collective memory is only as rich as the diversity of experience possessed by each of its members.

There is, however, an important caveat. Research shows that diversity without well-built institutions of trust can have the opposite effect. Diversity works where there is safety and professionalism. It is not enough simply to open the door.

So can diversity be costly for society? Only for societies where institutions of trust are absent, where infrastructure is absent, where diversity is perceived as a threat. Of course, it is extremely difficult simply to abandon a centuries-old order: institutions have inertia, and the deeper they penetrate the social fabric, the stronger that inertia becomes. And when you start wondering how to assess the effectiveness of such large-scale changes rationally — what the KPIs will be, over what time span our hypotheses can be considered fair — remember how convenient it is to roll a bicycle or a stroller down a ramp, to stop on tactile paving before the roadway while glancing at your phone, and how convenient it is when teachers at school work not on tolerating each pupil, but on paying attention to each pupil.

Ordinary, normal, simple people are the main users of a new environment and new infrastructure that pay more attention to the person. Inclusion as the creation of an environment that adapts to the person rather than adapting the person to itself. Inclusion as a need and as a tool of a new era in which difference and diversity are an advantage, not a curse.

Technological progress accelerates the economy, changes long-established behavioural habits and social mobility, and with each passing day turns another chapter of a science-fiction novel into reality. We need to keep pace with time because the future will inevitably arrive. And if we do not adapt, it will arrive right on top of us.

Grigory Shtyler

Communicating with Deaf People

Specific Features

Many deaf people, especially young residents of large cities, do not consider themselves disabled. They see themselves as a sociocultural minority with their own language (Russian Sign Language), their own history, culture, and behavioural norms. Respect for these specific features helps avoid awkward situations and build trust.

“We Don’t Say It That Way”

It is important to know that using the term “deaf-mute” in relation to deaf people is unethical and offensive. The correct terms are “deaf”, “hard of hearing”, or “person with a hearing impairment” if you need to work with documentation based on a medical classification.

Basic Rules of Communication

Communication with deaf people is based above all on visual perception. Always maintain direct eye contact. A gaze directed “past” the deaf person is often perceived as unwillingness to communicate, resentment, or neglect. The face should be well lit and unobstructed: hands, hair, a scarf, or a mask should not cover the mouth and facial expression. Speak calmly, clearly, and in short simple phrases. Do not raise your voice or shout: this greatly distorts lip articulation and can cause physical pain to a person wearing a hearing aid.

If you are not understood the first time, it is better to rephrase, split a long sentence into two short ones, and replace complex words with simpler ones. Feel free to use natural gestures and pantomime. If necessary, write a message, but stop speaking while writing — at that moment the deaf person cannot see your face. Numbers, addresses, technical terms, and precise information are always best conveyed in writing.

Even a small knowledge of Russian Sign Language makes communication much easier. The main thing is sincerity, calmness, and the desire to be understood. Mutual respect and a willingness to learn work better than any perfect signs.

How to Get Someone’s Attention Properly

Deaf people use several convenient methods:

broad waves of the hand (clearly visible even from a distance);
a light touch on the shoulder;
stamping on a wooden floor (this transmits vibration well);
flashing the room light or a phone flashlight;
lightly tossing a small object (a pen, a paper airplane) into a safe spot.

Do not shout after someone, clap behind their back, or touch their head or face — this is considered a rude violation. If the deaf person is far away, ask someone else to get their attention using one of the methods listed above.

Behavioural Features and Deaf Etiquette

Deaf people are often very direct. They may openly ask about age, weight, or salary, or say “you don’t look well” — there is no hidden motive or desire to offend in this. It is simply a form of sincere interest and involvement. Respond to such questions directly and to the point, without lengthy evasive explanations. When a deaf person asks you to tell them about an event, they expect a detailed account, not a brief brush-off.

Visual social markers are deeply woven into the social fabric in which deaf people live and communicate — from applause in the theatre to eye contact during a shared meal.

If you are speaking with another hearing person in the presence of a deaf person, do not leave them “overboard”. Briefly explain what is being discussed or involve them in the conversation. Speaking aloud “over the deaf person’s head” is considered impolite.

The Role of Racing and Other Forms of Sailing Leisure

Depending on the goals of the activity, several formats can be distinguished:

recreational;
inclusive competitive sport;
adaptive competitive sport.

Not everyone who takes part will necessarily be interested in racing, so it is worth talking about other ways of joining the element. This broadens the understanding of sailing culture, expands the planning horizon, and increases the motivation to become part of the sailing community. At the initial stage of training, however, it is worth keeping the focus on racing, because it is not only an exciting form of leisure, but also the format that most fully and comprehensively combines the need to use all the skills acquired in the learning process. In race preparation, we have an exact measure of initial and intermediate stages together with a clear final goal. Every training session is structured and leads to the acquisition of new skills and the consolidation of previous ones.

Methodological Recommendations for Teaching Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students

Teaching sailing to deaf and hard-of-hearing students relies primarily on the visual component, which is dictated by the modality of sign language. We can convey all the theory, the structure of the yacht, and the necessary skills visually. The communication process, however, remains specific. This concerns both theoretical and practical classes during the off-season and racing itself. In addition to visual aids and written summaries, it is necessary to use the help of an RSL interpreter. To make explanations more effective, the instructor or coach must also move beyond the familiar verbal framework of spoken Russian — beginning to introduce signs into explanations and actively study Russian Sign Language.

A Different Perception and Use of Russian

Deaf people in Russia use Russian Sign Language — RSL. Sign language differs greatly from spoken Russian and is much less descriptive. One sign may function as a synonym for several words, and many Russian words have no equivalent in the sign system. In addition, the grammar of RSL differs greatly from the grammar of spoken Russian. In practice, it is a completely different, foreign language.

For many deaf people, Russian is a second language. As a result, their perception of written speech may be difficult, which inevitably leads to distortion of the information they receive.

A sign language interpreter should be present at every lesson. Communication with deaf students without an interpreter is, of course, possible, but the effectiveness of the lesson drops noticeably. In any case, follow these communication patterns: whether you are speaking to deaf students through an interpreter or without one, communicate your message as concisely and simply as possible — you are dealing with a foreign-language speaker. Use short, unambiguous wording. If you see that the essence of the material has not been understood, rephrase what you said. An extremely important point is that, because of the language barrier, you must make absolutely sure that the material has been fully understood by means of thorough questioning. At the end of each lesson, do not only ask students what remains unclear, but also ask them to retell the material that has just been taught and explain how they have understood it. Ask guiding questions in ways that reveal gaps in understanding. A useful exercise for students can be to explain the topic to a beginner, but without a deep understanding of sign language or without the help of an interpreter, this is a risky exercise.

Among deaf students, the pattern “Yes, I understood everything” is extremely common even when the person has understood nothing. From the very beginning of training, it is necessary to explain the importance of asking questions. Questions are an integral part of sailing culture, where the price of a mistake is significantly higher than in any game sport.

“If you don’t know, ask” is one of the main engines of professional growth and of expanding good seamanship.

Your task, through detailed questioning, is to scrupulously verify that students have correctly understood all the critically important aspects of the lesson that has just taken place. Use every possible way of transmitting knowledge: drawings and diagrams on a board or flipchart, photo and video materials, demonstrations on mock-ups and practice sets. Yet, despite the undeniable effectiveness of additional means of describing material, the primary and direct channel of communication for deaf people remains sign language. It is strongly recommended that the specific sailing terms be internalised at that level. By filling this new world for the athlete with terms and definitions in their own language, we shape and refine the system of interaction between the person and the equipment; we deepen their understanding of the space and the objects they work with. The more an athlete knows about their instrument, the more conscious, complete, and engaged the sporting process becomes.

Aggressive Attitudes

It is possible that within a group, hostility may exist between people with different levels of hearing loss — deaf people, hard-of-hearing people, and cochlear implant users. It may also be directed at hearing people who are learning Russian Sign Language. For the most part, this is becoming a thing of the past, but the more inclusive sessions we run, the more people interact, and the greater the chance of encountering conflict situations. Some deaf people may dislike hearing people who study sign language and consider it inappropriate. That is why, at the very beginning of training, it may be necessary to instill the understanding that everyone is here voluntarily and that each session is aimed not only at learning sailing, but also at reducing aggression and tuning communication. To do this, it is necessary to learn non-violent communication, pay more attention to one another, and reach agreements “on shore”.

Behavioural Features of the Community

Deaf people are often deeply enclosed within their own culture and, in a mixed group, may present themselves as different from everyone else and attract attention to themselves — or, on the contrary, get lost in a crowd of speaking people, which of course sharply reduces the level of communication. This problem is easily solved if your friends, colleagues, and other club visitors know at least a couple of signs and are not afraid to use them. For a deaf person, this is a very important signal: “you are normal, you are safe.” It is necessary to explain that they are part of a common group and must work and make an effort to build communication with other people. They are also very expressive in their behaviour and communication, so it should be taken into account that interacting with them may require more emotional resources from a coach than working with hearing students.

Based on the above, it should be noted that deaf students may be prone to distraction during class, for example by becoming absorbed in a conversation with each other. In this case, it is necessary to remember that the teacher is, in effect, a dictator within the lesson. The teacher has a monopoly on the students’ attention and the right to bring that attention back to the subject and the course of the lesson. If students begin to question the authority of the instructor, this must also be stopped. In this way, the division of roles between teacher and student is preserved, which is extremely important for the pedagogical process.

On-Water Training

Training on the water, and racing preparation in particular, reveal the potential and practical realisation of deaf students’ abilities. The visual modality of RSL develops in athletes a set of distinctive qualities: deaf people are often highly attentive to the smallest details, sometimes at the expense of perceiving the wider context. Crew members with this level of attentiveness can become excellent racers, because sailing is precisely about attention: observing the direction and strength of gusts, changes in competitors’ settings, and so on. Deaf sailors are also much less likely to get seasick on a sailing yacht and are often more sensitive to changes in the environment.

The visual modality of RSL gives you both superpowers and serious limitations. You may be able to discuss the details of the yacht’s rigging with a teammate even when an entire marina separates you, or, in calm weather, clarify start options without spreading your plan beyond the boat. But at the same time, if something goes wrong, crew members must be ready to solve any problem. That is part of what makes sport so beautiful: despite the virtually endless number of possible developments, we are always interested in a relatively small number of desired situations. That is why the distribution of roles within the crew and the drilling of technique require a more methodical and meticulous approach.

I often repeat the following riddle for novice crews:
“What is the most important thing on a boat? It starts with a ‘V’, and it isn’t vodka — Attention!”

Attention is the most limited resource. It will not increase, it cannot be bought, and it is very easy to lose. If a crew member starts thinking about problems at work, a relative’s illness, or simply does not get enough sleep before a start or a training session, their potential for high-intensity cognitive and physical work drops sharply. One should always bear in mind that a person receives about 85% of information through the visual channel.

Training a “deaf” crew requires greater preliminary preparation. A hearing coach has to rethink risk assessment. On the water, the main organ of information transmission — the hands — may be occupied. And in the course of solving a non-trivial situation, especially for beginner students, crew members may simply fail to turn around because they are fully engaged in what they are doing.

If you are too lazy to hold briefings before going out on the water, simply run through a series of elementary situations in which everything goes wrong at once.

It is necessary to devote separate time to simulating actions that will later be performed on open water, on a moored boat — what is often called “dry sailing”. Every new element and every new topic should first be introduced in an oral explanation supported by examining a model. After that, it is necessary to explain what task a given action solves, going a little deeper into the process, and then methodically rehearse movements and actions on the moored yacht until they are mechanically fixed. In order to practise specific technical elements, the trainee must have a perfect idea of how the element within their area of responsibility works. That is why it is worth beginning each session by reviewing the structure of the technical elements the student will have to work with.

The trainee needs to form a complete set of actions for different situations and a full understanding of the technical area entrusted to them. This gives rise to confidence in their own actions and freedom of thinking.

A deaf sailor must possess a greater degree of independence than a hearing sailor of the same level of training.

I strongly recommend the following:

devote more time to briefings and detailed analysis of situations using the Playbook;
watch race videos, both from the outside and onboard;
record videos of races and training sessions. Video helps build a connection between proprioception and the spatial structure of the boat.

Quite often, while establishing technique, situations arise in which a student begins to doubt that they are making a mistake: “But I am doing everything correctly.” We can clearly see that this is not the case. It is important to react calmly, because sailing is extremely complex and demanding in cognitive terms.

There must be an unquestionable hierarchy on board: the helmsman must have an exclusive monopoly on the crew’s attention. It is necessary to neutralise deaf sailors’ tendency to become distracted and to convey the understanding that as soon as the skipper mobilises the crew’s attention, the situation requires the immediate involvement of every team member.

On the boat, a system of conditional signals and touches should be developed in order to attract the attention of all crew members at the necessary moment. On a keelboat, it works well to use the vertical cockpit wall: taps on it resonate clearly while creating little vibration that might affect the boat’s speed. The following signal system is used:

one tap: “Attention, everyone”;
two taps: a tack if the course is close-hauled, or a gybe if the course is downwind;
three taps: hoisting or taking down the gennaker.

There are, however, several weak points in this system that must be mentioned:

The readability of vibration signals depends directly on the athletes’ stress level and fatigue level. After difficult races in strong wind, with heavy precipitation and low temperature, athletes can be so focused on the thought of getting home that no tapping will move their frozen bodies from the spot.
The interpretation of signals also depends on the wave and the shape of the hull. Sometimes a single wave strike against the side can sound very much like the signal “Attention, everyone”.
When bearing away, especially in strong wind, the release of control lines at the top mark may be accompanied by a characteristic knock against the deck. If, at the same time, you ease the traveller and the backstay, the crew may quite reasonably interpret that sound as a command for a gybe or even for a jibe set.

Whenever racing is concerned, one must soberly assess the weather conditions and the level of the opponents. Systematic advance preparation matters. Safety comes first.