High voices of criticism are building at the ‘You Said Thanks Challenge’, which took place among medical students with the purpose of criticizing the government’s recent medical policies. It has been criticized because of its insulting symbolic gesture, which is the mocking reverse of the symbolic gesture of the ‘Thanks to You Challenge’; that sign language, which means respect and pride, was used in order to send messages of encouragement toward the hard-working medical community during the COVID-19 situation. At the same time, more evidence of the people’s low understanding of sign language is clearly shown as they raise their voices in criticism towards the sign language interpreters who did not wear their masks at government COVID-19 briefings.
Meanwhile, November 4th is ‘braille day’, which was enacted to commemorate November 4th, 1926, when Park Song-am a.k.a. ‘King Sejong the Great’ of the visually impaired, made and distributed Hangul braille. Sadly, this fact is not widely known to the public, while the awareness of braille itself is also very low. Due to these circumstances, we Globe reporters decided to check up on how Jeonju and JBNU were conducting welfare for visually or hearing impaired people.
At JBNU, there are five visually or hearing impaired students enrolled as of April 1st, 2020. For those students’ educational convenience, the JBNU Service Center for Disabled Students is providing various welfare systems. The center conducts surveys considering impaired students’ needs at all times, and it also offers support programs such as educational assistant services to help improve impaired students’ college lives and a registration support service for those who have trouble with registering for courses on their own.
JBNU had no choice but to carry out non-face-to-face courses last semester because of COVID-19, which was not great news for visually or hearing impaired students. Due to the nature of non-face-to-face courses, it was difficult to provide real-time educational staff assistance. Most of the assistance was provided after the courses finished, which was a struggle for some students. To solve this problem, the JBNU Service Center for Disabled Students informed the university and relevant departments about demands for educational support for impaired students. They demanded support for impaired students who had trouble learning by assigning student assistants who took the same courses. At the same time, the center provided assistive technology devices that can be used in classes such as a Sovoro tablet (a device that changes sound into letters) or a telescope. The center also plans to support lip-viewing masks for hearing impaired students who need to read lips when communicating.
Another Way to See, Braille
Hangul braille was revised by Park Song-am in 1926 for the visually impaired who use the Korean language. Hangul braille has a feature different from Hangul. In Braille, the initial consonant(i-eung) is omitted because i-eung does not make any sound in the initial location. We can easily see braille in everyday life such as on top of canned beverages or on top of buttons in elevators. However, it does not mean that the visually impaired can enjoy as convenient a life as sighted individuals. In the case of braille, gaps between the letters are more significant than in regular prints. However, in general, the orthography of braille is broken. It makes the visually impaired hard to be informed correctly.
Even though public institutions and enterprises endeavor to improve visually impaired life, the visually impaired are undergoing difficulties. For instance, the visually impaired are more prone to abuse medicines than sighted people because medicine and medical supplies lack braille guidelines. Below are some examples of how the visually impaired go through daily troubles.
1. On the top of canned beverages, the braille is written but it marks only ‘beverage’, not the type of beverage.
2. According to the Korea Consumer Agency, as a result of investigating whether the braille markings were visible on fifty-eight different general pharmaceutical products, the braille was displayed on only sixteen (27.6%) of the products. Thus, the visually impaired rate of the misuse of medicine is higher than the rate of sighted people.
3. In the COVID-19 situation, most of the buttons in elevators are covered with anti-virus film. It disrupts the visually impaired to perceive braille by touch.
To prevent and solve those issues, the BRAILLE ACT was enforced in 2018. In the BRAILLE ACT, Article 5 states ‘A public institution, etc. shall establish and implement policies necessary for any visually impaired person to access and utilize all information by using braille.’ Thus, the JBNU Globe reporters researched how Jeonju has been faring in their braille practices.
First, The Jeonbuk Braille Library was established in 2001. Not only braille books are kept but also Digital Talking Books and enlarged books are available. Furthermore, the braille library holds educational and themed book traveling programs. According to an interview with a librarian at the Jeonbuk Braille Library, the library needs a lot of help from volunteers for the sake of quick and precise service. You can make a reservation and participate in volunteering work via the Jeonbuk Braille Library homepage (http://www.vipdl.org).
Not only in academic life, but the visually impaired can have difficulties in everyday life, especially with transportation. To improve the streets to be more visually-impaired friendly, Jeonju updated the outdated sound signal devices to smart signal devices which were installed on traffic lights. 740 smart signal devices, which can be remotely controlled by the visually impaired, have been installed in 160 intersections.
● Hearing with Heart: Sign Language
Last year, The National Human Rights Commission of Korea announced that sign language interpretation services were used only eight percent for the three major broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC). Last May, the commission recommended sign language interpretation services on their main news programs. However, the broadcasters were passive. In particular, MBC said, "if the sign language translation screen is given, it may restrict non-disabled people’s rights to watch the news." This was followed by protests from disabled groups.
The problem with this situation is that sign language translation screens may offer a little inconvenience for the non-disabled, but if this screen disappears, the hearing impaired people may not understand the contents easily. Furthermore, this reveals the true state of broadcasters who do not fully understand a hearing impaired person’s language: ‘sign language’.
Communication methods used by the hearing impaired include sign language, oral methods, writing, and gestures. Among them, sign language refers to a language in which deaf people convey meaning by changing the shape of their hands and fingers, the direction of the palm, and the position and movement of the hands.
Let us learn more about sign language by looking at some of the common misconceptions.
1. Sign language is just a ‘mark’ for a native language. (X)
Sign language is a fully independent ‘language’ different from the native language. In recent years, as research on sign language continues, many sign language scholars acknowledge that sign language has a fully grammatically structured language.
2. Sign language is a global language. (X)
Sign language appears differently depending on the cultural characteristics of each country. For example, in Korea, raising the little finger means a woman, but in Singapore it means ‘the end’ and in China it means ‘not good’.
3. Sign language has few technical terms. (O)
The reason why is because the world history of sign language is not a long one. The history of deaf people receiving higher education was not long ago, and the use of sign language in Korea was prohibited during the Japanese colonial era.
4. Sign language is only for the deaf. (X)
Since non-disabled people also use sign language to communicate with the deaf, it is not only for deaf people. That is why we need to learn and know sign language, even a little.
In Jeonju, there are 33,777 people with disabilities out of every 650,000 people, of which 4,566 people have a hearing disability, accounting for 13.5% of the total disabled population (as of June 2020). For them, the Jeonju Sign Language Translation Center was established in 2005. This center provides sign language interpretation visiting services for a deaf person, so that they do not experience communication difficulties when visiting government offices, financial facilities, etc. Sign language education is also held to foster the growth of sign language interpreters.
The Jeonju Sign Language Culture Festival, which is held under the supervision of the Jeonju Sign Language Translation Center, has been held annually four years with the aim of expanding the positive awareness of deaf people. At this event, people can participate in various cultural experiences such as calligraphy and Korean painting, and sign language contests are held by utilizing dramas and songs.
Choi Hyun-sook, head of the Jeonju Sign Language Translation Center, said, “compared to the past, sign language interpretation services have increased in broadcasts, but I hope that it will expand to more programs, including cultural and entertainment programs. In addition, please remember the following. Deaf people look at the facial expressions carefully when talking to the non-disabled. Therefore, I ask you to smile naturally and brightly when you meet a deaf person.”
In 2017, Jeonju hired sign language interpreters for the first time among local governments in the country, and last year, it hired more sign language interpreters. An interpreter provides various programs such as reading books in sign language and teaching sign language at the Pyeonghwa Library, a specialized library for disabled.
In addition, Jeonju has been providing sign language videos with diverse news about Jeonju through YouTube since last year. Sign language education videos for citizens are also available, which can be viewed through the website below.
Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChXLSP-vJYvb5FE3hNn9kDg/featured
According to KOSIS (Korean Statistical Information Service) statistics, there are 340,000 hearing impaired and 250,000 visually impaired people living in Korea. As such, the hearing impaired and the visually impaired are living together around us, but regrettably, the majority of people are ignorant of them, including the letters and languages they use. For the sake of the world we live in together, we should pay more attention to them, and furthermore, promote a world where the hearing and visually impaired are able to lead not only convenient daily lives but enjoy life to the fullest, like you and me.
Gu Seo-yoon, Lee Won-jun, Kim Eun-ji Reporters