Sign Language Studies

Deafness in the 17th Century: Into Empiricism

Article

January 1984

63 Reads

Recounts the history of deaf education in Britain and of studies into the abilities of those born deaf, beginning with the influence of Kenelm Digby's "Treatise on the Nature of Bodies" published in 1644 to about 100 years later when Henry Baker became the first professional teacher of the deaf in Britain. (SED)

An Examination of Some Personal Characteristics & Abilities of Sign Language Interpreters

Article

January 1986

160 Reads

Steven Fritsch Rudser

Michael A Strong

A study of 30 sign language interpreters (N=30) attempted to isolate cognitive, perceptual, psychomotor, and affective factors predictive of effective interpretive skills. Analysis revealed that family background (hearing or deaf family members) significantly affected certain personality traits and interpretive skills. (Author/CB)

Academic Acceptance of American Sign Language

Article

January 1988

62 Reads

Sherman Wilcox

Although American Sign Language (ASL) has a long and rich history in America and scholarly research on ASL is in its third decade, ASL has been slow to garner any degree of status in the academic community, although some higher education institutions are beginning to consider ASL for their foreign-language curriculum. (CB)

Acceptance of American Sign Language at the University of New Mexico: The History of a Process

Article

January 1988

30 Reads

Lloyd Lamb

Phyllis Wilcox

Describes the long process through which American Sign Language (ASL) was accepted in fulfillment of the foreign-language requirement at the University of New Mexico. It was discovered the mutual discovery and sharing of facts about ASL in the long deliberations proved effective. (CB)

Problems of Acculturation into the Deaf Community

Article

January 1980

41 Reads

Virginia C. Covington

Studies the attitudes toward deaf society of two new deaf Gallaudet students who had been raised in an "oralist" tradition with biases against deaf culture. Their attitudes are compared with those of a deaf graduate oralist who had become acculturated into the deaf community. (PJM)

Language Development in Another Mode: The Acquisition of Signs by a Brain-Damaged Adult

Article

January 1978

22 Reads

John D. Bonvillian

Robert J. Friedman

The article gives an example of how, even though an individual's capacity to use or to learn a spoken language may be significantly impaired by brain damage, the ability to acquire a non-oral language system may remain intact. (Author/NCR)

Acquisition of ASL and Spoken English by a Hearing Child of a Deaf Mother and a Hearing Father: Phase II, Early Combinatorial Patterns

Article

January 1981

44 Reads

Philip M. Prinz

Elisabeth A. Prinz

Studies the simultaneous language development in American Sign Language and spoken English by a hearing girl. Findings show: (1) a mixture of oral and manual babbling, (2) a code-switching ability across modalities, and (3) a single syntactic system incorporating rules from both languages but with two separate lexicons. (Author/PJM)

An Alphabet on Hand: The Acquisition of Fingerspelling in Deaf Children

Article

January 1985

99 Reads

Carol Padden

Barbara Le Master

Reports on a study of the acquisition of fingerspelling, a manual system for representing the alphabet, by young deaf children whose first language is American Sign Language. Describes the system of fingerspelling and its use in the American deaf community and discusses the interaction of fingerspelling and signed language. (SED)

The Acquisition of Classifiers in American Sign Language

Article

January 1980

122 Reads

Rebecca Kantor

Studies the developmental stages deaf children pass through in acquiring the adult forms of pronominal classifiers in American Sign Language. Data were obtained on production, comprehension, and imitation from nine children aged 3 to 11. Complexities of classifier usage influence the learning strategies used. (PJM)

Simultaneous Acquisition of ASL and Spoken English (In a Hearing Child of a Deaf Mother and Hearing Father)

Article

January 1979

28 Reads

Philip M. Prinz

Elisabeth A. Prinz

Reports on an experiment describing the lexical development of a hearing child with a deaf mother and hearing father. Data confirm previous findings that (1) sign emerges before spoken word, (2) acquisition stages are similar in ASL and spoken English, and (3) the child initially develops one lexical system. (Author/AM)

Early Communication Acquisition by Autistic Children: Signing & Mouthing vs. Signing & Speaking

Article

January 1981

23 Reads

Mary Konstantareas

Sandi F. Leibovitz

Compares the effectiveness of a visual only approach (mouthing and signing) with a simultaneous visual and auditory approach (signing and speaking) in teaching autistic-like children to communicate. Results suggest the simultaneous approach may be superior. In addition, receptive abilities precede expressive. Implications of therapeutic intervention with low-functioning autistic children are discussed. (Author/PJM)

The Acquisition of English Bound Morphemes in Sign Form

Article

January 1987

9 Reads

Madeline Maxwell

Two deaf children of deaf parents were studied over a period of several years for their acquisition of "-ing", "-'s"; "-s", "-d", and the particle "to." Although the children soon perceived the signed forms of these morphemes, they were slow to understand the function of the morphemes. (Author/LMO)

Nativization, Linguistic Theory, and Deaf Language Acquisition

Article

January 1985

488 Reads

James Paul Gee

Wendy Goodhart

Considers the acquisition of language by deaf children of deaf parents and by deaf children of hearing parents in the light of such linguistic theories as Andersen's "nativization-denativization" and Bickerton's "bioprograms." Findings both support the theories and bring to light complexities that the theories do not exactly explain. (SED)

Language Acquisition in Two Modalities: The Role of Nonlinguistic Cues in Linguistic Mastery

Article

January 1989

30 Reads

Catherine A. Jackson

A longitudinal study investigated how a hearing child of deaf parents simultaneously acquired American Sign Language and spoken English. Neither of two unique properties of signed language (personal pronouns or "negative" sign markers) facilitated acquisition of English, suggesting that children's acquisition of grammar is relatively unaffected by nonlinguistic clues. (Author/CB)

Communicative Interaction: Mother Modification and Child Acquisition of American Sign Language

Article

January 1982

30 Reads

Rebecca Kantor

Discusses the modifications in the direction of simplified and more linear language (American Sign Language) used by deaf mothers with their deaf children. (EKN)

Universal Constraints Across Sign Languages: Single Figure Contact Shapes.

Article

January 1987

9 Reads

James Woodward

Describes single finger sign contact in data from ten different sign languages. The relative frequencies of signs using each of the four possible fingers are examined. Proposes distinctive features to explain the differences in frequency and use of these handshapes in sign languages in general. (Author/LMO)

Universal Constraints on Two-Finger Extension across Sign Languages

Article

January 1985

5 Reads

James Woodward

Examines the two-finger extension as a hand shape in sign language by analyzing data on 10 different sign languages. The analysis shows that a theory of marking can be developed for sign languages along the same lines as those used for spoken languages--only the particular physiology is different. (SED)

All in the Family: Kinship Lexicalization Across Sign Languages

Article

January 1978

40 Reads

James C. Woodward

Native signs used as basic kin terms in 20 sign languages from several sign language families are examined. (Author/NCR)

From Performative Act to Performative Utterance: An Ethological Perspective

Article

January 1977

15 Reads

Margaret Bullowa

For the two children studied and in the situations observed and recorded, important conditions for the emergence of language in the ontogeny of communication appear to be: (1) interaction with caretaking adults, (2) shared focal attention, and (3) specificity of reference. (Author)

Adaptation of the Language Proficiency Interview (LPI) for Assessing Sign Communicative Competence

Article

January 1983

22 Reads

William Newell

Describes the Sign Communication Proficiency Interview (SCPI) and discusses the SCPI rating scale, linguistic and cultural factors important for sign communicative competence, and skills in communicating simultaneously in signing and speaking. (EKN)

Towards a Description of East African Gestures

Article

January 1977

33 Reads

Chet A. Creider

This paper describes the gestural behavior of four tribal groups, Kipsigis, Luo, Gusii, and Samburu, observed and elicted in the course of two and one-half years of field work in Western Kenya in 1970-72. The gestures are grouped into four categories: (1) initiators and finalizers of interaction; (2) imperatives; (3) responses; (4) qualifiers. (CFM)

Artificial versus Natural Sign Development: A Response to Rasmus & Allen

Article

January 1989

4 Reads

Frank Caccamise

Responds to an article on the use of artificially developed sign language for the teaching of biology, and discusses the inaccuracies presented concerning the Technical Signs Project, which emphasizes the collection of existing signs rather than the artificial development of signs. Sign guidelines based on naturally developed signs are appended. (CB)

The Chinese Finger Alphabet and the Chinese Finger Syllabary

Article

January 1980

16 Reads

Zhou Youguang

Describes two manual aids used in educating deaf children in Peking: the Chinese finger alphabet for teaching Chinese characters, and a new device being experimented with called the Chinese finger syllabary. Sample illustrations are given for both, as well as for the Pinyin finger alphabet. (PJM)

Perceptual Confusions of the Manual Alphabet by Naive, Trained, and Familiar Users

Article

January 1980

5 Reads

M. Dixie Hawes

Jeffrey L Danhauer

An investigation of the confusion resulting from reliance on visual perceptual teachers in the identification of dactylemes (handshapes) in the American Manual Alphabet (MA) is reported. A hierarchy of errors varying with subjects' degree of expertness in the MA is established. This can help manual communication teachers develop techniques for differentiation among hard configurations. (PMJ)

When is a Pidgin Not a Pidgin?: An Alternate Analysis of the ASL-English Contact Situation

Article

January 1983

38 Reads

Dennis Cokely

Recent sociolinguistic research is used to show that the American Sign Language (ASL)-English contact situation does not result in the emergence of a pidgin as supposed. Variation along the ASL-English continuum can be accounted for by interplay of foreigner talk, judgments of proficiency, and learners' attempts to master the target language. (Author/MSE)

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