Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 231-236). Also available online.

Substantial research has examined how linguistic structures are realized in the visual/spatial modality. However, we know less about linguistic pragmatics in signed languages, particularly the functioning of referring expressions (REs). Recent research has explored how REs are deployed in signed languages, but much remains to be learned. Study 1 explores the inventory and workings of REs in American Sign Language by seeking to replicate and build upon Frederiksen & Mayberry (2016). Following Ariel, F&M propose an inventory of REs in ASL ranked according to the typical accessibility of the referents each RE type signals. Study 1 reproduced their results using more complex narratives and including a wider range of REs in various syntactic roles. Using Toole’s (1997) accessibility rating protocol, we calculated average accessibility ratings for each RE type, thus making possible statistical analyses that show more precisely which REs differ significantly in average accessibility. Further, several RE types that F&M had collapsed are shown to be distinct. Finally, we find general similarities between allocations of REs in ASL and in spoken English, based on 6 matched narratives produced by native English speakers. Study 2 explores a previously unexamined set of questions about concurrently occurring REs: collections of REs produced simultaneously. It compares isolated REs that occur in a linear fashion, similar to spoken language grammars, with co-occurring REs, signaling multiple referents simultaneously (termed here constellations). This study asks whether REs in constellations have pragmatic properties different from those of isolated/linear REs. Statistical evidence is presented that some categories of REs do differ significantly in the average accessibility values of their referents, when compared across linear versus concurrent configurations. Study 3 examines whether the proportions of various RE categories used by native ASL signers vary according to the recipient’s familiarity with the narrative. Do ASL narratives designed to be maximally explicit because of low recipient familiarity demonstrate distinct RE allocations? In this sample of 34 narratives, there is no statistically significant difference in RE use attributable to recipient familiarity. These findings have important implications for understanding the impact of modality on accessibility, the use of REs in ASL, and visual processing.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / This thesis describes a multi-disciplinary collaboration towards iterative development of a mobile communication tool to support a Deaf person in understanding usage directions for medication dispensed at a pharmacy. We are improving usability and correctness of the user interface. The tool translates medicine instruction given in English text to South African Sign Language videos, which are relayed to a Deaf user on a mobile phone. Communication between pharmacists and Deaf patients were studied to extract relevant exchanges between the two users. We incorporated the common elements of these dialogues to represent content in a veri able manner to ensure that the mobile tool relays the correct information to the Deaf user. Instructions are made available for a Deaf patient in sign language videos on a mobile device. A pharmacy setup was created to conduct trials of the tool with groups of end users, in order to collect usability data with recorded participant observation, questionnaires and focus group discussions. Subsequently, pre-recorded sign language videos, stored on a phone's memory card, were tested for correctness. Lastly we discuss the results and implications of the study and provide a conclusion to our research.

It is difficult, if not impossible to find another code-switching condition that allows for the production of "simultaneous" language use in communication like that which is found in bimodal bilingualism. In 2002, Bauer, Hall, and Kruth conducted a study that examined code-switching in a play context for a German/English bilingual child. Emmorey, Borinstein, and Thomson in 2005 investigated bimodal bilingualism in adults. However there has not been a study like these for hearing children using ASL/English who have Deaf parents. By applying Bauer, Hall, and Kruth's study as a template for research into code-switching and adapting some of the processes used by Emmorey, Borinstein, and Thomson to research simultaneous sign and spoken language production, a study of hearing bimodal bilingual children of Deaf parents becomes possible. This study uses qualitative analysis of transcribed digital video recordings of two bimodal bilingual subjects that were coded to examine three language use possibilities in two language contexts. The bimodal subjects are capable of spoken English, manual Sign Language, and simultaneous production of both. The results were applied to answer the following questions: What kinds of play activity are the subjects and their adult interlocutors involved in? How do the subjects use their two languages to constitute their involvement in play? When and why do hearing children of Deaf parents code-switch? And when and why do they perform simultaneous production? The key findings are that bimodal bilingual children are strategic code-switchers/blenders using code selection to best communicate with their interlocutors based on the language environment and to fill lexical gaps or skill level deficiencies between codes.

INTRODUÇÃO: Pesquisas nacionais enfatizam que os surdos apresentam dificuldade no uso da flexão verbal de tempo na escrita do português. Esta afirmação é inquestionável, contudo a origem desta dificuldade é atribuída a vários fatores, tais como: influência da Língua de Sinais, dificuldade de acesso à Língua Portuguesa e práticas de ensino descontextualizadas. Buscando compreender melhor este processo, o presente estudo teve como objetivos verificar se e como os surdos flexionam os verbos na Língua Portuguesa Escrita e se eles utilizam outros marcadores de tempo nesta língua e na Língua Brasileira de Sinais. MÉTODOS: O estudo foi realizado com 18 sujeitos com perda auditiva neurossensorial profunda bilateral pré-lingüística, com idade entre 15 e 23 anos, escolaridade de 3ª a 6ª série do Ensino Fundamental, matriculados em sala regular de escola pública, usuários da Língua Brasileira de Sinais, filhos de pais ouvintes e sem comprometimentos associados à surdez. Os indivíduos foram avaliados quanto ao conhecimento em Língua Brasileira de Sinais de nove verbos de ação, por meio de cartelas contendo figuras que os representavam, e em seguida foram orientados a elaborar três frases na Língua Portuguesa Escrita e na Língua Brasileira de Sinais com cada verbo, sendo uma no tempo passado, uma no presente e uma no futuro. Os dados foram avaliados qualitativa e quantitativamente. RESULTADOS: Apesar de a maioria dos participantes da pesquisa utilizar adequadamente os marcadores de tempo nas frases expressas na Língua Brasileira de Sinais, esperava-se melhor desempenho dos sujeitos por ser a língua preferencial de comunicação. Nas frases do passado e do futuro predominaram o uso de adjuntos adverbiais para marcar o tempo e no presente predominou o uso de advérbios de tempo. Nas frases escritas houve o predomínio do verbo na forma nominal do infinitivo. Apenas quatro sujeitos fizeram uso de marcadores utilizados na língua de sinais para indicar o tempo nas frases escritas. Os sujeitos apresentaram melhor desempenho no tempo presente na elaboração das frases na Língua Brasileira de Sinais e na Língua Portuguesa Escrita. Houve relação estatisticamente significante entre o uso das flexões verbais no tempo presente e a utilização de outros marcadores de tempo na escrita com o aumento da escolaridade. CONCLUSÃO: A maioria dos surdos do estudo utiliza marcadores de tempo nas frases expressas na Língua Brasileira de Sinais e apresenta dificuldade na Língua Portuguesa Escrita. Os resultados sugerem que com o avanço da escolaridade esta dificuldade é sanada. Este fato demonstra a necessidade de se repensar as práticas de ensino da Língua Portuguesa, como segunda língua, para que o surdo tenha a oportunidade de ampliar seus conhecimentos e apropriar-se cada vez mais cedo da escrita / INTRODUCTION: National researches have emphasized that deaf students present difficulty in the use of verbal inflexion for tense in written Portuguese. This statement is unquestionable; nevertheless the origin of this difficulty is attributed to several factors, such as: influence of Sign Language, difficulty to access the Portuguese Language, and teaching practices out of context. In order to better understand this process, this study aimed to verify if and how deaf signers use verbal inflection for tense in Portuguese written language and to observe the presence of other resources for tense marking in this language and in Brazilian Sign Language. METHODS: The study was carried out with 18 subjects with profound bilateral sensoryneural hearing loss, ranging in age from 15 to 23 years old, and with an educational level varying from the 3rd to the 7th grade of a regular public Elementary School. All subjects were users of Brazilian Sign Language and had hearing parents; they did not present other disorders associated to deafness. Subjects were assessed concerning the knowledge of nine action verbs in Brazilian Sign Language through boards with pictures representing the actions; they were asked to elaborate three sentences with each verb in written Portuguese and in Brazilian Sign Language, one in the past tense, one in the present and one in the future tense. Data were analyzed qualitative and quantitatively. RESULTS: Despite the adequate use of tense markers by most of the participants of the study in Brazilian Sign Language, a better performance was expected once sign language was the preferable communication language. Adjuncts of adverb were the most frequent tense markers used in the past and in the future sentences, and adverbs of time were predominant in the present tense. Only four subjects used sign language markers to indicate time in written sentences. Subjects presented better performance in the elaboration of sentences in the present tense in both, Brazilian Sign Language and in Written Portuguese. There was a significant statistical relation between the use of verbal inflexion in the present tense and the use of other tense markers in written production according to the increase of the educational level. CONCLUSION: Most of the deaf participants use tense markers in sentences expressed in Brazilian Sign Language and present difficulty in the Written Portuguese. Results suggest that the greater the educational level, less difficulty will be presented. This fact demonstrates the need for rethinking practices of Portuguese teaching as a second language in order for the deaf to have the opportunity to broaden their knowledge and to master writing sooner

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / In order to classify South African Sign Language as a signed gesture, five fundamental parameters need to be considered. These five parameters to be considered are: hand shape, hand orientation, hand motion, hand location and facial expressions. The research in this thesis will utilise Deep Learning techniques, specifically Convolutional Neural Networks, to recognise hand shapes in various hand orientations. The research will focus on two of the five fundamental parameters, i.e., recognising six South African Sign Language hand shapes for each of five different hand orientations. These hand shape and orientation combinations will be recognised by means of a video stream captured on a mobile device. The efficacy of Convolutional Neural Network for gesture recognition will be judged with respect to its classification accuracy and classification speed in both a desktop and embedded context. The research methodology employed to carry out the research was Design Science Research. Design Science Research refers to a set of analytical techniques and perspectives for performing research in the field of Information Systems and Computer Science. Design Science Research necessitates the design of an artefact and the analysis thereof in order to better understand its behaviour in the context of Information Systems or Computer Science. / National Research Foundation (NRF)

Masters of Science / The communication barriers between deaf and hearing society mean that interaction between these communities is kept to a minimum. The South African Sign Language research group, Integration of Signed and Verbal Communication: South African Sign Language Recognition and Animation (SASL), at the University of the Western Cape aims to create technologies to bridge the communication gap. In this thesis we address the subject of whole hand gesture recognition. We demonstrate a method to identify South African Sign Language classifiers using an eigenvector ap- proach. The classifiers researched within this thesis are based on those outlined by the Thibologa Sign Language Institute for SASL. Gesture recognition is achieved in real- time. Utilising a pre-processing method for image registration we are able to increase the recognition rates for the eigenvector approach. / South Africa

This dissertation initially reviews the literature on Indigenous language planning (LP) with an emphasis on orientations, dispositions, and their roles in Indigenous society. Token policies pertaining to Indigenous LP are often mistaken for resolving the social ailments that cause language shift--none of which result in systemic, institutional, or effective changes to programs revitalizing Indigenous languages. The author argues for a focus on sovereignty, early childhood development, teacher training, curriculum, assessment, immersion, economic sustainability, and Indigenous epistemologies. Ethnographic studies are an important aspect of LP. Oftentimes Indigenous nations have little documentation of their historical efforts to reverse language shift (RLS), leaving newcomers uninformed about the achievements of their RLS predecessors. Therefore the collection and documentation of Indigenous RLS projects can potentially prevent future language planners from recreating historical obstacles, while presenting new methods that anticipate reoccurring problems. This study overviews Lakota language (LL) status while focusing on shifting centre-periphery authentication and healing Historical Trauma by implementing cultural continuity for Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe (CRST). Much attention has been given to spoken lingua francas, but less has been given to signed lingua francas. The purpose of this research is to map distinct boundaries of Indigenous North America's signed lingua franca, emphasizing national boundaries and culture areas. Other goals include redirecting anthro-linguistic attention to the historically widespread eight dialects of Hand Talk and encouraging their hereditary signers to revitalize multimodal aspects of their respective cultures. Spoken language immersion is an effective method for RLS that usually incorporates multimodal instructional scaffolding through total physical response (TPR), and common gestures to mediate target language acquisition. However, spoken language immersion often overlooks sign language and its motor for ethnic gestures that can profoundly expand TPR's role to orchestrate holistic multimodal communication. North American Hand Talk (NAHT) is a sign language indigenous to the majority of North American Indigenous nations who are also attempting RLS among their spoken languages. Making NAHT the standard for multimodal RLS applications could increase target spoken language retention while redeveloping an Indigenous multimodal culture in North America.

Orientadores: Maria de Lurdes Zanolli, Maria Cristina da Cunha Pereira / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciencias Medicas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-07T22:23:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silva_AngelicaBronzattodePaivae_D.pdf: 1534742 bytes, checksum: 994237be9adad41534252d79a1afc512 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: O objetivo desta pesquisa foi estudar a relação entre a representação social da surdez por mães ouvintes e o desenvolvimento psicossocial de seus filhos surdos. Para isso, foram realizadas entrevistas semi-estruturadas com dez mães que têm seus filhos surdos freqüentando um dos programas de atendimento do CEPRE ¿ FCM ¿ UNICAMP. Realizaram-se, também, observações da criança surda em grupo nas atividades no CEPRE, o que possibilitou verificar a sua interação com um professor ouvinte, com um instrutor surdo e com colegas surdos. O estudo caracterizou-se como uma pesquisa qualitativa, tendo como referencial teórico a abordagem histórico-cultural e a representação social. Para a análise dos dados foi utilizada a técnica de análise de conteúdo, na qual se estabeleceram quatro categorias temáticas: diagnóstico, concepção de surdez, aspecto da linguagem e desenvolvimento psicossocial. Na discussão dos dados constatou-se que o fato da surdez ter origem genética ou adquirida não interferiu na representação que a mãe tem de seu filho surdo. Percebeu-se que, apesar da complexidade do fato de ter um filho surdo, após um tempo de seguimento as mães revelaram que a surdez ¿não é um bicho de sete cabeças¿, demonstrando,assim, mudança na maneira de representar o filho surdo. Evidenciou-se que existe uma relação entre concepção de surdez da mãe e desenvolvimento psicossocial da criança surda, mas que esta não é direta. Duas mães demonstraram ter uma concepção mais definida em relação à surdez. Uma delas vê a surdez como uma doença; seu filho usa a modalidade oral e apresenta algumas dificuldades no seu desenvolvimento psicossocial. A outra mãe vê a surdez como uma diferença; sua filha tornou-se bilíngüe, pois usa as duas línguas, Língua de Sinais e Língua Portuguesa, e apresenta um bom desenvolvimento psicossocial. As outras mães, que não têm concepção clara da surdez, parecem estar imersas em um emaranhado de fatores que interferem nessa relação. Tanto as mães que têm uma visão mais clínica da surdez, como as que não a encaram como deficiência, mencionaram a importância do surdo adquirir as duas línguas (de sinais e portuguesa na modalidade oral). Em relação à representação do filho surdo, apesar de referirem que eles têm um desenvolvimento bom e são inteligentes, algumas mães têm também uma baixa expectativa e até um sentimento de descrédito em relação ao filho surdo, o que pode ser também resultado da representação social coletiva de surdez. Algumas mães representam o filho como sendo competente, capaz, apenas com a diferença de acessar as informações pela visão, o que inclui também a preferência pela Língua de Sinais / Abstract: The objective of this study was to investigate the relation between hearing mothers¿ social representations of deafness and the psychosocial development of their deaf children. To this aim, semi-structured interviews were applied to ten mothers whose deaf children were being attended at CEPRE ¿ FCM ¿ UNICAMP. The deaf children were also observed in group activities at CEPRE, which enabled the researcher to look at the children¿s interaction with the hearing teacher, the deaf instructor and the deaf colleagues. This qualitative research study is based on a historical-cultural and social representation approaches. Content analysis was used to analyze the data, which was grouped into four subject categories: diagnosis, conception of deafness, language aspect, and psychosocial development. The data discussion showed the child¿s deafness having a genetic origin or having been acquired did not interfere in the mother¿s representations of deafness. Despite the complexities involved in having a deaf child, the mothers undergoing orientation reported that changes in their representations of deafness had in fact occurred. There is a relation between the mother¿s conception of deafness and the child¿s psychosocial development; however this relation is not direct. Two mothers seemed to have well defined conceptions of deafness. One of the mothers viewed deafness as illness; her son uses the oral mode and presents certain difficulties as to his psychosocial development. The other mother viewed deafness as difference; her daughter has become bilingual, for she uses both languages: sign language and Portuguese, and demonstrates good psychosocial development. The other mothers, who do not present dear conceptions of deafness, seem to be steeped in a knot of factors interfering in this relation. Both those mothers who have a clinical view of deafness, as well as those who don¿t face it as a disability mentioned the importance of the deaf acquiring both languages (Brazilian sign language and Portuguese in the oral modality). As to the representation of deafness in their children, even though they reported the children have developed well and are intelligent, it was evident in some of these mothers also held low expectations of their child as well as possible feelings of disbelief in their deaf child¿s full potential. This is possibly the result of collective social representations of deafness. Only a few mothers represented their children as being competent and fully able children, different only in that they accessed information visually, which also means a preference for sign language / Doutorado / Saude da Criança e do Adolescente / Doutor em Saude da Criança e do Adolescente

Globally, approximately 208 million people aged 15 and older used illicit drugs at least once in the last 12 months; 2 billion consumed alcohol and tobacco consumption affected 25% (World Drug Report, 2008). In the United States, 20.1 million (8.0%) people aged 12 and older were illicit drug users, 129 million (51.6%) abused alcohol and 70.9 million (28.4%) used tobacco (SAMHSA/OAS, 2008).Usually considered a problem specific to men (Lynch, 2002), 5.2% of pregnant women aged 15 to 44 are also illicit drug and substance abusers (SAMHSA/OAS, 2007). During pregnancy, illicit drugs and substance abuse (ID/SA) can significantly affect a woman and her infant contributing to developmental and communication delays for the infant and influencing parenting abilities (Budden, 1996; March of Dimes, 2006b; Rossetti, 2000). Feelings of guilt and shame and stressful experiences influence approaches to parenting (Ashley, Marsden, & Brady, 2003; Brazelton, & Greenspan, 2000; Ehrmin, 2000; Johnson, & Rosen, 1990; Kelley, 1998; Rossetti, 2000; Velez et al., 2004; Zickler, 1999). Parenthood is an expanded role that can be a trying time for those lacking a sense of self-efficacy and creates a high vulnerability to stress (Bandura, 1994). Residential treatment programs for ID/SA mothers and their children provide an excellent opportunity for effective interventions (Finkelstein, 1994; Social Care Institute for Excellence, 2005). This experimental study evaluated whether teaching American Sign Language (ASL) to mothers living with their infants/children at an ID/SA residential treatment program increased the mothers’ self-efficacy and decreased their anxiety. Quantitative data were collected using the General Self-Efficacy Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory showing there was both a significant increase in self efficacy and decrease in anxiety for the mothers. This research adds to the knowledge base concerning ID/SA mothers’ caring for their infants/children. By providing a simple low cost program, easily incorporated into existing rehabilitation curricula, the study helps educators and healthcare providers better understand the needs of the ID/SA mothers. This study supports Bandura’s theory that parents who are secure in their efficacy can navigate through the various phases of their child’s development and are less vulnerable to stress (Bandura, 1994).