Not available / text

Thesis (S.T.M.)--Yale Divinity School, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-51).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 278-288). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

In light of the absence of codified standard varieties of British Sign Language (BSL) and German Sign Language (Deutsche Gebclrdensprache, DGS), there have been repeated calls for the standardisation of both languages primarily from outside the deaf communities. The development of standard varieties has been suggested to facilitate political recognition and the establishment of linguistic norms which could enable sign language users to gain equal access to education, administration and commerce. Although frequently labelled as sociolinguistic enquiry, much research in standardisation and language planning displays a certain preference for investigating the linguistic aspects of language. Explicit discussion of social-theoretical perspectives is scarce. In order to address this imbalance, this study focuses on the social aspect of the subject matter by investigating the concept of sign language standardisation from the perspective of deaf sign language teachers. Taking a comparative approach, research findings are based on 17 in-depth interviews conducted in Germany and the UK which were analysed drawing on grounded theory. Participants in both countries conceptualised sign language standardisation predominantly as externally imposed language change pertaining to the eradication of regional dialects. Given that in contrast to hearing learners of sign languages, participants did not regard regional variation as a problem but as a highly valued feature of BSL and DGS, sign language standardisation was seen as a threat to sign languages. Moreover, the subject matter was also perceived as embodying hearing people's hegemony by bringing to the fore traditional power imbalances between deaf people and hearing stake holders in the political and educational realms. This study is the first to explore and examine perceptions of and attitudes towards sign language standardisation in the UK and Germany. It thereby contributes to knowledge in respect to sign language sociolinguistics, as well as standardisation and language planning in the wider field. Moreover, taking an explicitly sociolinguistic approach and in drawing on social research methodology, this study offers an atypical perspective on the issue of language standardisation in general.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / For children who are deaf, one aspect of early English literacy instruction has always been problematic. Deaf children have great difficulty in learning to employ a sound-based phonetic to alphabetic mapping process such as required in reading and writing without natural linguistic access to English. This dissertation presents two studies. In Study #1 subjects are given the American Sign Language Phonemic Awareness Inventory (ASLP AI). In Study #2 the phonological aspect ofhandshape and its relationship to the Manual Alphabet is investigated. Twenty-nine deaf children, between the ages of 4-8, who used sign language, were tested on 7 major ASL Phonological tasks. 175 questions were posed. Of the total group, eight children had deaf parents (DCDP) and twenty-one children had hearing parents (DCHP). Seventeen deaf adults (1 0 DADP) and 7 (DAHP) took a portion or all of the tests. In addition the child subjects, depending on reading ability, were also given either the Peabody Individual Achievement Test-Revised (PIAT-R) (spelling and reading comprehension subtests) or all sections ofthe Test of Early Reading Ability (TERA-3). Results showed that all subjects were able to process the questions according to the phonological parameters of ASL. That is, subjects appear to have internalized the visual structural components of ASL and were able to work with ASL phonemes as hearing children do with spoken language. In the second study, the handshape task indicated that the subjects associated prompts (the 20 Manual Alphabet handshapes in particular) with a phonological component of ASL rather than as a letter of English. A factorial ANOVA showed that parent's audiological status did not influence the subject's phonemic awareness of ASL. In Study #2, a paired comparisons t-tests showed that overall response rates for handshape prompts resulted in significant differences: favoring ASL responses in comparison with English responses. Correlation matrices indicated that the stronger the subjects phonemic awareness of ASL and the ability to recall lexical items when given a prompt the stronger the scores on a beginning test of English literacy (TERA).

archives@tulane.edu / 0 / Anne-Marie Zarrelli

The emergence of a language is rarely directly observed in a natural environment. Similar to a phenomenon previously observed in Nicaragua, deaf Dominican children appear to have created a rudimentary form of manual communication in absence of comprehensible linguistic input. The evolution of this communication system over the course of five years (2007-2012) is documented as part of a cross-cultural and cross-generational study in which sign complexity is analyzed. The role of innate and environmental components of language creation and acquisition are discussed using data from hearing children and parents, including the parents of the deaf Dominican children cited above. Results confirm that a new communication system is indeed slowly emerging in the Dominican Republic, and that this system shows signs of evolution in the period extending from 2007 to 2012. Signs produced by the deaf Dominican children meet the minimal requirements for a communicative symbol, show signs of mutual intelligibility, and differ from the signs of the other implemented Sign Languages in the Dominican Republic. Two cohorts of manual communicators appear to be present, and younger signers seem to have more advanced linguistic competencies in comparison to older signers within the community. The signs that are part of the observed Dominican manual communication system also appear to differ in complexity from those produced by hearing adults and children, supporting the presence of innate abilities for language creation. Specifically, the deaf Dominican children are generally found to have more diversified sign repertoires and to display faster signing rates over time, in comparison to hearing adults and children. Qualitative data and quantitative trends further support a more complex understanding by deaf children of the use of signs as an independent communication system from speech. Analyses looking at the impact of input on language creation provides some support for the existence of infant-directed signing in a way similar to what is observed with infant-directed speech. The use of repetitions by hearing adults using infant-directed silent gestures could provide support for usage-based theories of language development. That being said, young hearing children with no prior exposure to Sign Language and with minimal relative linguistic experience were found to produce signs equivalent in complexity to those of hearing adults, therefore potentially providing further support for an innate understanding of complex linguistic rules. Deaf Dominican children were further found to surpass the input received by hearing adults over time. In all, this research is consistent with previous studies attesting for children’s natural ability for language creation and development.

M.Med. (Orthopaedics), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011 / The 5 stages of the Risser sign, which chart the development of ossification of the iliac crest has been widely used as a tool to assess skeletal age and remaining spinal growth, and thereby influence scoliosis management. However, as with other markers of skeletal age, it is under the influence of genetic and environmental factors. Proof of this was given by Risser, who observed that children in warmer climates developed earlier. Numerous other authors have also shown differences for other measures of maturity between different race groups. We tried to show that a different trend occurred in the South African Black population, as compared to published data from other population groups. Radiographs from the Radiology records departments of various hospitals were assessed by 2 independent observers for the Risser sign. This was used to chart trends, which was compared to trends published by Scoles et. al. which was recorded on the Cleveland based Brush-Bolton Collection. The South African black population showed a trend towards starting earlier. They however completed their fusion later. This is suggestive of a longer duration of iliac ossification. Furthermore, the importance of climatic control was shown by the fact that the black & white populations mirrored each other.