Τα τελευταία χρόνια ολοένα και περισσότεροι κωφοί μαθητές φοιτούν στα σχολεία γενικής εκπαίδευσης. Η φοίτηση όμως αυτή δε συνοδεύεται, όπως συμβαίνει σε άλλες χώρες, με παροχή των κατάλληλων υποστηρικτικών υπηρεσιών ώστε η εκπαίδευση να είναι προσβάσιμη σε αυτούς τους μαθητές. Μια από αυτές τις υπηρεσίες είναι η παροχή εκπαιδευτικού διερμηνέα νοηματικής γλώσσας. Η παρούσα έρευνα επιχείρησε μια πρώτη καταγραφή των αναγκών των διερμηνέων που θα κληθούν να παράσχουν αυτές τις υπηρεσίες σε πλαίσια πρωτοβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης. Τα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν ότι η μεγαλύτερη και επιτακτικότερη ανάγκη των διερμηνέων νοηματικής γλώσσας είναι η εξασφάλιση κατάλληλης εκπαίδευσης στα άτομα που θα εργαστούν με κωφούς μαθητές. / In the last years a growing number of deaf students attend mainstream schools. However, their attendance is not combined with a provision of supporting services to assure that their education is accessible to them. One of theses services is the provision of an educational sign language interpreter. The present study is a preliminary investigation of the needs of the interpreters who are going to work as educational interpreters in elementary education. The results have shown that the biggest and most urgent need of sign language interpreters is the provision of the appropriate training and education to the interpreters who will work with deaf students.

This dissertation explores the emergence of the linguistic use of pointing as first- and non-first-person pronoun in Greek Sign Language. Despite the similarity in form between the pointing gesture and pronominal pointing signs, children acquiring sign language pass through the same stages and acquire personal pronouns at about the same age as children acquiring spoken language. According to Petitto (1984, 1987, 1994), the transition to pronominal pointing in American Sign Language is characterised by: (a) a period of discontinuity in which children avoid using pointing directed towards persons, and (b) the occurrence of reversal errors before the acquisition of first and second-person pronouns. The present study offers additional evidence on the acquisition of personal pronouns through the investigation of: (a) the manner and the age at which pronominal pointing signs are acquired by a child exposed to Greek Sign Language, (b) the use of other signs for reference to persons and self, and (c) the existence of reversal errors in the child’s early use of pointing. Data consist of video-recorded spontaneous interaction between a deaf boy and his family every fortnight from the age of 12 to 36 months. Thirty hours of the child’s communicative behaviour have been transcribed and all sequences that included pointing were analysed in terms of reference and function. This study confirms that language modality plays a restricted role in language acquisition. The time and the frequency of occurrence of pronominal pointing signs correspond to the general developmental pattern observed in the acquisition of ASL. However, there are also important differences: (a) common nouns and proper names are used for reference to others before the acquisition of pronominal pointing, but to a limited extent (b) the existence of only one erroneous pointing sign indicates that the deaf child, from the beginning, uses pronominal signs correctly, and (c) there is no evidence of discontinuity in the transition from the early communicative pointing gesture to pronominal pointing signs. / <p>För att köpa boken skicka en beställning till exp@ling.su.se/ To order the book send an e-mail to exp@ling.su.se</p>