The world in a small frame
The sign language box in the lower left corner of the TV screen is one of the channels for deaf viewers to see the world.
Since 1984, sign language frames appeared on news programs for the first time. By the end of 2020, 34 provincial-level TV stations and 209 prefectural-level TV stations broadcast sign language programs, and some important conferences and competitions are also equipped with sign language interpreters.
In 2012, the State Council promulgated the "Regulations on the Construction of Barrier-Free Environments" to explain the significance of sign language news programs in this way: to ensure the equal participation of deaf people in social life.
The appearance of the sign language box is considered by many people to be a kind of progress.
But it's going to take a lot of work to fit more into that little box.
In 2021, a survey of 585 deaf people conducted by the National Sign Language and Braille Research Center found that only 7.69% of the deaf people can "fully understand" TV sign language news, and most deaf people can understand less than half, or even completely. can not read it.
Some deaf people couldn't see the sign language frame clearly, so they had to ask their wife to accompany them, and asked the wife to tell him in sign language while listening to the news, what was being said on TV.
There are also deaf people who say that staring at the small box in the lower left corner of the screen for a long time makes them feel tired easily.
But for the 20.53 million deaf people across the country, this is not their only regret.
A deaf person described that on New Year’s Eve, the family gathered to watch the Spring Festival Gala. When the family members were amused by sketches and cross talk programs and laughed at the same time, he was the only one who couldn’t understand, because the real-time live broadcast had no subtitles and no sign language interpreter. .
The next day's rerun was subtitled—the deaf man had a chance to understand the "baggage," but the family had already seen the show.
He felt that the atmosphere of gathering together was gone.
Why can't I read news in sign language?
Zheng Xuan, a professor at Beijing Normal University, is a deaf person who has long studied sign language linguistics.
She believes that the sign language screen is too small, which will seriously affect the audience's intelligibility.
For example, to express spring, summer, autumn and winter in sign language, you need to make a fist, and the protruding joints at the base of the four fingers represent different seasons. Rely on guessing.
"Some sign language frames only occupy one-tenth of the entire TV screen, which is not enough." Zheng Xuan said that the sign language interpretation screen of many TV programs is reserved above the chest line of the sign language interpreter, but some sign language gestures or Low to the waist, or high above the top of the head.
For example, the most common way to play sign language in Guangzhou is to touch the palms of both hands on both sides of the waist a few times, beyond the sign language frame.
In order for the audience to see the full gesture, the sign language interpreter had to scale down the movement, causing distortion.
Learning sign language is not only about knowing a few words, but also integrating hand shape, position, direction, movement, expression, posture and mouth shape to express accurately.
Chen Gang, a deaf person in Guangdong, used sign language to express "happiness" as an example. It can be exaggerated - eyes wide open, mouth wide open, facial changes, hands shaking, body posture swinging, like singing and dancing.
But when watching TV, it was difficult for Chen Gang to get information from the facial expressions of the sign language interpreter. Some deaf people said that the range of gestures of the sign language interpreter was too small, making the "biting" not clear enough.
Liu Keyan, who works as a news sign language interpreter at a TV station, said frankly that when signing in front of the TV screen and chatting in private, the state of a person must be different.
In news programs, sign language interpreters should be consistent with the style of the host, dignified and generous, and their expressions should not be too exaggerated.
But this will limit the expression of sign language.
A deaf viewer showed Liu Keyan a video of foreign news -- the foreign sign language interpreter had vivid expressions and rich body movements.
"The audience hopes that our translation can be in line with international standards. However, Chinese people are more introverted, and they are not easy to open up like foreigners." Liu Keyan said.
Zheng Xuan said that in public places such as media and schools, general sign language is required to be used in accordance with relevant regulations. The national general sign language program currently only has more than 8,000 words, which can only cover part of the core gestures; Sign language spontaneously formed in the community.
Moreover, almost all TV stations use listening people (referring to people with sound hearing——Reporter's Note) as sign language interpreters, but listening people learn sign language and habitually use the Chinese word order of "subject-verb-object", while deaf people use sign language Grammar is the principle of topic priority.
"Listeners with poor sign language skills will subconsciously sign in Chinese word order when interpreting, and type out word by word, which makes it even more difficult for deaf people to understand."
A deaf person gave an example. To express "Can you repair a computer?", the deaf person would often type "computer, repair, yes", and then put on a questioning expression.
Chen Gang observed that when words in the news have not yet been commonly used, the interpretation of sign language interpreters is prone to problems. Gama".
Some words that often appear in the news will also pose challenges to Liu Keyan, such as: supply side, year-on-year growth... If she wants to translate it in a short time and keep up with the speed of the host, she can only translate it directly.
In the past three years, Liu Keyan has participated in the sign language interpretation work of more than 70 Beijing epidemic briefings.
Once, she heard "use fast to make fast", which is a word that rarely appears in life. If it is directly translated, the deaf will not be able to understand it. She thought about it and expressed the meaning of this sentence as "use the fastest way to control the development of the epidemic”.
This requires a high level of translation for sign language interpreters.
Chen Gang recalled that when the "smog" weather appeared in the early years, the news anchor reminded the citizens to wear masks to prevent the smog when going out, but the sign language interpreter only used "fog" instead, which in his opinion was ordinary white mist with a fairy air. It doesn't work as a warning.
A good sign language news program must truly be eye-level
Liu Keyan often communicates with deaf friends, what kind of sign language news do you want?
The answers focused on two points, the sign language frame became larger, and the sign language interpreter could understand the translation.
"Deaf audiences are actually very tolerant, and they don't have high requirements for these two points." Liu Keyan said.
She once communicated with the program team of the TV station on the problem of enlarging the sign language frame, and the other party also knew the opinions of deaf people on sign language news. If the sign language frame is enlarged, it will affect the composition and position of other elements in the picture.
Liu Chengcheng, a sign language teacher at Jiangsu Normal University, is a deaf person. He has long studied the language use and translation skills of sign language announcers in TV programs.
He believes that the program group should have a certain understanding of the language and culture of the deaf in order to make programs recognized by the deaf audience.
For example, there is a sign language program in Taiwan, China. The sign language anchor, the opening and closing credits are performed by deaf people or listeners who are proficient in sign language.
Once, an interview for this program was conducted by the sea, and a text prompt "Sound of Ocean Waves" appeared on the screen. Liu Chengcheng immediately realized that the interviewees heard the sound of ocean waves. "The program fully considers the spiritual world of the deaf and the needs of barrier-free."
South Korea, Japan and other countries have also established deaf video websites, which specialize in synchronizing news translation and creating down-to-earth sign language entertainment programs.
Some deaf people also said that they hope that the deaf people will directly appear on the screen as the sign language news broadcast, instead of being confined to a small box.
China also has well-received sign language news programs, and "Xiao Rui Talks News" on Nanjing Qixia TV Station is one of them.
Fang Ling, director of Nanjing Qixia District Financial Media Center, is the founder of this program.
She recalled that in 2014, following the recommendation of the Qixia District Disabled Persons' Federation, she selected two deaf school teachers who were excellent in sign language as sign language interpreters. .
This made the production more difficult for the main creators: when the listener interprets sign language, they can type while listening to the host’s words, or watch the subtitles of the teleprompter; but the deaf can only read the subtitles and sign language.
The host Rui Zhongke recalled that in the initial run-in, he and the sign language interpreter moved closer to each other's speed. He slowed down the speech speed, and the sign language interpreter increased the hand speed. Adjustments will be made accordingly.
"No one wants to watch a program with out-of-sync audio and video." Director Wang Zhenzhen said, "Sign language should be treated like dubbing and subtitles." She recalled that sometimes the rhythm didn't match, and sign language interpreters had to try different sign language expressions. Cooperate with the host; sometimes the interpreter has to type it again if they make a mistake the first time, just like there must be no typos or incomprehensible sentences in the subtitles.
This also makes the production time of "Xiao Rui Talks News" longer than other programs.
In the past, a program that could be produced in two days took four days here, and sometimes the main creators had to cooperate with sign language interpreters.
After the show was broadcast, the main creators felt the enthusiasm of the deaf audience, and the backstage of the official account also flooded with deaf people living in foreign countries.
The main creators of "Xiao Rui Shuo News" also went outing with more than 20 deaf people, participated in a series of activities for the International Deaf Festival, and established a WeChat group.
In the TV broadcast of "Xiao Rui Talks News", the size of the sign language frame is not easy to adjust, but in the online version of the program, the sign language frame can be adjusted to a quarter of the screen.
This practice is now adopted by some media: some TV stations adjust the sign language frame into a square, accounting for about one-sixth of the screen, and even the online version of some press conferences will enlarge the sign language frame to one-fourth of the screen.
A deaf person said that these advances respect the right of deaf people and hearing people to receive information on an equal footing, and truly achieve eye-level vision.
There are too few good sign language interpreters
It is not easy for TV stations to find suitable sign language interpreters.
Fang Ling, director of the Financial Media Center in Qixia District, Nanjing, said that when choosing a sign language interpreter, she is more inclined to choose someone recommended by the Disabled Persons' Federation, so she doesn't have to worry about the other party making mistakes in translation and misleading the public.
Zheng Xuan said that most TV stations will select part-time sign language interpreters from the teachers of normal hearing schools for the deaf. Sign language proficiency——People who learn sign language interpretation have a consensus that only by being immersed in the deaf environment for a long time and keeping in touch with the deaf can they improve their sign language proficiency.
According to Zheng Xuan's research, the quality of sign language news on TV stations at all levels is uneven. Some district and county-level TV stations even have sign language interpreters who wear beige or white clothes on camera, confusing the skin color of their hands.
But Liu Keyan introduced that the correct dress for appearances is to wear dark shirts, not to wear accessories and watches, and not to wear heavy makeup.
Zheng Xuan said: "The most important thing in the sign language frame is the hands, which must stand out visually."
According to Zheng Xuan's analysis, this is related to the scale and quality of the local special education schools.
Smaller places have fewer deaf students, and it is more difficult for county-level TV stations to find suitable sign language interpreters.
Finding sign language interpreters is hard enough, but choosing the best ones is even more difficult.
Many interviewees said that there are almost no people who understand sign language in the TV station, so it is difficult to evaluate and supervise the interpretation level of sign language interpreters.
Liu Keyan said that many people in TV stations don’t know much about sign language. “The interpreters selected by deaf friends may not meet the requirements of the TV station.” She said that the salary of sign language interpreters is relatively fixed and has no direct relationship with the quality of translation.
Chen Gang once went to the UK for an exchange, and most of the local TV programs are equipped with sign language interpreters, and they often change people.
"In terms of sign language interpretation services, China is at least a few years behind European and American countries."
Meng Fanling, former dean of the School of Special Education at Zhengzhou Institute of Engineering and Technology, said that at present, there are few students majoring in sign language interpretation in my country, but TV stations, universities, hospitals, courts and other units need sign language interpreters, and the supply of this major is often in short supply.
In contrast, the United States has a complete sign language education system, with elective courses offered from preschool to high school, and hundreds of colleges and universities offering sign language education or sign language translation majors.
Sign language elective courses are also offered in Australian primary and secondary schools.
"If the problem of sign language interpreters is not solved, other problems of the deaf will also be difficult to solve." Meng Fanling said.
Tang Shuai, a lawyer who understands sign language, has handled lawsuits related to deaf people for many years. He said in an interview that when some judicial organs interrogated deaf-mute suspects, they had to communicate through external sign language interpreters. In the video, it was found that sign language interpreters were extorting deaf-mute people directly under the camera.
Moreover, Chen Gang said that at present, many people who understand sign language will find other jobs and use sign language interpreting as a part-time job. Simply being a sign language interpreter cannot guarantee a source of income, and there are no relevant policies to support the development of sign language interpreters.
Therefore, the farther you go, the harder it is to find a sign language interpreter.
News for the Deaf
The sign language frame on the TV was once regarded as a symbol of protecting the rights and interests of the deaf.
Feng Gang, a deaf man living in Beijing, recalled that the first time he saw a sign language box appear on TV, he was pleasantly surprised and happy.
Gradually, sign language boxes appeared more frequently.
In 1990, the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Disabled Persons" clarified the significance of TV sign language news in the form of law: "reflecting the lives of disabled people, serving disabled people, and enriching the spiritual and cultural life of disabled people."
The "Barrier-free Environment Construction Regulations" issued in 2012 stipulates that TV stations above the municipal level should create conditions to broadcast news programs with sign language at least once a week.
In Liu Chengcheng's view, the existence of the sign language box on the TV is very important.
"Looking at the scrolling subtitles, the eyes need to be highly concentrated and easily tired. Clearly expressed sign language interpreters can make the eyes of the deaf relatively relaxed, and convey the emotional ups and downs that are difficult to express in words."
But most of the time, the deaf look at this sign language box in a panic.
Liu Lina, former chairman of the Beijing Xicheng District Association for the Deaf, has repeatedly reported to the Beijing Disabled Persons' Federation and the Beijing Association for the Deaf about the situation of "unable to understand sign language news".
A deaf person in Beijing said that in 2021, under the organization of the Beijing Disabled Persons’ Federation, as a representative of the deaf, he participated in the assessment of sign language interpreters, scoring from multiple angles of hand shape, movement, demeanor, and translation skills. Deaf audiences can see clearly without getting tired."
Nearly 30 listening teachers from special education schools participated in the assessment. Each of them took turns to go on stage for 15 minutes, listening to the news recordings played randomly, and signing while listening.
He recalled that in the end, seven sign language teachers passed the assessment, and after the disabled people's federation recommended them to the TV station, for some reason, the TV station insisted on using the old team.
Zheng Xuan suggested that an expert committee can be formed to select experts who are proficient in sign language and understand sign language theory. The deaf and hearing are not limited, and the expert committee will evaluate the interpretation level of sign language interpreters.
In an interview with reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily, some deaf people from different places also said that they had reported through various channels such as the Federation of Disabled Persons at all levels and the Association of the Deaf at all levels that "sign language news cannot be read". ", but after reporting it many times, I haven't seen any changes.
"Can we have understandable news programs, can we have a better spiritual life?" Liu Lina asked.
Zheng Xuan said that the biggest psychological problem for the hearing-impaired is the sense of isolation, and news information is just one of the bridges connecting the deaf with the outside world, which can help the deaf to break the sense of isolation and find the meaning of their own existence.
Some deaf people insist on reading and reading newspapers for many years, and like to use sign language to share fraudulent news in newspapers with other deaf people at parties.
A deaf person said that he would turn on the TV to watch the World Cup, Olympic Games, and Spring Festival Gala on time-this would make him feel that he had truly participated in the activities of mainstream society.
As the first deaf Ph.D. in linguistics in China, Zheng Xuan sometimes feels lonely when she is in meetings at Beijing Normal University: When her colleagues start chattering, even with hearing aids, it is difficult for her to identify who it is She also struggles to get the full message through hearing aids or lip-reading when the seat is too far from the speaker.
Many deaf people, she said, have experienced moments when a group of people tell a joke and laugh, and the deaf person asks, "What?"
Chen Gang had a good friend who attended the meeting. He asked the colleague next to him about the content of the meeting, and the colleague gave a concise and clear answer, "The department needs to be reformed, and the office and personnel must be reorganized."
"Is it all over in one sentence?" The deaf man wondered, the meeting had been going on for a long time.
"The rest has nothing to do with you, as long as you know the key points." The colleague replied.
Deaf people crave two-way communication, not one
The feeling of "it has nothing to do with you" has weakened to a certain extent after the birth of short videos.
That is the fastest and most common way to obtain information in the deaf circle.
There are also some deaf people who choose to use sign language to make short videos: teaching sign language, translating news, telling life stories... A popular self-media site translates an important news of the day every day. There are no subtitles, only sign language, but each tweet The article has tens of thousands of views.
In 2021, when the National Sign Language and Braille Research Center investigated the intelligibility of TV sign language news, it also surveyed deaf people's views on online self-media videos.
More than 60% of deaf people can "completely understand" or "understand most" sign language videos spontaneously recorded by deaf people on self-media.
In contrast, the deaf people who participated in the survey are more likely to recognize online self-media videos.
Many deaf viewers said that the short news clips made by deaf people are easy to understand, convenient and close to each other.
They are used to reposting and sharing these short videos in the group of friends, and they can also interact with the creators of the short videos in the comment area.
Technology has increased opportunities for two-way communication for deaf people.
Some of Feng Gang's older friends have poor eyesight and can't read words.
When they are in trouble, these friends will chat via video and sign language to ask Feng Gang for help.
Sometimes, Feng Gang is bored at home, and he also likes to chat with deaf friends through video, sometimes for hours.
But Feng Gang also said that using sign language via mobile phone video is labor-intensive and time-consuming. Once the signal is not good and the picture freezes, you have to retype the sign language just now.
More and more tech companies are investing in accessibility research.
For the Qatar World Cup in 2022, Chen Gang has a new way to watch: real-time barrier-free subtitles will appear under the TV screen to translate and commentary for the deaf.
TVs even appear to replace sign language interpreters with AI to translate news for the deaf, called digital humans.
"Xiao Rui Shuo News" has now switched to the form of a digital human.
Rui Zhongke said that the emergence of digital humans has greatly reduced production costs. The original 4-day production time has been shortened to two days. The main creative personnel only need to enter the text into the computer, and it will automatically generate a digital human sign language video.
Fang Ling believes that although a digital human is not as expressive as a real person, it will not change the meaning and ensure accuracy.
She plans to extend digital humans to more programs, such as relatively relaxing entertainment programs.
"It's a matter of time before translation and technology embrace each other." Liu Keyan also said that the joining of technology not only provides many possibilities for sign language translation work, but also brings new challenges to sign language interpreters.
Zheng Xuan's research found that many district and county-level TV stations that were troubled by the lack of sign language interpreters have now purchased digital human services.
She was invited to guide the research and development of sign language digital humans in a major factory, and she invested a lot of energy and time. However, there is still a long way to go before digital humans can catch up with the translation level of real people. "Currently, the development of digital humans has not yet reached maturity To the extent that some technology companies exaggerate their propaganda and one-sided promotion, it is easy to cause rejection among deaf audiences.”
She observed that at present, when digital humans translate news, there are problems such as information loss, missing translations, distorted movements, and weird rhythms.
There is also a metaphor for deaf people, digital people are like Chinese-English translation machines, input Chinese but Chinglish comes out.
Zheng Xuan is worried that TV stations and other media do not understand sign language. Under the trend of technology companies rushing to develop digital humans, it is difficult to judge the real product quality, thus harming the interests of deaf friends.
Feng Gang also said that the current digital human only conveys and informs the deaf in one way. "Can the digital human take the deaf to see a doctor?" .
Sign language is beautiful and alive
Like Chinese, English, and French, sign language is also a language. It has grammar, speed, rhythm, rhythm, pause, tone, and stress.
Meng Fanling has seen excellent speeches by deaf people. The deaf people on the stage use their expressions, eyes, posture, facial expressions, and steps to speak all over their bodies, "so beautiful and so clear."
Feng Gang also said that deaf people like to tell stories in sign language.
When they were teenagers, they liked to tell stories about movies on the podium of the school for the deaf, and when they became adults, they went to work in welfare units. They also liked to use sign language to "talk" about recent social phenomena when they gathered together to chat.
Zheng Xuan also used sign language to recite Tang poems, speak Chinese characters, and read the Analects of Confucius. "Sign language is very flexible." Hitting the forehead is a substitute for difficulty.
Moreover, the sign language in different places is slightly different, just like "dialects", but when two deaf people from different places chat, they can always communicate smoothly through richer body language.
The same word can be expressed with different gestures.
There are even language differences in sign language, such as Chinese Sign Language, American Sign Language, and Japanese Sign Language.
But the language is still in its very early stages in China.
Meng Fanling has trained many students majoring in sign language interpretation, and found that the society lacks a basic understanding of the knowledge about "deaf people" and "sign language".
Some students clamored to transfer schools when they first entered school, "Why do I have to learn to speak with my hands when I have a mouth" and "I'm afraid to see deaf people".
"The general public has too little knowledge about deafness." She encouraged sign language interpretation majors to get in touch with deaf people more and learn sign language from deaf people. Sign language used.
"Although this requirement is very difficult for students, it must be achieved in order to become a qualified sign language interpreter serving the deaf community."
She once visited a school in the United States. Each deaf student is equipped with a sign language interpreter in class, and the level of interpretation will be assessed. "In this way, knowledge can be passed on to the deaf and the development of the deaf will be encouraged."
She believes that improving the status of sign language can also promote the development of higher education for the deaf.
In 2013, Jiangsu Normal University established a master program in sign language broadcasting.
Hu Xiaobo, a graduate student, is one of the few deaf students.
He said that the college teachers also want to recruit more deaf students, but so far only three deaf people have passed the unified entrance examination. The essential reason is that most deaf people are not educated enough and are most likely to get stuck in English.
Chen Gang knew a British family whose five generations were all deaf, but produced 10 PhDs, 5 sign language interpreters, and some worked in universities and research institutions.
This once made him feel envious and shocked.
Liu Chengcheng found that at present, most parents of deaf children in China prefer to let their children learn spoken language rather than sign language.
But the relationship between sign language and spoken language is not an either-or relationship.
Deaf children learn spoken language in order to survive in the mainstream society, but they must have no barriers, no sense of isolation, and equal communication. For example, if there are many people having dinner or talking about love, they can only use sign language.
Liu Keyan is also a teacher at Beijing Qidu Experimental School.
She observed that some deaf students could only stay alone in the room when they returned home, because none of the family members could communicate with sign language.
Many deaf students don't like to watch the news. She often uses some current events in class to enrich the content of the class, but it often has no effect—students don't understand these current events, or even have never heard of them.
"The news is not something you can see." Liu Keyan said that people who listen to the news must have a certain and comprehensive knowledge as a reserve to understand the news; and deaf students have weak knowledge reserves in all aspects, and it is relatively difficult to understand the news .
In the past two years, when she reads the news, she sometimes feels that even as a listener, it is difficult for her to understand and understand some highly professional news.
Feng Gang is now also starting to make short videos in sign language, "I want the society to understand the culture and world of the deaf. The voice of the deaf needs to be heard, and it can be done through self-media."
"It is more difficult for deaf people to speak than other forms of disabilities." Zheng Xuan said that it is not easy for deaf people to complete daily communication. Therefore, it is difficult to hear the subtext and words in the other party's words.
This makes it difficult for the deaf to speak out and strive for more social resources.
"That invisible ceiling has been standing there." Zheng Xuan said that to truly realize barrier-free, more people's support is needed.
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Wei Xi Source: China Youth Daily