Communication
Five perspectives on the human hand. Today we explore our hands' role in communication, from sign language for Deaf people to the hand signals used by infantry soldiers.
We use our hands to explore the world around us; to manipulate and change it; to communicate; to signify aggression, submission or gratitude; to comfort or arouse; to make music, craft and create. We point, punch, tweak and text. We ball our fists, spread our palms, give someone the thumbs up and close our hands in prayer.
More than anything else, is it our hands which make us human?
This series considers the human hand from five different angles: manipulation, creativity, gesture, communication and touch. In each programme we hear from people who have a very particular perspective on hands and the way we use them, including a surgeon, a massage therapist, a harpist, a blacksmith and the recipient of a hand transplant. Each of them takes a long look at their own hands, describes what they see and considers the relationship with the world which their hands give them.
As we encounter healing hands, steady hands, talking hands, holding hands and the laying-on of hands we come to understand just how much our hands identify and define us.
Today we explore the ways we use our hands in communication. Hand gestures are a key part of the sign languages used by Deaf people. British Sign Language is as complex as spoken English, with its own grammar and syntax. Dr. Robert Adam, head of BSL at Heriot Watt University, considers how Deaf people learn fluency and âdictionâ with their hands to create clear, unambiguous communication.
Clear, unambiguous communication is also essential for soldiers. For infantry in combat or observing radio silence, hands are a vital tool. Former Royal Marine Gary Mapletoft talks through the hand signals infantry use in the field to signal information about patrol formations, enemy positions and ambushes. He also reflects on the many other ways a soldierâs hands are used â from handling a weapon in extreme weather conditions to 'knife hands' â a way of pointing which is characteristic of many ex-infantry soldiers.
And, of course, every time we speak we all use our hands, whether itâs the unconscious signals of everyday conversation or the carefully thought-out gestures of actors or public speakers like politicians. Body language expert Allan Pease analyses what weâre saying about ourselves when we gesture with our hands.
Producer: Jeremy Grange
Photograph courtesy of Tim Booth
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PROGRAMME TRANSCRIPT: A SHOW OF HANDS
PROGRAMME TRANSCRIPT: A SHOW OF HANDS
EPISODE 4 - COMMUNICATION
TX: Tuesday 29th June 2021, 0930, ±«Óătv Radio 4
Producer: Jeremy Grange
CONTRIBUTORS:
Dr. Robert Adam, Head of British Sign Language, Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies, Heriot Watt University
Gary Mapletoft - Former Royal Marine and freelance outdoor instructor
Alan Pease, Professor of Communication and author of The Definitive Book of Body Language
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Music: My People by Mikey J
Robert Adam
The hand is really important in Deaf Arts in terms of how deaf people represent their lived experiences. And you see that the hands occur as a motif for either liberation or oppression.
You can imagine showing hands being cuffed or chained in some way or bound. Or cracked or crumbling, in fact, is another metaphor I've seen for the oppression of sign languages. So deaf people often use their hands to really⊠well⊠they stand as a metaphor for life.
Announcer
A Show of HandsâŠ. Communication.
Music fades
Fx: Woodland birdsong
Gary Mapletoft
So⊠just coming from this sort of small track area behind me here, where it's fairly overgrown... we're going to be working in a single file, which is basically hand over the head. And that signal is passed down through the peopleâŠ
So, my nameâs Gary â Gary Mapletoft. And I spent 23 years in the Royal Marines until 2003. Iâm now based in South Wales as an outdoor freelance instructor taking groups out in the wilds.
Fx: Footsteps in woodland
Gary Mapletoft
And as we can see there, the track starts to open up here. And we've got more view and visibility. And more cover either side. So, probably then we'd be able to move to what we call a staggered file. So staggered file would be holding our hands - probably one with a weapon - one above our head and one slightly at our shoulders. There⊠so either side. So people adopt a left and right position, alternately down the trackâŠ
The human voice is very noticeable - even whispering. And when you get attuned to listening for voices., it's a dead giveaway. So what we do in the military is use hand signals to replace that voice communication. And during training theyâre instilled in you constantly. They become part of your DNA almost. You never forget them.
Music: Through a Glass Dimly by Antonymes
Gary Mapletoft
At any point somebody within the patrol might spot something and they need to pass that message on. So theyâll point to their eye. And that message will get passed forward to the commander. And maybe heâll say âOK - go to groundâ which will be then pushing the hand down towards the ground. The commander will probably then go over to the person thatâs seen something. And then they will point to an area or a position⊠and then say maybe âenemyâ which will be thumbs down. And if theyâre pointing it's normally with the typical knife hand. So it's a chopping motion, pushing forward with the hand, pointing. It's a typical military hand movement and lots of people who are ex-military constantly use this as a method of punctuation and description.
Allan Pease
With our body language in general youâve got to understand and accept that 60 to 80 per cent of all the impact weâre making in a face-to-face situation is non-verbal. And our hands play a large part of it because theyâre usually waving around in front of your body.
Music ends
Allan Pease
I'm Allan Pease, Professor of Communication and author of The Definitive Book of Body Language.
If we want people to feel at ease and cooperate and to feel like they want to go along with youâŠthey might want to agree with you... they might want to say âyesâ to what you're selling or convincing them to do or persuading them to do⊠talk with your palms in an upward position as you talk.
Music: Palm of Your Hand by Speed Limits and Jaco Featuring Joni Fatora
Allan Pease
It does two things. First, if they can see your palms facing up, the limbic system of the brain â that is the ancient reptilian brain - will pick that up. It appears to be without any sort of understanding or training. So itâs probably somewhere in our DNA. Theyâll pick it up and their brain will say âWell, this person Iâm listening to appears to be non-threateningâ. Thatâ is, youâre not holding anything in your hands, under your arms or nothing concealed. Whereas, if you put your hands behind your back, people are much more suspicious because they canât see your palms.
Now, palms facing downwards has historically been used as a form of oppression and suppression. You have four times more power in your palms when theyâre facing down than when theyâre facing up. So palms facing up is kind of like a dog laying on its back, revealing its throat. Youâre showing that youâre not threatening, that you're giving in â youâre more submissive. Whereas palms facing down is seen as more aggressive. So when someone's talking with their palms down we know that you recall up to 50 per cent less of what they said when their palms are facing down than if their palms are facing up. Because when their palms are facing down it becomes authoritative and dominant.
Music ends
Allan Pease Now the steeple⊠is like⊠it's almost like a church steeple. The fingertips of one hand just rest against the fingertips of the other. It's almost like you're praying. Now you just hold it about chest height⊠if you do that now⊠just slowly move the fingertips back and forth... one set of fingertips against the other⊠and just lift your chin up slightly⊠you
notice how you start to feel like âYeahâŠ. this is pretty cool. I've got this. I'm in charge of my emotionsâ.
And the steeple gesture is a trademark of the likes of Donald Trump. And that was his trademark on his book covers, on his television advertisements and his rallies. He would stand there with the steeple. And heâd get people to steeple as well. You know where he got it from? His father did it. His father was also a confidence supremist as well. And Donald copied him and Donald has been, historically just super-confident about everything, including things heâs wrong about. But he looks like he knows what he's talking about. So he's become a very persuasive- and very authoritative-type figure by using steeple gestures.
Fx: Woodland birdsong and footsteps
Gary Mapletoft
So we're just walking down the track now⊠quite a wide track⊠vehicle track. And we can see a road ahead. So at this point the commander would probably stop and he would put his hand up... stop everybody. And then whatever position they were in â and probably staggered file⊠you know, those two handsâŠeither side of the track. And they would just melt to the sides, keeping an eye on the commander. The point man would probably say âobstacleâ - crossed armsâŠ. OK. And he would pass the message down â âobstacleâ.
From a very early stage soldiers are trained to do different things with their hands. You know, there's about four or five different things that you are taught when you're holding a weapon that are just to do with your hands. And your hands become very used to, you know, being in contact with that weapon and making it part of yourself. And the hands are that connection, I suppose⊠making it fit with your hands and moving your hands around on a weapon, so that you can do the job that you need to do.
Music: Through a Glass Dimly by Antonymes
Gary Mapletoft
Getting used to using the soft part of your finger to actually squeeze rather than pull the trigger. Each time you pull the trigger you move the weapon. So it's about keeping everything still, making sure that you've got the right pressure on the trigger as well. Yeah, itâs bit of a fluid⊠a fluid movement with their fingers.
When you're working through an area you might decide that you think you might be getting followed. So all of a sudden, you think âRight⊠OK⊠I need to put in an ambushâ. So an ambush will be hand over the face. And then you point to a certain area with your knife hand. And then that message will get passed down and you'd actually then all go into the area and wait. So⊠snap ambush.
Music ends
Robert Adam
OKâŠhi there. My name's Robert Adam. I'm an Assistant Professor at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh. I'm actually a Deaf person myself. Iâm currently using British Sign Language and I'm working, as you would suspect, with an interpreter. His name's Andy Carmichael and it's his voice that you can hear. And he's providing obviously what you can hear is a very localised accent for somebody at Edinburgh University. And, weirdly, I'm Australian. But of course you canât tell because you're not hearing my accent - you're hearing the accent of my interpreter. So there you go⊠I am a Deaf Australian.
When we think about Sign Language variation we mostly see dialectic difference. So, different signs being used in different regions and different age groups and across different populations across the diaspora. In the British Sign Language Corpus Project run by UCL, they collected different signs in use around the UK in eight different locations throughout the country and found significant variation. For example, seventeen different signs alone for the colour purple.
Music: My People by Mikey J
Robert Adam
You can have a two-handed sign that looks like cream, like youâre rubbing hand cream into your palm. You can have another sign where it looks like youâre slapping your palm, so thereâs a slight variation in the way that that's articulated. A third sign for purple is flicking the top of your finger, which is the letter P. So it's going to the written orthography. In Australia the two main variations are this grinding on your palm - but with two fingers instead of full hand. And I grew up with this sign which looks like my bunched up finger moving across my cheek. So they are very different signs.
Music fades
Robert Adam
Think about deaf children. So, when they first learn a Sign Language they use a lot of hand shapes that are what we call unmarked hand shapes. Big hand shapes⊠big flat hand⊠easy to do. A fistâŠeasy to do⊠easy to articulate for a child. A point or a âCâ hand shape as if you're holding a big mug. So those are what we see in the common signs for âMummyâ, âWantâ, âDrinkâ. And we see those in spoken languages. Theyâre simple words to pronounce and theyâre simple signs to articulate. And, as you grow older and you become more fluent in a Sign Language, then more complex hand shapes, more complex movements and orientations are possible. So we start to see signs like âMaybeâ or âPerhapsâ have many, many elements in them that combine to make them complex signs and therefore able to convey complex concepts and emotions.
And what's interesting is when you look at their hands and you watch how people develop their language, you know, from these basic unmarked signs. And if you know deaf children as they grow up and you watch them being able to use these marked hand shapes and movements and subtle, nuanced orientations to convey meaning, you can see them going through these linguistic milestones.
Fx: Woodland birdsong and footsteps
Gary Mapletoft
The strategy for an attack⊠itâs already been practised. So all the commander needs to do is pass the signal down that there's been a change from patrol now to a position of attack. And then it will be a set of hand signals. So⊠âenemyâ⊠thumb down⊠knife hand⊠âthat directionâ... fist up⊠âgun groupâ. And it'll be sort of âleft flankingâ. So, left flanking like that... so putting an âLâ up and then shaping the arm off⊠which means that the gun group is going to go in one position and then the commander will take the other part of the patrol around them to the left. So, again, that will be passed on so everybody then starts to move into those positions. So, all very smoothâŠ. hopefully.
Music: Through a Glass Dimly by Antonymes
Gary Mapletoft
On a night patrol you're working with a very small group of people - maybe three or four people - to do a reconnaissance mission. You may be so close you're actually touching each other. And maybe you canât actually see very well. So you might actually grab somebody's hand and actually put your fingers into their hand to signify maybe where we are. So an RV would be normally a circle. So you'd run your hand around their hand like a little⊠the nursery rhyme thereâŠ. round and round. And then maybe two fingers in the middle would be RV2⊠RV1 etcetera. So sometimes we communicate very, very closely with those hands.
Robert Adam
The other thing that I did also want to say to you is that when Deaf people are arrested and theyâre handcuffed... have a think about what that's doing. That is actually like gagging somebody. So when you arrest somebody who isnât Deaf they can still speak and still answer questions and hear and interact - ask for help. But a handcuffed Deaf person who doesn't use speech - especially if their hands are tied behind their back - everything is gone.
So when you bind and handcuff Deaf people you're taking away the equivalent of their power of speech or communication.
Without my hands I can't communicate⊠I canât at all. Itâs how I engage with the world. Itâs how I present myself to the world. It is absolutely one of the fundamentals of my being as a human.
Music fades
Broadcasts
- Tue 29 Jun 2021 09:30±«Óătv Radio 4
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