This study takes a look at baby signing and its effect on caregiver responsiveness, considering how vital caregiver responsiveness is when it comes to language development. A meta-analytic review that quantitatively combines data was conducted to estimate the effect size between baby signs and caregiver responsiveness. There were no restrictions on geography or culture in which studies were conducted. However, the time period of publication was limited from 2009 to 2020 in an attempt to examine the most recent research possible. The following search terms were used: baby signing, gestures, caregiver responsiveness, caregiver interactions, and caregiver. For a study to be included it must have met a specific criteria. Based on the criteria, a total of three articles related to baby signs and caregiver responsiveness were located. Each study was coded for outcomes related to caregiver responsiveness and the influence of signs and gestures. Age of participants was classified as months of age based on either the age range of participants provided or the mean age of participants. Each study was also coded for the research design that best described the study, the location of data collection, and publication year. The present meta-analysis found a significant positive relationship between baby signs and caregiver responsiveness. The r value for the relationship between the use of baby signs and caregiver responsiveness was .72. The estimates of the study were not substantially different from the overall effect size which indicates that no single study made a disproportionate contribution to the overall effects. The current study provides preliminary evidence that the use of baby signing influences caregiver responsiveness, which in turn, promotes language development.

One type of internal diachronic change that has been extensively studied for spoken languages is grammaticalization whereby lexical elements develop into free or bound grammatical elements. Based on a wealth of spoken languages, a large amount of prototypical grammaticalization pathways has been identified. Moreover, it has been shown that desemanticization, decategorialization, and phonetic erosion are typical characteristics of grammaticalization processes. Not surprisingly, grammaticalization is also responsible for diachronic change in sign languages. Drawing data from a fair number of sign languages, we show that grammaticalization in visual-gestural languages – as far as the development from lexical to grammatical element is concerned – follows the same developmental pathways as in spoken languages. That is, the proposed pathways are modalityindependent. Besides these intriguing parallels, however, sign languages have the possibility of developing grammatical markers from manual and non-manual co-speech gestures. We will discuss various instances of grammaticalized gestures and we will also briefly address the issue of the modality-specificity of this phenomenon.

Orientador: Marilda do Couto Cavalcanti / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-20T10:12:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Kumada_KateMamhyOliveira_M.pdf: 1615016 bytes, checksum: cde5defde82fe88614d25abe159ceff0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Durante muito tempo os surdos tiveram o direito de se comunicar pela língua de sinais negado, pois esta não era vista pela sociedade como linguisticamente legítima. Recentemente a língua brasileira de sinais (LIBRAS) obteve o reconhecimento do seu estatuto linguístico (BRASIL, 2002) e, a partir de uma visão sócio-antropológica da surdez (SKLIAR, 1998), alguns estudos têm distanciado o surdo das concepções patologizadas baseadas na deficiência auditiva e inserido o mesmo em discussões sobre educação bilíngue em contextos de minorias e invisibilização (CAVALCANTI, 1999). No entanto, nessa educação bilíngue somente o português e a LIBRAS são aceitos pela escola, enquanto as outras línguas que permeiam esse contexto tendem a ser invisibilizadas (SILVA, 2008). Assim, o surdo que não atende às expectativas linguísticas da escola é, frequentemente, apontado como "sem língua". A partir desse panorama, a presente pesquisa qualitativa (DENZIN; LINCOLN, 2006) de cunho etnográfico (ERICKSON, 1984; 1989) está inserida no campo da Linguística Aplicada, mas baseou-se em perspectivas interdisciplinares/transdisciplinares (MOITA LOPES, 2008). O objetivo consistiu em investigar as representações sobre as línguas de sinais caseiras respondendo a seguinte pergunta de pesquisa: Quais as representações de familiares de crianças surdas e de profissionais e estagiários surdos e ouvintes participantes de um programa de apoio escolar bilíngue sobre as línguas de sinais caseiras? Para a geração (MASON, 1996) de registros (ERICKSON, 1989), o corpus da pesquisa proveio, de um lado, de reuniões de grupo focal (PETTENDORFER; MONTALVÃO, 2006; MOITA-LOPES, 2009) e conversas informais e, de outro lado, diário de campo e diário retrospectivo da pesquisadora. Os encontros de grupo focal (3 encontros com profissionais e 9 encontros com familiares) e as conversas informais foram realizados com participantes de um programa de apoio escolar bilíngue a surdos desenvolvido em um centro de estudos inserido dentro de uma universidade pública de uma cidade do interior localizada na região sudeste do país. Todos os encontros foram gravados em áudio e vídeo e registrados em diário de campo. A geração de registros, análise e discussão dos dados seguiu o processo de pesquisa tipicamente associado aos estudos etnográficos (cf. ERICKSON, 1984, 1989). A análise dos dados envolveu exaustivas (re)leituras do corpus que compõe a pesquisa (diário de campo e transcrições das gravações em áudio e vídeo das conversas informais e dos encontros de grupos focais) com intuito de reunir evidências confirmatórias e/ou desconfirmatórias (ERICKSON, 1989) que validassem asserções para a pergunta de pesquisa. A análise recorreu ainda aos estudos relacionados à Linguística Aplicada através da crítica ao semilinguismo de Martin-Jones e Romaine (1986) e Maher (2007a), além de buscar respaldo na remodelação do conceito de língua proposto por César e Cavalcanti (2007). Tal conceito é proposto através da adoção da metáfora do caleidoscópio onde inúmeras possibilidades podem ser tomadas como legítimas, sem sobreposições de uma língua sob a outra. Na análise, também fui guiada pelos Estudos Culturais para compreender conceitos como o de "representação" elaborado por autores como Silva (2000) e Woodward (2000), entre outros conceitos tais como o de "terceiro espaço" e "entre lugares" de Bhabha (2007). Em síntese, as asserções desenvolvidas indicaram que as representações dos profissionais e estagiários surdos e ouvintes e de familiares participantes recaem no não reconhecimento das mesmas enquanto língua, apesar da funcionalidade linguística apresentada dentro do contexto familiar a que se prestam. Além disso, o uso das línguas de sinais caseiras é visto como prejudicial ao aprendizado da LIBRAS e foi associado como um critério de exclusão das comunidades surdas. A discussão teórica sobre as asserções visou colaborar com a desconstrução de estereótipos (BHABHA, 2007) em torno do surdo perpetuado nos discursos como "sem-língua". Desse modo, espera-se que esta pesquisa traga contribuições para as discussões sobre a perspectiva do multilinguismo em contextos de minorias (CÉSAR; CAVALCANTI, 2007), neste caso, especificamente, a surdez, favorecendo uma educação inclusiva diferenciada que considere e valorize a diversidade linguística e cultural do surdo / Abstract: Deaf people have long had the right to communicate by sign language denied, because this was not seen by society as linguistically legitimate. Recently, Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS) obtained official recognition (BRASIL, 2002) and, from a socio-anthropological view (SKLIAR, 1998), some studies have challenged representations of the deaf based on pathologised concepts related to hearing deficit and have placed the language of the deaf in discussions about bilingual education in minority contexts and invisibility (CAVALCANTI, 1999). However, in bilingual education for deaf people only Portuguese and LIBRAS are accepted in school while other languages that permeate this context tend to be rendered invisible (SILVA, 2008). Thus, the deaf person who does not meet the expectations regarding use of the languages of the school is often described in school as having 'no language'. Given this background, the aim of this research was to investigate the representations about household sign languages. The study focused on a programme designed to support bilingual education in Portuguese and LIBRAS. The central research question for the study was: What are the representations of household sign languages among families of deaf children and among deaf and hearing professionals and trainees? This study was broadly located within the field of Applied Linguistics but drew on interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary perspectives (MOITA LOPES, 2008). It was also qualitative and ethnographic in nature (ERICKSON, 1986; DENZIN; LINCOLN, 2006). For the generation of data (ERICKSON, 1989), the main research corpus came from focus group meetings (PETTENDORFER; MONTALVÃO, 2006; MOITA LOPES, 2009) and from informal conversations. It also came from field diary and the retrospective diary of the researcher. The focus group meetings (3 meetings with professionals and trainees and 9 meetings with family members) and the informal conversations were conducted with participants in the support programme for a bilingual school for the deaf, mentioned above, which was developed within a research centre housed in a public university in the southeast region of Brazil. All meetings were recorded on audio and video and notes were kept in a field diary. The generation, analysis and discussion of the data followed the research process typically associated with ethnographic studies (e.g. ERICKSON, 1984; 1989). The analysis of the data involved complete (re)readings of the corpus that was generated by the research (the field diary and the transcripts of audio and video recordings of informal conversations and meetings of focus groups) in order to gather evidence that confirmed or disconfirmed assertions related to the research question. The analysis resonated with studies within Applied Linguistics that have put forward a critique of notions such as 'semilingualism' (e.g. MARTIN-JONES; ROMAINE, 1986; MAHER, 2007a) and with the reshaping of the concept of language proposed by César and Cavalcanti (2007). This reshaping of the concept of language is proposed through the adoption of the metaphor of the kaleidoscope, where many possibilities are taken as legitimate without any one language being privileged over another. The analysis also drew on research in Cultural Studies, especially the concepts of 'representation' developed by authors such as Silva (2000) and Woodward (2000), among other concepts such as the 'Third Space' and the 'in-between' (BHABHA, 2007). In summary, the assertions drawn from my analysis of the corpus indicated that the representations of household sign languages among deaf and hearing professionals and trainees and among the family members participating in this study were not recognised as 'languages', despite the linguistic features that they displayed within the family context. Furthermore, the use of household sign languages is seen as detrimental to learning LIBRAS. In addition household sign language was associated as a criterion for exclusion of the deaf community. The theoretical discussion of the assertions aimed to collaborate with deconstruction of stereotypes (BHABHA, 2007) around the deaf as being 'no language'. Thus, it is expected that this research will make a contribution to discussions about the prospect of multilingualism in the context of minorities, in this case, specifically, deafness, and that it will promote inclusive education that values difference and the cultural and linguistic diversity among the deaf / Mestrado / Multiculturalismo, Plurilinguismo e Educação Bilingue / Mestre em Linguística Aplicada

Submitted by Priscilla Alyne Sumaio Soares (pri_sumaio@hotmail.com) on 2018-09-03T16:30:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Soares-Final.pdf: 5320205 bytes, checksum: e0785b835ec9d20580464da44a8b29de (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Priscila Carreira B Vicentini null (priscila@fclar.unesp.br) on 2018-09-03T17:29:59Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 soares_pas_dr_arafcl.pdf: 5223064 bytes, checksum: a1f5b6388a227ee998fc8c41c7c05742 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-03T17:29:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 soares_pas_dr_arafcl.pdf: 5223064 bytes, checksum: a1f5b6388a227ee998fc8c41c7c05742 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-05-18 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O povo terena habita os estados de Mato-Grosso do Sul e São Paulo. Essa etnia conta com 28.845 pessoas (dados do IBGE, 2010), que estão divididas em 17 terras. Constataram-se terena surdos na Terra Indígena Cachoeirinha, de 4.920 habitantes, em quatro aldeias, próximas ao município de Miranda-MS. A língua oral terena é amplamente falada no local, e também foi observado o uso de sinais pelos surdos terena. O trabalho envolveu o estudo da(s) língua(s) utilizadas por surdos terena de diferentes faixas etárias, tendo como objetivo descobrir se os sinais que os surdos terena e alguns ouvintes estavam utilizando eram sinais caseiros ou uma língua, e se essa língua seria autônoma ou uma variedade da LIBRAS . É notável que parte dessas pessoas não conheça a língua brasileira de sinais (LIBRAS). Alguns nunca frequentaram a escola ou tiveram contato com surdos usuários de LIBRAS. De maneira geral, os familiares dos surdos são ouvintes e falantes de português e terena, e os mais próximos conhecem o que chamo de língua terena de sinais. Alguns jovens estudam na cidade e estão avançando no uso e conhecimento da LIBRAS, porém estes mesmos jovens utilizam outra língua de sinais na aldeia, com seus familiares e amigos ouvintes, e outros surdos, que não sabem LIBRAS. Em viagens a campo, foram coletados sinais usados pelos terena por meio de fotografia e vídeo. Na pesquisa realizada durante o mestrado, muitos dados sobre os sinais usados pelos terena eram fornecidos por meio da língua portuguesa ou da LIBRAS, o que dificultou uma conclusão imediata (SUMAIO, 2014). No doutorado, entretanto, foram feitas mais coletas de dados com surdos, que permitiram chegar a conclusões definitivas. Avaliou-se então a fonologia, principalmente, e também o léxico, a morfologia, a sintaxe e a semântica desse sistema, chegando à conclusão de que não constitui variedade da LIBRAS e nem um sistema de sinais caseiros, mas uma língua autônoma. / The Terena people inhabits the states of Mato Grosso do Sul and São Paulo. This ethnic group has 28,845 people (IBGE data, 2010) which are divided into 17 indigenous communities. Deaf Terena were discovered first at the indigenous area of Cachoeirinha, of 4.920 inhabitants and, on second field trip, also in the neighboring villages, near the city of Miranda-MS. The Terena oral language is widely spoken on site, and the use of signs by deaf Terena was also observed, which gave rise to this research. The project involves the study of languages used by deaf Terena of different age groups, aiming to find out if the signs that the deaf Terena and some listeners were using were home signs or a language, and whether that language would be autonomous or a variety of LIBRAS. It is notable that some of these people do not know the Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS, from Língua Brasileira de Sinais). Some of them have never attended school or had contact with deaf users of LIBRAS. Generally, family members of the deaf are listeners and speakers of Portuguese and Terena, and the closest know what I named Terena Sign Language. Some young people are studying in the city and are progressing in the use and knowledge of LIBRAS, but these same young people use other signs in the village with their listeners relatives, friends and other deaf people, who do not know LIBRAS. In field trips, signs used by the Terena people were collected through photography and video. In the research carried out during the master's degree, many data on the signs used by Terena were supplied through the Portuguese language or LIBRAS, which made an immediate conclusion difficult (SUMAIO, 2014). In the PhD research, however, more data were collected with the deaf, which allowed definitive conclusions to be drawn. The Phonology, mainly, and also the Lexicon, Morphology, Syntax and Semantics of this system were evaluated, arriving at the conclusion that it is not a LIBRAS variety and neither a system of homemade signs, but an autonomous language. / 1411912

Orientador: José Mario De Martino / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-21T11:16:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Amaral_WanessaMachadodo_D.pdf: 9058498 bytes, checksum: 221b361f7b7908aff6c9b1222fb2521b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Acessibilidade e uma preocupação crescente em computação. Uma vez que as informações em ambientes computacionais são apresentadas em sua maioria por meios visuais, pode-se ter a falsa impressão de que a acessibilidade para deficientes auditivos não e um problema. No entanto, para pessoas que adquirem a surdez antes da alfabetização, materiais escritos são, em geral, menos acessíveis do que se apresentados em línguas de sinais. Para o deficiente auditivo a língua de sinais e geralmente a primeira língua adquirida, e ler um texto em uma língua escrita e o equivalente a utilizar uma língua estrangeira. Apesar de um surdo poder ser fluente em português assim como o ouvinte pode ser fluente em língua de sinais, a língua oral e escrita comumente não e sua primeira língua. E possível aprimorar a interação homem - maquina de portadores de deficiência auditiva adequando as respostas dos sistemas computacionais as necessidades dos surdos. A libras, língua brasileira de sinais, utiliza gestos e expressões faciais para a comunicação, sendo utilizada pela comunidade brasileira de surdos e reconhecida como língua oficial do Brasil. Para criar conteúdo virtual em língua de sinais, de maneira automática, faz-se necessária a utilização de uma notação capaz de descrever os sinais. Sistemas de transcrição foram desenvolvidos para as línguas de sinais. Porem, uma vez que não foram criados com o intuito de gerar animações por computador, estes sistemas de transcrição possuem limitações, tais como ambigüidades ou omissão de informações, dificultando seu uso para os propósitos deste trabalho. Em geral, o reconhecimento e a reprodução de um sinal com o uso dos sistemas de transcrições existentes são possíveis apenas por interpretes experientes ou por profundos conhecedores da notação. Este trabalho propõe um sistema de transcrição para a reprodução computacional e em tempo real de conteúdo em língua de sinais através de um agente virtual sinalizador, modelo tridimensional que representa uma figura humana e que articula os sinais da libras. Para isso e necessário registrar explicitamente quantidade suficiente de informações para que a reprodução seja próxima a realidade. Apesar dos estudos das línguas de sinais existirem por quase meio século, o problema de transcrição continua um desafio. Dessa forma, a proposta de uma notação para descrever, armazenar e reproduzir conteúdo em libras por um agente virtual sinalizador em tempo real oferece uma ferramenta poderosa de estudo e pesquisa, que contribui para um melhor entendimento da língua brasileira de sinais, uma vez que ainda se conhece pouco sobre sua estrutura, gramática e fonética, quando comparado ao conhecimento adquirido ao longo dos séculos pelos estudos das línguas orais / Abstract: Accessibility is a growing concern in computer science. As virtual information is mostly presented visually, it may seem that the access for deaf people is not an issue. However, for prelingually deaf individuals, those who were deaf since before learning any language, written information is less accessible than if it was presented in sign language. Further, sign language is the first language deaf people learn, and reading a text in spoken language is akin to using a foreign language. The deaf can be fluent in Portuguese, as well as the listener can be fluent in sign language. Nevertheless, an oral language is a foreign language for the deaf. It is possible to improve the human-machine interaction for deaf people adapting computer systems to their needs. Libras, Brazilian sign language, uses gestures and facial expressions to convey meaning. It is used by deaf communities in Brazil and it is recognized as an official language. To generate signed content on virtual environment, automatically, it is necessary to describe all relevant characteristics of the signs. Many transcription systems have been developed to describe sign languages. However, since these systems were not originally designed to generate computer animation, they present many limitations. In general, the recognition and reproduction of the signs using these systems is possible only for those who deeply know the notation. This thesis presents a transcription system to provide signed content on a virtual environment, in real time, through a virtual agent, tri dimensional model that represents a human character and articulates signs in libras. To animate a virtual character, a transcription system requires enough explicit information, in order to generate intelligible articulation. Although sign language studies have been published for half century, the transcription problem remains a challenge. Hence, a transcription system to describe, store and play signed content on virtual environments offers a powerful study and research tool, which may help linguists to understand sign languages structure and grammar / Doutorado / Engenharia de Computação / Doutora em Engenharia Elétrica

<p>Modal notions have been an intriguing topic in terms of capturing their crosslinguistic behaviors which have been analyzed as quantifiers (Hacquard, 2006; Kratzer, 1977), free choice items (Rullmann et al., 2008), or degrees (Lassiter, 2017). These typological patterns become more interesting when the simultaneous nature of sign languages has been added to the typology. By adding another dimension to the crosslinguistic patterns, sign languages have been reported to have different realizations for modals. Some of them have nonmanual markers alone for epistemic modals (Bross, 2018; Herrmann, 2013) while some have both manual signs and nonmanual markers (Karabüklü et al., 2018; Shaffer, 2004).</p> <p><br></p> <p>Bringing new data for the modal typology in spoken and sign languages, this dissertation analyzes the functions of modal signs and cooccurring nonmanual markers in Turkish Sign Language (TID). Even though manual signs and nonmanual markers appear together in modal sentences, nonmanual markers are shown to be neither lexical nor structural parts of modal signs. Manual signs are analyzed for their modal force and flavor with experimental studies. Results have shown that TID shows two typological patterns in its modal system: modals with specified modal force and flavor, and modals with specified force and unspecified flavor.  </p> <p><br></p> <p>One of manual signs, lazim ‘necessary’, along with epistemic signs were further investigated for their evidential requirement in epistemic contexts. Results showed that lazim requires a strong inference to be felicitous in epistemic contexts. Different than other languages, LAZIM in TID requires not only the right kind of context, but also the right morphological combination. It is interpreted as a deontic sign when it appears after verb by itself. In order to be interpreted as epistemic, it needs to appear after another sign ol which encodes the change of state.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Effects of nonmanual markers are investigated on perception of the signer’s certainty with an experimental study. Signer certainty is rated lower when the squint accompanies the sentence. In contrast, it is rated higher when head nod accompanies the sentence. The effect of increased perception of certainty with head nod is argued to result from the focus on the verb or the modal, yielding verum focus. Squint is analyzed as the uncertainty marker which can be anchored to the signer, the subject, or the addressee based on the structure in which it appears. Systematic analysis of nonmanual markers brings a new piece of evidence to the long-lasting discussion on where nonmanual markers function in sign languages’ grammars.</p>

Submitted by Jaqueline Silva (jtas29@gmail.com) on 2014-12-12T19:37:44Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Dissertação-Karime Chaibue-2013.pdf: 3935109 bytes, checksum: a2c033dafd41bae3cefd7f2936d911b8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Jaqueline Silva (jtas29@gmail.com) on 2014-12-16T09:24:32Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Dissertação-Karime Chaibue-2013.pdf: 3935109 bytes, checksum: a2c033dafd41bae3cefd7f2936d911b8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-16T09:24:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Dissertação-Karime Chaibue-2013.pdf: 3935109 bytes, checksum: a2c033dafd41bae3cefd7f2936d911b8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-10-11 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The present work consists of a descriptive analysis of the Brazilian sign language (Libras) under the theoretical perspectives of functional, cognitive and typological linguistics, along with a discussion on a linguistic universal that has been considered by Greenberg (1966) as an absolute – a feature shared by all languages around the world – namely, that “all the languages make a distinction between Noun and Verb” (GREENBERG, 1966). The main goal of the research is to confront the analysis of libras with the existing typological findings on this so-called absolute universal, in order to investigate the degree to which such universal can be easily applicable to sign languages (SL) as well, or whether the SL data can interfere with the “absolute universal” status of the distinction between the lexical categories Noun and Verb. The research is a qualitative report on a case study based on linguistic data. The participants of the research were five deaf adults fluent in Libras, from different parts of Brazil. The database for the research consisted of free narratives in Libras on varied themes, recorded in video, plus a sociolinguistic questionnaire. The theoretical framework adopted for the analysis includes cognitive, functional and typological studies on the categories Noun and Verb in oral languages (OL), such as Givón (2001), Schachter and Shopen (2007), Langacker (1997,2008), Praça (2007); and in SL, mainly, Quadros and Karnopp (2004), Salles et al. (2007), Zeshan (2002), Pizzio (2011), Lima (2012). The analysis of the data has demonstrated an inconsistency with regard to the parameter Movement as the distinctive element for the establishment of Noun and Verb as lexical categories in Libras. It has also shown that certain criteria considered distinctive for such categories in OL are not necessarily adequate for an analysis of SL data, and that such inadequacy may be related to the specificities of each language modality. The present work hopes to contribute for a broader understanding on the cognitive and functional factors involved in the categorization of Nouns and Verbs in the languages of the world, both Oral and Signed. / O presente trabalho é composto de uma análise descritiva da língua de sinais brasileira (libras), sob as perspectivas teóricas da linguística funcional, cognitiva e da tipologia linguística. O objetivo da pesquisa é o de discutir sobre um universal linguístico considerado absoluto por Greenberg (1966) - um traço compartilhado por todas as línguas do mundo. O universal em questão é “todas as línguas fazem distinção entre Nome e Verbo” (GREENBERG, 1966). Pretende-se, mediante a análise de dados da libras, confrontar os estudos tipológicos existentes sobre universais linguísticos absolutos, investigar a aplicabilidade de universais linguísticos às línguas de sinais (LS) e apontar como os dados da libras podem interferir no status de “absoluto” do universal linguístico sobre a distinção entre Nome e Verbo. Esta pesquisa apresenta as características de uma pesquisa qualitativa e do estudo de caso como método de coletas de dados. Os participantes da pesquisa foram cinco surdos adultos de diferentes regiões do Brasil. Os instrumentos da pesquisa foram narrativas livres enunciadas em libras, de temas variados, registradas em vídeos, e um questionário sociolinguístico. A análise de dados considera alguns estudos realizados sobre as categorias Nome e Verbo em línguas orais (LO): Givón (2001), Schachter e Shopen (2007), Langacker (1997, 2008), Praça (2007); e em LS: Quadros e Karnopp (2004), Salles et al. (2007), Zeshan (2002), Pizzio (2011), Lima (2012). Percebe-se em nosso corpus uma inconsistência do parâmetro movimento como elemento distintivo das categorias Nome e Verbo na libras, certas inaplicabilidades de alguns critérios distintivos nas LO para tais categorias nas LS, e a necessidade de considerar vários tipos de critérios e a especificidade da modalidade na análise de dados da libras. A contribuição desta pesquisa é a discussão de um universal considerado absoluto, apontando para a possibilidade de se entender as categorias Nome e Verbo sob uma visão mais ampla e contextualizada.

This study examined the effectiveness of two procedures, a visual cue and performance posting, to modify the use of sign language by psychiatric technicians. The visual cue was first introduced alone, then paired with performance posting to encourage staff use of sign language with the developmentally disabled children in their charge. Application of the visual cue alone produced little change in staff sign useage. The visual cue plus performance posting condition increased staff use of sign language during mealtimes. Four weeks of follow-up data indicated that the use of sign language remained at a level well above baseline.

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.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:43:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1264693 bytes, checksum: 83416e2d3098190193cc75330808b474 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-12-01 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This research was developed in purpose to discover that the difficulties that lead instructors of deaf in Palmas Tocantins to get a low grade in the National exam of proficiency in LIBRAS. For view of the problem of the high failure rate of the deaf tocantinense in the PROLIBRAS program. For this, we need to investigate the languager training of deaf educators to teaching Brazilian Sign language, provided L1, in Palmas - Tocantins. Data collect on deaf instructors in the state capital to identify the weaknesses of LIBRAS language of this professionals in the city. The data was collected through filming interview semistructured group, literature review and questionnaire. Data analysis followed the sociolinguistic line therefore raised the hypothesis that deaf people in Tocantins have spoken a language variant of LIBRAS a close variant to portuguese signaled modality that matches portuguese language with sign language, and thus there was the discovery of the existence of a lingistic isolation of the deaf community of Tocantins, causing many difficulties in the signs interpretation shown during the examination of PROLIBRAS. In the end it was realized the need to graduate in higher level in letters/LIBRAS to deaf instructors. It is understood as essential to overcome the common sense view and develop knowledge applied to teaching LIBRAS in Palmas-TO. / A presente pesquisa foi desenvolvida com o propósito de desvendar as dificuldades que levam os instrutores surdos de Palmas - Tocantins a terem um baixo rendimento no exame nacional de proficiência em LIBRAS, tendo em vista o problema do alto índice de reprovação dos surdos tocantinenses no programa PROLIBRAS. Para tanto, precisou-se investigar a formação linguística dos educadores surdos para o ensino da Língua Brasileira de Sinais, na condição de L1, em Palmas Tocantins. Foram coletados dados sobre os instrutores surdos na capital do estado para detectar as deficiências linguísticas desses profissionais da LIBRAS na cidade, A coleta ocorreu por meio de filmagem da entrevista semi-estruturada de grupo, do levantamento bibliográfico, e aplicação de questionário. A análise dos dados seguiu a linha de pensamento sociolinguista, pois, levantou-se a hipótese de que os surdos do Tocantins falavam uma variante linguística da Libras - uma variante próxima ao português sinalizado modalidade que mistura a língua portuguesa e a língua de sinais, e com isso houve a descoberta da existência de um isolamento lingüístico da comunidade surda do Tocantins, ocasionando uma barreira de dificuldades na interpretação dos sinais mostrados durante o exame do PROLIBRAS. Ao final percebeu-se a necessidade da formação em nível superior da graduação em Letras/Libras para os instrutores surdos. Entendendo-se como fundamental para ultrapassar a visão do senso comum e desenvolver saberes aplicados ao ensino de Libras em Palmas-TO.