How Many People Use Sign Language in 2024? (U.S. & Worldwide) – EarthWeb

Sign language allows over 70 million deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals worldwide to communicate fully. With a vibrant culture and hundreds of regional signing varieties, it empowers diverse communities across the globe. In this expansive guide, we explore key facts and figures about sign language users today.

How Many People Use Sign Language in 2024?

Current estimates suggest over 70 million deaf and hard-of-hearing people worldwide use various sign languages to communicate daily. This makes sign language one of the most widely used languages globally.

Within the U.S., American Sign Language (ASL) has an estimated 500,000 to 2 million users. However, this accounts for less than 15% of the projected 10 million deaf Americans, showing not all have access.

The U.S. deaf population includes a rising number of seniors losing hearing with age. Around 2 million (18%) of deaf Americans are over age 65. An additional 46 million (37%) are adults aged 45-64.

In contrast, only 1.6% of deaf Americans are children under age 5, indicating improved early intervention today. Though prevalence increases with age, U.S. Census data shows ASL use declining after age 65. English literacy and speech often become accessible earlier for older generations.

Globally, some key facts on sign language users:

• British Sign Language (BSL) has 87,000 deaf users in Britain and Ireland. User growth projections estimate up to 115,000 by 2028.

• Chinese Sign Language has 7-13 million users but is not officially recognized by the Chinese government. Regional variations exist.

• The 18th century French Sign Language (LSF) has over 100,000 users across France and French-speaking African/Caribbean nations today.

• Usage of Russian Sign Language has declined since the Soviet era with just 106,000 users mostly across Russia and former Soviet states.

• South Africa has over 500,000 deaf residents but only about 115,000 users of South African Sign Language (SASL) including some hearing children.

• Kenya has approximately 200,000 deaf sign language users out of over 1 million deaf citizens due to limited educational access.

These figures reveal major gaps globally in sign language adoption among deaf communities, emphasizing the need for improved education access and instruction.

Notable Sign Languages and Where They Are Used

There are over 300 distinct sign languages used regionally worldwide alongside spoken languages. These enable cultural Deaf identities to thrive.

Some prominent sign languages include:

American Sign Language (ASL)

Primarily used in the U.S. and English-speaking Canada with 500,000-2 million users. It emerged organically in early 19th century deaf schools, combining French Sign Language with homegrown signs. ASL has its own complex spatial grammar unrelated to English.

Regional accents exist, like Black ASL originating from segregated Southern deaf schools. Youth slang signing is also developing.

British Sign Language (BSL)

Used by 87,000 deaf people in Britain and Ireland. It developed independently from French Sign Language in the late 18th century at institutions like the Braidwood Academy. BSL shares only 31% vocabulary with ASL but 64% with Auslan.

Chinese Sign Language

A family of signing varieties used by up to 13 million across China, including Shanghai Variant, Hong Kong Variant and Taiwanese Variant. Linguistically unrelated to Chinese. Not recognized as official by the government.

French Sign Language (LSF)

With origins dating back to the 1700s, LSF has 100,000-600,000 users in France and other Francophone regions like Quebec. Related to ASL but uses two hands less. Highly regionalized into different dialects.

German Sign Language (DGS)

Used by 16,000 people in Germany, with related variants in Austria and Switzerland. Emerged in the late 18th century and has limited mutual intelligibility with other sign languages. Uses one-handed fingerspelling.

Indian Sign Language (ISL)

An umbrella term for at least eight unrelated regional sign languages used across India by 4.8 million deaf people. No standard form. The ISL Dictionary project currently seeks to document these linguistic variations.

Japanese Sign Language (JSL)

Brought to Japan in the late 19th century via educators from the West. JSL integrates elements from ASL as well as indigenous Japanese signing forms and writing. Used natively by 122,000 deaf signers with significant dialectal diversity.

This small sample displays the linguistic breadth, cultural specificity and educational role of sign languages used daily by millions worldwide.

Sign Languages Support Thriving Deaf Cultures Globally

Sign languages are integral to the Deaf community – not just tools but cultural treasures that construct group identity. As visual languages, they enable fuller self-expression and connection.

Deaf culture intertwines tightly with sign language, with key aspects like:

• Shared experiences of visual, physical world orientation rather than auditory. Rejects "hearing loss" view.

• Passing down sign language generation to generation as a cultural heritage and source of Deaf pride.

• Building deaf schools, clubs and community centers as cultural hubs for socializing and expression in sign language.

• Using sign language in Deaf arts, film, poetry and theater to reinforce cultural perspectives and identity.

• Developing traditions like Deaf Olympics, Miss Deaf Pageants and Deaf Expos to celebrate achievements.

• Promoting Deaf rights activism around sign language recognition, accessibility laws and medical ethics.

Thus, sign languages are integral to maintaining and celebrating Deaf cultures globally. Preserving them ensures identity, self-advocacy and full participation.

Sign Language Usage Differs Across Demographics

Within deaf signers, usage patterns differ based on factors like age, gender, ethnicity and socioeconomics:

• Older signers may use more fingerspelling and outdated signs compared to youth slang.

• Male and female signers exhibit subtle distinctions in signing style linked to gender identity expression.

• Regional accents in signing arise even within small areas based on schools attended and Deaf communities.

• Signing artistry is nurtured more among upper-middle class deaf children with resources to develop skills.

• Ethnic and immigrant groups may infuse native cultural elements into signing styles. Black ASL incorporates African American visual rhythmic components.

• Remote, rural deaf students often have less signing fluency without specialized instruction compared to urban peers.

Understanding these signing variations across the diverse Deaf community enriches cross-cultural perspectives while guiding educational approaches.

Linguistic Study of Sign Languages

Modern linguistic research has established that sign languages are natural, fully expressive languages on par with spoken tongues:

• Sign languages spontaneously develop similar generational grammatical complexity, demonstrating human predisposition for language. Nicaraguan Sign Language rapidly emerged in the 1970s with no outside input.

• Signs exhibit "arbitrariness" – no logical relation between sign and referent meaning – a key marker of true languages.

• Deaf children grasp signing and grammar innately, at the same pace as hearing kids acquire speech.

• Though visual-spatial in mode, specific neural regions handle sign language processing, showing it has dedicated linguistic infrastructure in the brain. fMRI studies found the left hemisphere is active, contrasting old right-brain assumptions.

• Distinct syntactic structures exist in sign languages around classifier systems and facial expressions to indicate types of sentences (questions, statements, relative clauses etc).

Linguistic study continues to further academically validate sign languages as legitimate, organic languages fulfilling all criteria. This research advances social acceptance and policy support.

Global Adoption of Sign Language in Deaf Education

Given its vital role in cognitive and social development, adoption of sign language in schools for the deaf has increased but continues to be limited worldwide:

• The US has over 200 deaf residential schools but 80% of deaf/hard-of-hearing students are mainstreamed using interpreters. Educational results are mixed without full immersion.

• Nations like Finland emphasize bilingual education with instruction fully in sign language before introducing written language. Outcomes surpass oral-only approaches.

• Sweden, Denmark and New Zealand also integrate sign language into early education for the deaf in blended bilingual models with support services.

• Less economically developed nations struggle to provide specialized deaf education at all. Over 90% of deaf children may lack school access or instruction in languages like Ugandan Sign Language.

• Oral-only schools persist even where sign language is recognized as the première language for deaf students, like in Japan and Brazil.

Global deaf education policies remain far from fully embracing sign language as the optimal first instructional medium for deaf children‘s success. Direct immersion programs remain limited.

Technology Innovations Benefit Sign Language Users

Advances in technology are helping bridge communication divides for signers:

• Video relay services enable sign language users to make phone calls via video interpreters who translate signing to speech and vice versa in real time.

• Real-time captioning uses AI and transcription to generate text of spoken conversations for deaf individuals on smart devices and screens.

• Motion recognition software can translate body movements and facial expressions in sign language into text or speech output.

• Handheld signing avatar apps recognize hand signs through mobile phone cameras and speak related phrases out loud for service interactions.

• Deaf implants/cochlear technology now allows combining speech and sign language fluently based on setting and preference.

• Online video platforms like SignVlog and AVLnow have allowed Deaf creators, influencers and media talents to produce viral signed content.

Though technology cannot fully replace the nuances of in-person sign language interaction, it contributes digital bridges to expand Deaf participation and accessibility.

Signing Controversies: Cochlear Implants and ASL Stigma

There are also controversies around cultural identity and sign language:

• Cochlear implant surgery for deaf infants remains debated in the community. Many argue decisions should be left to mature children and not all deaf people need "fixing." Implants have improved but impact natural visual language acquisition.

• Oralism movements historically shamed sign language as primitive and pushed speech-only teaching. This complicated legacy still affects some deaf education policies today that discourage signing.

• Segregated deaf institutions preserved sign language but also restricted opportunities. Some argue sign language isolates deaf people and should be replaced by mainstreaming.

• ASL and other sign languages have faced barriers to recognition as official state languages on par with spoken tongues. Legal status impacts educational supports.

• Appropriation concerns arise when hearing people use sign language as entertainment or promote it as a trend without engaging meaningfully with Deaf community perspectives.

These tensions reveal the layered identity politics and marginalization sign languages are tied to. There are complex challenges in promoting deaf self-determination and sign language legitimacy globally.

Famous Pioneers in Deaf History

Many deaf change-makers left lasting impacts:

• Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet (1787-1851): An American educator who co-founded the first deaf school in the U.S. and helped standardize sign language.

• Laurent Clerc (1785-1869): A French deaf teacher who co-created ASL with Gallaudet after bringing French Sign Language to America.

• William Stokoe (1919–2000): Linguist who studied and formally documented the grammatical structure of ASL, validating it as a true natural language.

• Marlee Matlin (b. 1965): An Academy Award winning actress in Children of a Lesser God (1986), the only deaf Oscar winner to date. A prominent deaf entertainer and activist.

• I. King Jordan (b. 1943): The first deaf president of Gallaudet University, he led the 1988 student movement which resulted in the first university for the deaf in the world.

These leaders were instrumental in furthering education, empowerment and advocacy for deaf sign language users historically through to today. Their legacies endure.

Sign Language Use in Arts and Media

Deaf creators infuse sign language into cultural expression and media:

• Sign dance and poetry: Blend signing with rhythm, drama, and movement into artistic performance. Promotes ASL literary aesthetics.

• Closed captioning at deaf theaters: Provides access to stage productions‘ dialog alongside large projected signs by ASL interpreters integrated into set design.

• Signed music performances: Musicians incorporate ASL interpretations of lyrics during concerts for deaf fans.

• Deaf films and soaps: Productions made in sign language by deaf writers/directors with deaf actors tell authentic stories like in the U.S. series Sign It.

• Signed news broadcasts: Television news programs aired with ASL interpreters for all televised speeches and reporting in real time.

• Social media deaf influencers: Deaf YouTubers, TikTokers, and bloggers create signed entertainment content for millions of followers, both deaf and hearing.

These expressions keep sign language incorporated into cultural life rather than isolated from it. They reinforce artistic Deaf perspectives.

Teaching Hearing Babies Basic Sign Language

Many parents today introduce sign language to hearing infants alongside speech:

• A study on hearing babies under 3 found those taught sign vocabulary understood on average twice as many words as non-signing babies. Signing boosted comprehension.

• Other studies found parents felt sign language strengthened bonding during the pre-verbal stage by reducing child frustration. Early signing enhances communication.

• Signing taps into infants‘ natural gestural inclinations, allowing them to initiate interaction. Babies often lose interest in communication if limited to speech.

• ASL developmental research found hearing babies master and retain signs rapidly starting at 6-7 months old when taught, advancing expressiveness.

• Hearing toddlers who learn signing and speech together show no delays in verbal development. Signing reinforces speech acquisition.

• Drawing on visual processing pathways in the brain, signing may boost focus, memory and spatial cognition in hearing kids as they multitask across two modes of language input.

While more research is still needed, these findings indicate sign language positively nurtures communication and cognitive skills in hearing babies too.

Principles of DeafSpace Architecture

Specially designed architectural environments better meet Deaf community needs and sign language use:

• Open spaces and minimal visual barriers allow clear sightlines for signing between multiple participants.

• Circular or u-shaped seating arrangements enable everyone to be visible.

• Vibrant lighting, colors and textures aid peripheral vision and navigation. White walls and ceilings can cause glare.

• Wayfinding signage and room labels should avoid solely relying on audio cues.

• Widened hallways and large common areas give gathering space since sign language is more physically expressive.

Gallaudet University‘s DeafSpace guidelines influence building design worldwide to give physical primacy to sign language and Deaf ways of inhabiting space visually.

Some examples beyond Gallaudet include Rochester Institute of Technology‘s National Technical Institute for the Deaf and Denmark‘s Hørsholm School for the Deaf, designed fully around sign language use.

Conclusion

As a pillar of identity, education and accessibility for 70 million deaf people globally, sign languages display the authentic human drive for sophisticated communication. Far more than tools, they open diverse cultural worlds. Statistics reveal key gaps remain in sign language access and instruction for many deaf citizens. Elevating signing arts and media, advancing smart tech integration, designing DeafSpace architecture and promoting early bilingual policies all help strengthen these thriving languages so critical to human diversity.