This study investigated the language use of deaf adult bilinguals in conversation with each other in workplace settings, and with their deaf and hearing children in home settings. The aim was to gain insight into the Auslan-English language contact outcomes that might be found in these settings, and what factors influenced these outcomes. The results indicated that the most unique use of language by deaf bilinguals was that of simultaneous use of both spoken English and Auslan, and it was this simultaneous use which facilitated the two examples of code-switching (defined as a complete change of language from Auslan to spoken English) that was found in the data. The other two contact outcomes of significance were frequent transference of English into Auslan, and the equally frequent use of fingerspelling, which has a pivotal role in filling the gap in Auslan, a language with no orthographic form. The study also revealed that Auslan (a signed language) was the language in which many issues of identity were expressed by deaf bilinguals, regardless of whether the individual was a first or second language learner of Auslan. The results confirmed that these language and identity factors did influence the language contact outcomes.

This study investigated the language use of deaf adult bilinguals in conversation with each other in workplace settings, and with their deaf and hearing children in home settings. The aim was to gain insight into the Auslan-English language contact outcomes that might be found in these settings, and what factors influenced these outcomes. The results indicated that the most unique use of language by deaf bilinguals was that of simultaneous use of both spoken English and Auslan, and it was this simultaneous use which facilitated the two examples of code-switching (defined as a complete change of language from Auslan to spoken English) that was found in the data. The other two contact outcomes of significance were frequent transference of English into Auslan, and the equally frequent use of fingerspelling, which has a pivotal role in filling the gap in Auslan, a language with no orthographic form. The study also revealed that Auslan (a signed language) was the language in which many issues of identity were expressed by deaf bilinguals, regardless of whether the individual was a first or second language learner of Auslan. The results confirmed that these language and identity factors did influence the language contact outcomes.

Motion events are ubiquitous in conversation, from describing a tiresome commute to recounting a burglary. These situations, where an entity changes location, consist of four main semantic components: Motion (the movement), Figure (the entity moving), Ground (the object or objects with respect to which the Figure carries out the Motion) and Path (the route taken). Two additional semantic components can occur simultaneously: Manner (the way the Motion occurs) and Cause (the source of/reason for the Motion). Languages differ in preferences for provision and packaging of semantic components in descriptions. It has been suggested, in the thinking-for-speaking hypothesis, that these preferences influence the conceptualisation of events (such as their memorisation). This thesis addresses questions relating to the description and memory of Motion events in British Sign Language (BSL) and English. It compares early BSL (acquired before age seven) and late BSL (acquired after age 16) descriptions of Motion events and investigates whether linguistic preferences influence memory. Comparing descriptions by early signers and late signers indicates where their linguistic preferences differ, providing valuable knowledge for interpreters wishing to match early signers. Understanding how linguistic preferences might influence memory contributes to debates around the connection between language and thought. The experimental groups for this study were: deaf early BSL signers, hearing early BSL signers, deaf late BSL signers, hearing late BSL signers and hearing English monolinguals. Participants watched target Motion event video clips before completing a memory and attention task battery. Subsequently, they performed a forced-choice recognition task where they saw each target Motion event clip again alongside a distractor clip that differed in one semantic component. They selected which of the two clips they had seen in the first presentation. Finally, participants were filmed describing all of the target and distractor video clips (in English for English monolinguals and BSL for all other groups). The Motion event descriptions were coded for the inclusion and packaging of components. Linguistic descriptions were compared between languages (English and BSL) and BSL group. Statistical models were created to investigate variation on the memory and attention task battery and the recognition task. Results from linguistic analysis reveal that English and BSL are similar in the components included in descriptions. However, packaging differs between languages. English descriptions show preferences for Manner verbs and spatial particles to express Path ('run out'). BSL descriptions show preferences for serial verb constructions (using Manner and Path verbs in the same clause). The BSL groups are also similar in the components they include in descriptions. However, the packaging differs, with hearing late signers showing some English-like preferences and deaf early signers showing stronger serial verb preferences. Results from the behavioural experiments show no overall relationship between language group and memory. I suggest that the similarity of information provided in English and BSL descriptions undermines the ability of the task to reveal memory differences. However, results suggest a link between individual linguistic description and memory; marking a difference between components in linguistic description is correlated with correctly selecting that component clip in the recognition task. I argue that this indicates a relationship between linguistic encoding and memory within each individual, where their personal preference for including certain semantic components in their utterances is connected to their memory for those components. I also propose that if the languages were more distinct in their inclusion of information then there may have been differences in recognition task scores. I note that further research is needed across modalities to create a fuller picture of how information is included and packaged cross-modally and how this might affect individual Motion event memory.

Submitted by Clebson Anjos (clebson.leandro54@gmail.com) on 2016-02-15T21:36:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2545614 bytes, checksum: d022fd3dbe168cb8f6486517b7db1286 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-15T21:36:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2545614 bytes, checksum: d022fd3dbe168cb8f6486517b7db1286 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Deaf people communicate naturally using visual-spatial languages, called sign languages. The sign languages (SL) are recognized as official languages in many countries, but the problems faced by deaf people to access to information remains. As a result, they have difficult to exercise their citizenship and to access information in LS. In order to minimize this problem, some works have been developed related to the machine translation of spoken languages to sign languages. However, these solutions have some limitations, since they have to generate contents for deaf with the same quality to the listeners. Thus, this work aims to develop a solution for machine translation to Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS) addressing syntactic-semantic issues. This solution includes a LIBRAS machine translation component; a rule description language, modeled to describe morphosyntactic-semantic machine translation rules; the definition of a grammar exploring these aspects; and the integration of these elements with VLibras, a machine translation service of digital contents in Brazilian Portuguese to LIBRAS. To evaluate the solution, some computational tests were performed using WER and BLEU metrics, along with some tests with Brazilian deaf users and LIBRAS specialists. The results show that the proposed approach could improve the results of the current version of VLIBRAS. / Pessoas surdas se comunicam naturalmente usando linguagens viso-espaciais, denominadas línguas de sinais. No entanto, apesar das línguas de sinais (LS), em muitos países, serem reconhecidas como língua, os problemas enfrentados pelos surdos no tocante ao acesso a informação permanecem. Em consequência disso, observa-se uma grande dificuldade dos surdos exercerem a sua cidadania e terem acesso à informação através das LS, o que acaba geralmente implicando em atraso linguístico e de aquisição do conhecimento. Visando propor soluções alternativas para minimizar a marginalização dos surdos, alguns trabalhos vêm sendo desenvolvidos relacionados à tradução automática de línguas orais para línguas de sinais. No entanto, as soluções existentes apresentam muitas limitações, pois precisam garantir que o conteúdo disponibilizado aos surdos chegue com a mesma qualidade que aos ouvintes. Neste sentido, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo desenvolver uma solução para tradução automática para LIBRAS com adequação sintático-semântica. Essa solução envolve um componente de tradução automática para LIBRAS; uma linguagem formal de descrição de regras, modelada para criar regras de tradução sintático-semânticas; a definição de uma gramática explorando esses aspectos; e a integração desses elementos no serviço VLibras, um serviço de tradução automática de conteúdos digitais em Português para LIBRAS. Para avaliar a solução, alguns testes computacionais utilizando as métricas WER e BLEU e com usuários surdos e ouvintes da LIBRAS foram realizados para aferir a qualidade da saída gerada pela solução. Os resultados mostram que a abordagem proposta conseguiu melhorar os resultados da versão atual do VLibras.

Submitted by Marlene Santos (marlene.bc.ufg@gmail.com) on 2016-08-12T21:27:44Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Adriana Ribeiro de Freitas - 2016.pdf: 3074189 bytes, checksum: 1ee3e7acf15e280da550087804fc5e15 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-08-15T13:11:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Adriana Ribeiro de Freitas - 2016.pdf: 3074189 bytes, checksum: 1ee3e7acf15e280da550087804fc5e15 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-15T13:11:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Adriana Ribeiro de Freitas - 2016.pdf: 3074189 bytes, checksum: 1ee3e7acf15e280da550087804fc5e15 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-14 / Introduction: The access to information and to the possibility of communication in language sign is dealt in the World Report on Disability by World Health Organization (WHO) as a disabling barrier faced by the deaf person, which harms his social, emotional, and cognitive development and reduces his quality of life. Currently, the evaluation of those people‟s quality of life is limited to the instruments based on the oral languages. However, in order to evaluate the quality of life of deaf people who communicate through sign language, it is necessary to have instruments which consider their cultural and linguistic differences. In Brazil, the right to communicate in their natural language, the Brazilian Sign Language (Libras), has been guaranteed to the deaf person since 2002, according to the Law n. 10.436, without imposition of the use the major language of the country. Objective: The objective of the study is to validate the Libras version of the instrument to evaluate the quality of life of people with physical and intellectual disabilities (WHOQOL-DIS). Methods: The participation in the research took place in a virtual space accessed by the electronic address www.medicina.ufg.br/qualidadedevida, which hosts the software that contains the research instruments – in the period from April 25th 2015 to June 25th 2015. Deaf associations from various cities in Brazil, universities which offer the Libras Language course and Pastoral movements of deaf have been contacted for data collection, and social media groups, such as Facebook and Whatsapp, have been created. It is a cross-sectional, descriptive, and quantitative study which makes use of traditional psychometric methods to conduct the analysis of the WHOQOL-DIS/Libras validity and trustworthiness. Its utilization has been tested in a field trial with 311 deaf people, from 18 to 65 years old, who communicate through Libras and belong to the Brazilian deaf community. Among them, 52 were retested in a 15-day interval. Results: The WHOQOL-DIS/Libras trustworthiness has been demonstrated by the Cronbach‟s alpha (internal consistency) satisfactory statistical values and by the Temporal Stability (test-retest). It has presented discriminant competence in the variables „years of study‟, „gender, and „income‟, but not in the variable „age‟. In the variable „health perception‟, it has demonstrated capacity to measure the construct. The confirmatory factor analysis showed reasonable item adjustments. Conclusion: Therefore, this research found evidence of the validity and trustworthiness of the instrument WHOQOL-DIS/Libras to evaluate the quality of life of deaf people. / Introdução: O acesso à informação e à possibilidade de se comunicar em língua de sinais é tratado no Relatório Mundial Sobre a Deficiência da Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS), como barreira incapacitante enfrentada pela pessoa surda, que prejudica seu desenvolvimento social, emocional, cognitivo e reduz sua qualidade de vida. Atualmente, a avaliação da qualidade de vida dessa população é restrita aos instrumentos construídos com base nas línguas orais. Porém, para avaliar a qualidade de vida dos surdos que se comunicam por língua de sinais são necessários instrumentos que considerem suas diferenças linguísticas e culturais. No Brasil, desde 2002 é garantido ao surdo o direito de se comunicar em sua língua natural, a Língua Brasileira de Sinais (Libras), pela Lei n.º 10.436, sem imposição ao uso da língua majoritária do país. Objetivo: O objetivo do presente estudo é validar a versão em Libras do instrumento para avaliação de qualidade de vida de pessoas com deficiências físicas e intelectuais  WHOQOL-DIS. Métodos: A participação na pesquisa foi realizada em um espaço virtual acessado pelo endereço eletrônico www.medicina.ufg.br/qualidadedevida  o qual hospeda o software que contém os instrumentos da pesquisa , no período de 25/04/2015 a 25/06/2015. Para a coleta de dados, foram contatadas associações de surdos de diversas cidades no Brasil, Universidades que oferecem o Curso de Letras: Libras, movimentos de Pastorais de surdos das Igrejas Católica e Evangélicas, além de terem sido criados grupos nas redes sociais, no Facebook e no Whatsapp. Trata-se de um estudo transversal, descritivo, quantitativo, que utiliza métodos psicométricos clássicos para conduzir as análises da validade e confiabilidade do WHOQOL-DIS/Libras, testando sua utilização em um ensaio de campo com 311 pessoas surdas que se comunicam por Libras, com idade entre 18 e 65 anos e pertencentes à comunidade surda brasileira. Destes, 52 foram retestados em um intervalo de 15 dias. Resultados: A confiabilidade do WHOQOL-DIS/Libras ficou demonstrada pelos valores estatísticos satisfatórios apresentados pelo Alfa de Cronbach (consistência interna) e no Teste-reteste (estabilidade temporal). Houve competência discriminante nas variáveis “anos de estudos”, “sexo” e “renda”, mas não na variável "idade". Na variável "percepção da saúde", demonstrou capacidade para medir o construto. A análise fatorial confirmatória mostrou ajuste razoável dos itens. Conclusão: Em conclusão, esta pesquisa demonstrou evidências de validade e confiabilidade do instrumento WHOQOL-DIS/Libras para a avaliação da qualidade de vida de pessoas surdas.

Some signs denoting substances and signs denoting events are formally and semantically related in the Czech sign language. These signs can be distinguished by different parameters. This study looked at the parameters of the relative duration of a signing, the use of mouthing, the juxtaposition of signs and the frequency and mode of motion. Signs denoting substances and signs denoting events can be clearly distinguished by those features n Czech sign language. Key words Czech sign language, sign languages, nouns, verbs, noun-verb distinction, word classes

Sign language is used widely around the world as a first language for those that are unable to use spoken language and by groups of people that have a disability which precludes them from using spoken language (such as a hearing impairment). The importance of effective learning of sign language and its applications in modern computer science has grown widely in the modern aged society and research around sign language recognition has sprouted in many different directions, some examples using hidden markov models (HMMs) to train models to recognize different sign language patterns (Swedish sign language, American sign language, Korean sign language, German sign language and so on).  This thesis project researches the assessment and skill efficiency of using a simple video game to learn Swedish sign language for children in the ages within the range of 10 to 11 with no learning disorders, or any health disorders. During the experimental testing, 38 children are divided into two equally sized groups of 19 where each group plays a sign language video game. The context of the video game is the same for both groups, where both listened to a 3D avatar speak to them using both spoken language and sign language. The first group played the game and answered questions given to them by using sign language, whereas the other group answered questions given to them by clicking on an alternative on the video game screen. A week after the children have played the video game, the sign language skills that they have acquired from playing the video game are assessed by simple questions where they are asked to provide some of the signs that they saw during the duration of the video game. The main hypothesis of the project is that the group of children that answered by signing outperforms the other group, in both remembering the signs and executing them correctly. A statistical null hypothesis test is performed on this hypothesis, in which the main hypothesis is confirmed. Lastly, discussions for future research within sign language assessment using video games is described in the final chapter of the thesis. / Teckenspråk används i stor grad runt om i världen som ett modersmål för dom som inte kan använda vardagligt talsspråk och utav grupper av personer som har en funktionsnedsättning (t.ex. en hörselskada). Betydelsen av effektivt lärande av teckenspråk och dess tillämpningar i modern datavetenskap har ökat i stor utsträckning i det moderna samhället, och forskning kring teckenspråklig igenkänning har spirat i många olika riktningar, ett exempel är med hjälp av statistika modeller såsom dolda markovmodeller (eng. Hidden markov models) för att träna modeller för att känna igen olika teckenspråksmönster (bland dessa ingår Svenskt teckenspråk, Amerikanskt teckenspråk, Koreanskt teckenspråk, Tyskt teckenspråk med flera). Denna rapport undersöker bedömningen och skickligheten av att använda ett enkelt teckenspråksspel som har utvecklats för att lära ut enkla Svenska teckenspråksmönster för barn i åldrarna 10 till 11 års ålder som inte har några inlärningssjukdomar eller några problem med allmän hälsa. Under projektets experiment delas 38 barn upp i två lika stora grupper om 19 i vardera grupp, där varje grupp kommer att få spela ett teckenspråksspel. Sammanhanget för spelet är detsamma för båda grupperna, där de får höra och se en tredimensionell figur (eng. 3D Avatar) tala till dom med både talsspråk och teckenspråk. Den första gruppen spelar spelet och svarar på frågor som ges till dem med hjälp av teckenspråk, medan den andra gruppen svarar på frågor som ges till dem genom att klicka på ett av fem alternativ som finns på spelets skärm. En vecka efter att barnen har utfört experimentet med teckenspråksspelet bedöms deras teckenspråkliga färdigheter som de har fått från spelet genom att de ombeds återuppge några av de tecknena som de såg under spelets varaktighet. Rapportens hypotes är att de barn som tillhör gruppen som fick ge teckenspråk som svar till frågorna som ställdes överträffar den andra gruppen, genom att både komma ihåg tecknena och återuppge dom på korrekt sätt. En statistisk hypotesprövning utförs på denna hypotes, där denna i sin tur bekräftas. Slutligen beskrivs det i rapportens sista kapitel om framtida forskning inom teckenspråksbedömning med tv spel och deras effektivitet.

GOMES, Dennytza Serra. Língua Brasileira de Sinais: Escolhas Lexicais e Desenvolvimento do Tópico Discursivo. 2009.104 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Linguística) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Departamento de Letras Vernáculas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Linguística, Fortaleza-CE, 2009. / Submitted by nazareno mesquita (nazagon36@yahoo.com.br) on 2012-07-02T15:31:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2009_diss_DSerra.pdf: 5555481 bytes, checksum: 87b8757ef1f1e9b9afa0bbdf3340fece (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Josineide Góis(josineide@ufc.br) on 2013-10-10T14:09:34Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2009_diss_DSerra.pdf: 5555481 bytes, checksum: 87b8757ef1f1e9b9afa0bbdf3340fece (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-10-10T14:09:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2009_diss_DSerra.pdf: 5555481 bytes, checksum: 87b8757ef1f1e9b9afa0bbdf3340fece (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / This research analyzes the lexical choices used by the deaf to create and develop an appropriate level of interaction and identify strategies for integration, reformulation and resumed the topic of discourse that occur during the communicative act performed in sign language. To achieve these goals we hold you in the theory of conversational analysis, based on studies Marcuschi (1986) and Kerbrat-Orecchioni (2006). The concepts explored mediating the basic elements of conversation: the exchange of shifts, the topic of discourse markers and conversational. We also make an explanation of the Brazilian sign language based on the work of Quadros (1994) and Coutinho (2000). Our methodological approach has the type of interview, the subjects, materials used and procedures, or recordings of conversations, the manipulation of video, data transcription and selection of the corpus for analysis. Following the presentation of results begins with a quantitative survey that shows the number of signals obtained at each level of education study and analysis of lexical choices by showing how these choices can interfere with or contribute to the progression topical. From this, we can conclude that the lexical choices explain the vast repertoire of sign languages and show that they are not mere reproductions of the iconic oral languages. Moreover, we observed the difficulty of keeping to the topic that there are no significant breaks, but it is evident that this development topic may or may not occur and that this depends on the relevance established by the theme of interaction. / Esta pesquisa objetiva analisar as escolhas lexicais utilizadas pelo surdo para criar e desenvolver condições adequadas de interação e identificar as estratégias de inserção, reformulação e retomada do tópico discursivo que ocorrem durante o ato comunicativo realizado em língua de sinais. Para alcançar estes objetivos nos amparamos na teoria da Análise da Conversação, tomando como base os estudos de Marcuschi (1986) e Kerbrat-Orecchioni (2006). Os conceitos explorados perpassam pelos elementos básicos da conversação: a troca de turnos, o tópico discursivo e os marcadores conversacionais. Realizamos também uma explanação sobre a língua brasileira de sinais, baseada nos estudos de Quadros (1994) e Coutinho (2000). Nosso percurso metodológico apresenta o tipo de entrevista, os sujeitos, os materiais utilizados e os procedimentos, ou seja, as gravações das conversas, a manipulação dos vídeos, a transcrição dos dados e a seleção do corpus para análise. A seguir, a exposição dos resultados se inicia com um levantamento quantitativo que demonstra o número de sinais obtidos em cada nível de escolaridade estudado e a análise das escolhas lexicais demonstrando de que forma essas escolhas podem interferir ou contribuir para a progressão tópica. A partir disso, pudemos concluir que as escolhas lexicais explicitam o vasto repertório das línguas de sinais e evidenciam que estas não meras reproduções icônicas das línguas orais. Além disso, observamos a dificuldade de manutenção do tópico para que não ocorram quebras significativas, mas também, comprovamos que esse desenvolvimento tópico pode ou não ocorrer e que isso depende da relevância estabelecida pelo tema da interação.