Following our statement yesterday re Olly Murs' Instagram video and the statement from The Makaton Charity, please see our follow-up statement which responds to some of the concerns raised by our members and members of the Deaf community.
"On Friday 7 October, popstar Olly Murs released a video on Instagram to accompany the release of his new song, Die Of A Broken Heart, in which he signed along to the song. The clip was dedicated to “his fans in the Deaf community”.
Unfortunately, Olly appears to have been misinformed by the person who coached him, Isabella Evans, a hearing social media influencer also known as Isabella Signs.
The video is incorrectly labelled as being in “Sign” and “BSL SSE”. There is no such language as “Sign”. Deaf people communicate in sign language. There are many different sign languages around the world. In the UK, Deaf people predominantly use British Sign Language (BSL) or Irish Sign Language (ISL).
BSL is a language in its own right, distinct from English. It has its own syntax (word order) which is different from English. BSL was recognised as a language of Great Britain by the BSL Act 2022.
SSE stands for “Sign Supported English”. SSE is a means of communication in which BSL signs are used in English word order. It is sometimes used by Deaf people who learned English first and acquired sign language later in life, or in school when teaching Deaf children English.
The signs Olly is producing in the clip are actually Makaton, which is not a language. Makaton is a communication system that uses signs (some of which were taken from BSL and some of which were created by hearing people and are unintelligible to Deaf people) alongside spoken English, as well as symbols and pictures.
The BDA has reached out to Olly Murs to offer support in making his music accessible to Deaf fans in the future.
We applaud Olly’s enthusiasm in wishing to reach out to his Deaf fans by performing a signed translation of his new song. Had he consulted a Deaf teacher or performer to teach him the song in BSL, the result would have been much more natural and authentic and the Deaf community would have been thrilled. Other celebrities such as John Bishop and Chelsea footballer Jorginho are great examples of how this can be done right when a native BSL signer is consulted.
We will also be making contact with Isabella Signs to ask her to clarify in all future social media content and in interaction with celebrities that:
a) she does not represent the Deaf community, and;
b) the signs she uses are not British Sign Language.
This is another example of the misrepresentation, cultural appropriation and commodification of sign language by hearing people for personal gain. This is unacceptable. No-one can speak for the Deaf community but the Deaf community themselves.
Nothing about us, without us.
STATEMENT BY THE MAKATON CHARITY
“The Makaton Charity is pleased to be working alongside the British Deaf Association to improve awareness of the differences between the Makaton Language Programme and BSL, together with encouraging the wider adoption of appropriate communication methods when engaging with our very different communities.
As a communication charity, The Makaton Charity encourages all hearing people to have a greater awareness of the needs of others and would, where individuals wish to communicate with the Deaf community, encourage them to learn and use British Sign Language, which is the appropriate recognised communication tool for that community.”
- Stephen Hall, Chief Executive, The Makaton Charity
