Non native users of sign languages

[Space60]

Are they typically perceived by the native signers to sign funny or "with an accent" similar to how non native users of spoken languages are perceived?

[mèþru]

Well, yes if they can't sign in what is considered the "proper" manner. Also users of other sign languages.

[Space60]

Native signers of particular sign languages can probably usually spot a non native signer whether they native use a spoke language or a different sign language.

Lots of sign language users are bilingual. They use both their sign language and the dominate spoken language of the area at least in writing if they don't speak it.

[missals]

Yes, there is a "hearing accent" that is very obvious to native signers. Presumably the "hearing accent" (or rather, the non-native "hearing variety") differs depending on the native language of the hearing learner. But I suspect that many (mainly phonological) aspects would hold true regardless of the hearing learner's native language, and the particular sign language being learned - hesitancy, jerky motions, using too big or too small of a signing space, and a "chopping" gesture when using fingerspelling (if present in the relevant sign language).

[mèþru]

Well different hearing speakers have different gestural languages (NOT sign language but still signs I guess) from their cultures that probably affect the way they sign

[Space60]

There are hearing people who are native signers and congenitally deaf people who aren't. There are also people who became deaf later who use sign language non natively. So "non native variety" without the use of "hearing" is more accurate.

[Imralu]

There's generally a much greater variation language proficiency in sign languages than there is in oral languages because they're always minority languages and very rarely flawlessly passed down within the family. Only about 10 percent of Deaf people have Deaf parents. Weirdly, I find myself surrounded by native deaf signers with deaf parents ... my first DGS teacher who kind of became my boss, my next boss and my current boss. That's three bosses in a row ... if we're going with the 10% statistic, doesn't that make the odds of that 1 in 1,000?

When my current boss first met me (before she was my boss), she thought I was deaf for a couple of weeks until someone told her I'm hearing. She knew that I'm from Australia and that explained my shitty DGS and occasional random signs from another sign language, but apparently I don't have the typical hearing accent and mannerisms anymore. It's probably because I've spent several years with one sign language and then learnt another and I don't relate my current sign language to any oral language. In fact, it took a lot of work for me to use appropriate German mouthing with DGS, even though I was already fluent in German. I often got picked as hearing in Australia, but I sometimes didn't when my signing got better (although I'm assuming no one ever thought I was a native signer) and one time I really shocked someone by taking a phone call while we were on a bus and this guy who I'd met that afternoon and spent the whole afternoon with was like "You can talk on the phone?" and I was like "Oh, yeah, I just assumed you knew I'm hearing." "You're hearing???" I can spot the hearing accent when I see some learners too, and I've even seen Codas signing and thought "Hmm, I think that's a hearing person" ... but yeah, I get it wrong sometimes too. The weird thing is, there's a deaf woman in one of my boss's classes now who is learning DGS for the first time as an adult. She was raised orally. When she came in the door one time and waved and I waved back, I somehow just knew "This must be the deaf student." My boss was like "How did you know?" ... I don't know!? I just saw her wave from 10 metres away and that was it.

Damn, that was an arrogant ramble!

[Vijay]

Didn't strike me as arrogant. Thanks for sharing!