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>

Dissertation Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a M Ed Degree in the School of Education Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2016 / South African Sign Language (SASL) is officially recognised as a formal Home Language school subject within the National Curriculum Statement Policy of South Africa. However, this long awaited roll-out of the CAPS SASL raises a number of issues within the context of each school for the Deaf regarding implementation and school leadership. Hence, a case study was undertaken at a public school for the Deaf located within Johannesburg District to draw attention to these issues. Using Freire’s concepts of Dialogue, Conscientization and Praxis (Freire, 1972) as a means to bring about transformational changes within the school for the implementation year of SASL, 2015, the study explored the dialogue between School Management Team (SMT) and staff members who teach the Deaf learners. The models of school leadership investigated were: transactional, transformational and transformative leadership (Shields, 2010) as a framework for the changing roles as demonstrated by the SMT and the said staff members. Qualitative data provided insight into different strategies employed by them as well as class assistants to implement SASL; and further revealed the changes experienced within the school and by several staff members, where members were becoming more aware of their SASL abilities and how they would want to improve. Emergent themes included the ‘SASL curriculum’, ‘leadership and change’, ‘bilingual education and quality of education’ for Deaf learners. Change was evident between the positional authority of SMT members and the language authority of the Deaf staff members and revealed how this transformation in respect for different roles of the SMT assisted the SASL implementation. Findings revealed that SMT members and Deaf staff need to engage in extensive dialogue and implement strategies to facilitate the SASL implementation if there is to be meaningful transformation within the school / XL2018

Background: There are 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK; this number includes Deaf people who use British Sign Language, but little is known of their experience or how services might be improved to support them and their carers, who are often also Deaf. Deaf people are routinely excluded from reports on linguistic/cultural minorities and dementia because their status, as such, is not recognised. They are very different from the much larger population of older people who lose their hearing and may also have dementia. Aims and Objectives: i) To explore the everyday experiences of living with dementia from the perspectives of Deaf BSL users with dementia and their care partners; ii) To explore the general Deaf community's knowledge and understanding of dementia, its symptoms and impact on everyday life. Method: Three focus groups were held with a total of 26 Deaf BSL users, who did not have dementia, to gauge their knowledge about dementia and where they might go for support. Four Deaf BSL users living with dementia with five care partners took part in two semi-structured interviews 6-8 weeks apart. Data were analysed using thematic analysis, storied stories and narrative analysis. All data were collected in BSL by a Deaf researcher. ResultsLack of access to information and support in BSL impeded early recognition of symptoms, access to diagnosis, and support within the Deaf community. Personal narratives revealed Deaf people's resilience while living with dementia. Narratives challenged key concerns of personhood, citizenship and embodiment from a different perspective because Deaf people are not usually regarded as full citizens and their capacity is routinely challenged regardless of dementia. Furthermore, embodiment of communication and language is a life-long experience, not residual adaptation. Visual strategies to support agency were also documented. Conclusions: The Deaf community needs provision of accessible and understandable information about dementia in BSL. Mainstream dementia support services should review their accessibility of effective support for Deaf BSL users who have been diagnosed with dementia and their families. However, Deaf people with dementia remain resilient and positive about their everyday lives with the support of their familial relationships.

"September, 2002" / Bibliography: p. 175-190. / 190 p. : ill. (some col.), plates (some col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / In this thesis, a methodology is devised for the segmentation of the face and hands in sign language video sequences. As well as an improved coding performance, the content-based representation of video data would allow other functionalities, such as improved error-robustness and scalability. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 2002

Predicates KNOW, WANT, LIKE, HAVE, and GOOD have been reported to differ from other predicates in American Sign Language (ASL) in that they are typically negated by reversing the orientation of hand[s] in a twisting outward/downward movement. This phenomenon has been termed "negative incorporation." In this study, I examine semantic properties of negative-incorporation predicates. Specifically, I investigate whether these predicates also allow other negation strategies available in ASL and what the meanings conveyed by using these strategies are. I provide a detailed description of negative incorporation and demonstrate that it has a different status for the verbal predicates WANT, LIKE, and KNOW versus the adjectival predicate BAD. Using the data from a structured data collection procedure in the form of a production task and the elicitation of acceptability judgments, I identify various possibilities and preferred strategies for the investigated predicates, show that most signers do not accept negative incorporation with HAVE in contemporary ASL, demonstrate that nonmanual negation when a negative headshake is the only indicator of negation cannot be used with the verbal negative-incorporation predicates, and point out that there is variation among signers with respect to the preferred strategy of negation for LIKE that can be explained by historical change in progress. / text

The expressive language tasks of the Test of Narrative Language (Gillam & Pearson, 2004) were administered to eleven deaf, native signers and fifteen English-speaking hearing children who were between the ages of six and ten years old. These tasks were administered to determine the appropriateness of this measure for use with special populations and bring to light new information about children's narrative development and the differences in the language modalities of these two groups. Also, the application of this information on future testing of deaf populations is examined. The eleven native signers came from a single residential school for the deaf, and all had deaf parents. The fifteen hearing children were recruited from a private school and through associates of the primary investigator. The tasks were administered according to the TNL manual's protocol and script, with the primary investigator speaking English for the hearing children and a native signer using American Sign Language for the deaf children. Their narratives in these tasks were coded according to the standards of the test and examined: factual story comprehension, story retell abilities (and inclusion of target terms), story generation from a picture sequence, and story generation from a single picture scene. This study found that though the hearing group outperformed the deaf group on each task's raw score, the specific subcategories of "Grammar" and "Story" from the picture sequence-based story generation task, and the "Characters" and "Vocabulary and Grammar" coding of the single picture-based generation task showed ASL users as having stronger narrative skills as a whole. Specific target items from the story retell also proved differentially problematic for the ASL group and should be altered in future utilization of the TNL with deaf children. In the future, the need for appropriate and representative testing of deaf children's narrative skills should take a higher priority, and greater understanding of the differences between ASL and English will be desired for both test creators and those testing deaf children. / text

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Taking an anthropological perspective, this dissertation focuses on a small segment of the American deaf community that uses Cued Speech by examining the nature of the cuers' linguistic repertoire. Multimodality is at issue for this dissertation. It can affect the ways of speaking or more appropriately, ways of communicating (specifically, signing or cueing). Speech and Cued Speech rely on different modalities by using different sets of articulators. Hearing adults do not learn Cued Speech the same way deaf children do. English-speaking, hearing adult learners can base their articulation of Cued Speech on existing knowledge of their spoken language. However, because deaf children do not have natural access to spoken language phonology aurally, they tend to learn Cued Speech communicatively through day-to-day interactions with family members and deaf cueing peers. I am interested in examining the construct of cuers' linguistic repertoire. Which parts of their linguistic repertoire model after signed languages? Which parts of their linguistic repertoire model after spoken languages? Cuers' phonological, syntactal and lexical repertoire largely depends on several factors including social class, geography, and the repertoire of hearing cuers whom they interacted with on a daily basis. For most deaf cuers, hearing cuers including parents, transliterators and educators serve as a model for the English language. Hearing cuers play a role as unwitting gatekeepers for the maintenance of 'proper' cueing among deaf users. For this dissertation, I seek to study the effects of modality on how cuers manage their linguistic repertoire. The statement of the problem is this: Cued Speech is visual and made with the hands like ASL but is ultimately a code for the English language. The research questions to be examined in this dissertation include how cuers adapt an invented system for their purposes, what adjustments they make to Cued Speech, how Cued Speech interacts with gesture, and what language play in Cued Speech looks like. / text

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Speech and Hearing Sciences / Master / Master of Science in Audiology

INTRODUCTION Although the controversy surrounding the medium of education for deaf individuals rages on, language professionals including educators are now realising that literacy is the single most important factor in determining the successful education of the deaf child. The medium of education selected, should thus ultimately foster literacy skills. Supporters of oralism (referring to the principal that Deaf people should learn to commnicate by speech and lipreading without the use of Sign Language) claim that with recent technological advances eg cochlear implants, the ability of even the profoundly deaf child to obtain spoken language fluency, has never been better. Oralists maintain that because the majority of the population is comprised of hearing individuals, educators are morally obliged to enforce the teaching of society�s dominant language as first priority as it is only by acquiring spoken language that the deaf child will be able to fully integrate himself in society (Gregory, Hartley, 1991). In contrast, supporters of a signed language as a medium of education argue that signed language is the best language model that is within the biological grasp of the deaf child � it is easily and naturally acquired (Lane, Hoffmeister & Bahan 1996). When used as a medium of education a signed language can impart new knowledge to the learner as well as knowledge about other languages. With first language proficiency in signed language the acquisition of second language skills i.e. literacy skills is facilitated. Deaf high school graduates (if they graduate at all) have literacy skills equivalent to roughly a third or fourth grade level. (Holcomb, Peyton & Kreeft 1992). This frightning statistic holds true for the deaf population of South Africa. Poor literacy skills resulted in the Deaf being trapped in a vicious circle of powerlessness, dependence and marginality, consequently depriving them of their dignity and rightful place in society (Carver, 1990). Recent researchers are of the opinion that the Deaf share similar language backgrounds and literacy challenges to other minority groups and that poor literacy skills can possibly be attributed to linguistic, cultural and educational factors. Hence the importance of determining the best language medium for the deaf child to receive his education. Deaf literacy is an attainable goal. What now needs to be determined is whether a signed language or a spoken language as a medium of pre-school education is the catalyst for initiating and facilitating literacy skills, which will ultimately enable the Deaf to reclaim their power, independence, dignity and rightful place in society, thus enabling them to actively contribute towards the economic and social growth of the country.