This study was an investigation of the relationship between rapid automatized naming (RAN) and reading in a sample of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students who use American Sign Language (ASL). Thirty DHH students, 10 to 18 years old, were given a series of assessments including measures of RAN, reading decoding, reading fluency, reading comprehension, expressive vocabulary, receptive vocabulary, and visual-motor integration. Significant correlations were found between RAN colors and reading decoding; RAN colors and reading comprehension; and RAN colors, numbers, and letters and reading fluency. A significant difference was found between symbolic (letters, numbers) and non-symbolic (objects, colors) RAN in this sample, with better performance noted on tasks of symbolic RAN. Hierarchical regression models were created for each type of RAN. Each model as a whole was significant. The proposed model for RAN objects accounted for 26.6% of the variance in RAN performance. The model for RAN colors accounted for 54.1% of the variance in RAN performance. The proposed model for RAN numbers accounted for 53% of the variance in RAN. The model for RAN letters accounted for 32.6% of the variance in RAN. Across all models, reading fluency and vocabulary were unique and statistically significant contributors in the model predicting RAN. Visual-motor integration performance was not a unique contributor to the model.

The Swedish Bildtelefoni.net is a service that people who use Swedish Sign Language (SSL) through a video phone can call in order to get in touch with people who speak through a telephone, or vice versa. In relayed calls via the Swedish video relay service (FBT), the interlocutors have different access to the visual arena and the auditive space. They are also physically separated from each other. An interpreter, working in a studio, enables the interaction across the different media, and the interpreter is the only person who has direct contact with both users of the service. FBT has been provided in Sweden since 1996, and is administrated by The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS). The overall aim of the dissertation is to describe, analyse and discuss participants’ interaction and their joint construction of meaning within FBT. The theoretical and methodological frameworks for the dissertation are dialogism and Conversation Analysis (CA). The dissertation is based on twenty-five authentic calls from FBT, recorded during two periods of time: in the years 2009–2010, and in 2013. One stimulated recall is also made with one interpreter, concerning a call from the second collection. The project has been ethically approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Board. The interaction within FBT is dynamic and dependent on different media, modalities, resources, and also related to several conventions specific for the setting. All this influences the interlocutors, their actions as well as the entire activity. This kind of complexity has not previously been studied in the regular service. Analysis of the recordings focuses on the actions and activities of the participants who interact in the FBT, on a moment-to-moment basis. As results of the research, four phenomena are addressed, and presented as papers: I: the organisation of turns; II: the headset as an interactional resource; III: positioning and bimodal mediation with a focus on the interpreter; IV: the co-creation of communicative projects among the interlocutors. A main conclusion of the results is that the interaction is a joint construction of meaning among all of the interlocutors, although, the interpreter has a key function. Further research of interaction within FBT needs to be conducted, since investigations on this institutional interaction are rare despite the fact that this kind of service is widespread all over the world.

Research has shown that theory of mind tends to develop in typically-developing children at about the age of 4 years. However, language appears to play a great role in this, particularly as deaf children, particularly those born to hearing parents, display extreme delays in theory of mind development, while bilinguals have been found to develop at a somewhat faster rate than monolinguals. Additionally, effects of culture on theory of mind development remain somewhat unclear, as there have been mixed results in past research. Theory of mind has also been correlated with metalinguistic ability and executive functioning skills, leading to multiple hypotheses regarding what drives theory of mind development. The aim of this doctoral thesis was to examine the relationships between theory of mind, metalinguistic awareness, and executive functioning, as well as to evaluate how language and culture play a role in these relationships. Four studies were conducted in an attempt to seek answers to six research questions surrounding this aim. Study1 evaluated theory of mind, metalinguistic awareness, and executive functioning among hearing nursery children in Central Scotland. Study 2 was aimed at evaluating these same skills among deaf children in the U.S. and U.K., as well as developing a scaling of theory of mind abilities among deaf children. Study 3 assessed these skills among deaf Ghanaian children, as well as evaluating theory of mind abilities among a group of hearing Ghanaian children. Finally, Study 4 compared monolingual and bilingual children on theory of mind, metalinguistic awareness, and executive functioning. Results show that there is a strong link between theory of mind and metalinguistic awareness among hearing children that is not explained by executive functioning skills. This relationship was not apparent among deaf children, who struggle more with theory of mind than metalinguistic awareness. The deaf children in Ghana were delayed compared to their Western peers; hearing Ghanaian children were delayed compared to their Western peers as well, but only slightly. Bilingual children and monolingual children performed similarly on false belief and set-shifting tasks; however, monolingual children outperformed bilinguals on metalinguistic awareness and inhibition tasks, possibly due to low verbal mental age among the monolinguals. Results of the four studies suggest that language does play a part in the relationship between theory of mind and metalinguistic awareness. Due to limited data, cultural effects remain unclear. It is proposed that deaf children’s struggle with theory of mind stems from their difficulty with abstract concepts.

Diploma thesis Semiotic analysis of Martin Scorsese's films focusing on Raging bull and The Wolf of Wall Street aims to capture unique and original signs in both films mentioned. Through semiotic analysis it examines key elements of film language - structure, means of expression in film and composition. The thesis also focuses on capturing director's characteristic filmmaking techniques and how these techniques and elements affect the viewer. At the same time it examines in detail various aspects of the director's films and film processing in both of them. It is also focusing on description of unique and specific items of Scorsese's work and analyze them in the context of the two works. The final part explains the cause of the original concept of author's films and his great success and popularity not only among film fans.

Le nom de domaine était inventé pour localiser sur Internet. Son valeur augment en tant qu'une ressource importante pour les entreprises. Ils ont été reconnu un type d'un signe distinctif par les jurisprudences. Le principe de « premier arrivé, premier servi » est appliqué pour enregistrer. Le problème est qu'il n'existe pas de système permettant aux registraires de filtrer au préalable les demandes susceptibles de poser problème. Ils peuvent entrer en conflit avec d'autres signes distinctifs, notamment avec les marques. Les causes peuvent expliquer par les différences des systèmes. En principe, les litiges relatifs aux noms de domaine découlent de la pratique du cybersquattage. L'apparition du cyber squattage et l'augmentation rapide du nombre de conflits nuisent à la sécurité légale. Pour résoudre ces conflits, on peut utiliser deux procédures : la procédure extrajudiciaire et judiciaire. L'UDRP procédure a été mise en place par l'ICANN. Cette procédure est évaluée comme peu coûteuse, rapide et efficace. Beaucoup de pays opèrent la procédure extrajudiciaire très similaire avec l'UDRP. En ce qui concerne des litiges « .eu », la procédure ADR est lancée. Les tribunaux de chaque pays sont en train d'essayer de régler les conflits relatifs au cybersquattage sous le fondement des lois tels que le droit de marque, le droit de concurrence déloyale et droit civil. Comme les systèmes légaux de chaque de pays sont différents, le critère appliqué ne peut pas être identique. En conclusion, le système légal pour règlementer les conflits est en train de développer au niveau international. Il est nécessaire d'harmoniser le système de règlement des conflits. / The domain name was invented to identify on Internet. His value has become an important resource for companies. The domain name was recognized a kind of distinctive sign by jurisprudence. The principle of "first come, first serve" is applied for registration. The problem is that there is no system to filter in advance some applications that may bring about a problem.Domain names may conflict with other distinctive signs, particularly with the trademarks. The causes of conflicts can be explained by the differences in systems. In principle, the disputes related to domain names come mainly from the practice of cybersquatting. The emergence of cybersquatting and their rapid increase of conflicts hinder legal security.To resolve these conflicts, two procedures can be used: the administrative procedure and the judicial procedure. The UDRP procedure has been implemented by ICANN. This procedure is evaluated as a less expensive, fast and efficient. Many countries including the France operate the administrative procedure that is very similar with the UDRP. With regard to disputes '.eu', the ADR procedure was launched. Each country's courts are currently trying to resolve disputes related to cybersquatting by the laws such as trademark law, unfair competition law and civil law. As each country's legal systems are different, the applied criteria aren't the same.In conclusion, the legal system to regulate conflicts between trademark and domain name is developing internationally and domestically. It is necessary to harmonise the system of resolution of disputes at the international level.

Esta tese de doutorado deriva do programa de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento em Geração de Dicionários da Língua de Sinais Brasileira (Libras) conduzido pelo Professor Capovilla no último quarto de século. A tese pertence aos campos da lexicologia, lexicografia e metalexicografia. A tese foca na pesquisa lexicográfica que a autora conduziu como coautora do Dic-Brasil: Dicionário da Língua de Sinas do Brasil (Capovilla, Raphael, Temoteo, & Martins, 2017a, 2017b, 20917c) nos estados do Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná e no Distrito Federal . Ela descreve as estratégias usadas para estudar o léxico de Libras, e compara as estratégias lexicográficas usadas em seis dicionários clássicos, três dos quais d e Libras e os outros três da Língua de Sinais Americana. A tese analisa o papel que a iconicidade do sinal desempenha nos dicionários de sinais, e compara diferentes modos com que a iconicidade é tratada nesses seis dicionários clássicos de língua de sinai s. De modo a aumentar a eficácia pragmática com que os dicionários representam sinais, esta tese analisa o papel desempenhado pelas ilustrações e descrições, tanto da forma do sinal quanto de seu significado; bem como da iconicidade, etimologia e morfologi a do sinal. A tese descreve um estudo sobre a iconicidade dos sinais, e analisa a relação entre o grau em que a forma de um sinal pode ser considerada admissível para representar um dado significado e o grau em que esse significado pode ser efetivamente ad ivinhado. Sinais icônicos têm significado admissível e adivinhável. O paradoxo na bibliografia é que sinais não adivinháveis são considerados admissíveis. No estudo analisando relação entre admissibilidade e adivinhabilidade, 70 sujeitos ingênuos (Grupos 1 e 2) observaram 201 sinais (Conjuntos A e B). Sujeitos do Grupo 1 julgavam a admissibilidade dos sinais do Conjunto A (atribuindo nota numa escala Likert: - 2, - 1, +1, +2) e adivinhavam o significado dos sinais do Conjunto B. Sujeitos do Grupo 2 faziam o o posto: julgavam a admissibilidade dos sinais do Conjunto B e adivinhavam significado dos sinais do Conjunto A. Resultados revelaram que s ujeitos julgaram 28 sinais como inadmissíveis (Adm M - 1), 77 como admissíveis (+1 Adm M ), e 96 como neutros ( - 1,00< Adm M <+1,00). Dos 201 sinais, adivinharam somente 24 (+1 Adv M ), todos os quais haviam sido previamente considerados admissíveis pelo outro grupo. Nenhum sinal que foi considerado inadmissíve l por um grupo chegou a ser adivinhado pelo outro. Logo, a admissibilidade de um sinal parece ser condição necessária para a adivinhabilidade desse sinal, e correlacionada positivamente com essa adivinhabilidade. O estudo sugere que, aparentemente, a admis sibilidade só passa a predizer fortemente a adivinhabilidade quando essa admissibilidade ultrapassar certo limiar de forte admissibilidade, que está localizado em algum ponto entre 1,50 e 1,75 (i.e., 1,50 Adm M 1,75) na escala Likert / This doctoral dissertation springs from the Research and Development Program on Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) Dictionaries conducted by Professor Capovilla and students at the University of Sao Paulo over the last 25 years. The dissertation pertains to Libras lexicology, lexicography, and metalexicography. The dissertation centers on the lexicographic research that the author has conducted as coauthor of the Dic-Brasil: Libras Dictionary (Capovilla, Raphael, Temoteo, & Martins, 2017a, 2017b, 20917c). It describes the strategies used for studying Libras lexicon, and compares lexicographic strategies used in six classic dictionaries, three of which on Libras, and the other three on American Sign Language. The dissertation analyzes the role of sign iconicity in sign dictionaries. It compares different ways in which iconicity is dealt with in six classic sign language dictionaries. In order to increase the pragmatic efficacy with which dictionaries represent signs, the present dissertation analyzes the role played by both illustration and description of both sign form and sign meaning, as well as by descriptions of sign iconicity, etymology and morphology. The dissertation describes a study on sign iconicity that analyzes the relationship between sign admissibility and sign guessability. Signs are iconic when their meaning is admissible and can be guessed. Paradoxically, while only 10% of sign meaning can be guessed, the remaining 90% of signs that cannot be guessed are considered admissible, once the observer is informed about what they mean. In the study, 70 naive subjects (Groups 1 and 2) examined 201 signs (Sets A and B). Group 1 subjects rated the admissibility of Set A signs (using a Likert scale: -2, -1, +1, +2) and guessed the meaning of Set B signs. Group 2 did the opposite. Results showed that: Subjects rated 28 signs as inadmissible (average rating -1), 77 signs as admissible (average rating +1), and 96 signs as neutral (-.99 average rating +.99). Only 24 of 201 signs were effectively guessed (average rating +1), all of which had been regarded as being admissible by the other group subjects. No sign that had been regarded as inadmissible ended up being guessed. Therefore, admissibility seemed necessary for guessability and positively correlated with it. Yet it seemed insufficient for guessability. The data suggests that, apparently, sign admissibility can only predict sign guessability when admissibility surpasses a given threshold of strong admissibility, which is located somewhere in between 1.5 and 1.75 point (1,50 average rating 1,75) in the Likert scale

Traditionally, the curriculum for deaf learners mainly involved language acquisition. The emphasis on academic subjects, such as science was marginal. In South Africa, the National Curriculum Statements (NCS) was introduced to redress the inequalities of the past education system. This research report is an investigation of science education for deaf learners. The study involved, firstly, exploring the experiences of educators that teach science to deaf learners and secondly, the identification of possible barriers that deaf learners experience in acquiring scientific knowledge, values and skills. Methodologically, this research project is located in the qualitative paradigm. The research participants comprised of five educators that teach science to deaf learners. The research sites were schools that cater for deaf learners, and are located in a province of South Africa. To gather data from the participants, the qualitative tools of interviews, field observations and artifact collection were utilized. Findings from the research indicate that there are intrinsic factors, such as literacy, sign language, cognition and motivation, and extrinsic factors, such as policy implementation, instructional strategies and resources that create barriers for deaf learners in science education. The participants’ suggestions that have emerged are also mentioned. Data obtained from the research provides valuable insight for deaf learners, educators that teach science to deaf learners and educational policy makers. The research report concludes with recommendations that could have implications for further research in the context of science education for deaf learners in South Africa.

Cette étude se propose d'examiner les rapports entre l'Orient et l'Occident dans La Goutte d'or de Michel Tournier. Dans le cadre d'un voyage initiatique en Occident effectué par un jeune berger nord-africain, l'auteur jette la lumière sur l'image que chacun des deux mondes se forge de l'autre tout en montrant dans quelle mesure cette représentation influence la communication et le dialogue entre eux. Le fond et la forme du roman mettent l'accent sur la possibilité d'un échange culturel bénéfique entre l'Orient et l'Occident, et ce en dépit des différences qui les séparent et des conflits qui les opposent. Notre recherche examinera d'abord l'angle sous lequel se présente la relation entre l'identité et l'altérité dans le roman à travers l'analyse de la crise identitaire du héros et de son influence sur ses rapports avec l'Autre occidental dans le contexte de l'immigration. Nous passerons ensuite à l'examen de ce que l'auteur appelle "civilisation de l'image" et "civilisation du signe". Nous analyserons les différentes formes sous lesquelles se présentent l'image et le signe dans le roman, ainsi que les raisons pour lesquelles les religions monothéistes sacralisent ou prohibent les représentations figurées, analyse qui nous permettra de dégager la conception tourniérienne de chacune de ces deux entités distinctes, l'image et le signe, et de saisir la nature ambivalente de la relation de l'une à l'autre. Nous étudierons finalement l'influence de l'Orient arabe sur Michel Tournier qui marie dans sa Goutte d'or des éléments empruntés à la tradition arabo-islamique à d'autres appartenant à la littérature et la mythologie occidentales dans le cadre d'une structure inspirée des Mille et une Nuits. / This study aims to examine the relationship between Orient and Occident in Michel Tournier's novel The Golden Droplet. Through an initiatory journey to the West carried out by a young North African shepherd, the author sheds light on the image that each of these two worlds has of the other while showing how this representation influences communication and dialogue between them. The content and the form of the novel focus on the possibility of a beneficial cultural exchange between Orient and Occident, in spite of the differences separating them and the conflicts opposing them. Our research will first examine how the relationship between identity and otherness is perceived in the novel through the analysis of the hero's identity crisis and its impact on his relationship with the Western other in the immigration context. Then we will review what the author calls "civilization of the image" and "civilization of the sign". We will analyze the different forms in which are presented the image and the sign in the novel and why monotheistic religions sanctify or prohibit figurative representations, analysis which will allow us to degage Tournier's conception of each of these two separate entities, the image and the sign, and grasp the ambivalent nature of the relationship of one to the other. Finally, we will study the influence of the Arab East on Michel Tournier who married in his Golden Droplet elements from the Arab-Islamic tradition to others belonging to Western literature and mythology through a structure inspired by the Arabian Nights.

Le Sūtra du diamant est réputé et populaire aussi bien en Orient qu’en Occident. Il s’est très tôt introduit en Chine et n’a pas cessé de faire l’objet de multiples traductions du Ve au VIIIe siècle ; il en existe six versions distinctes, toutes traduites par d’éminents moines, sous le contrôle officiel de la Cour Impériale. Toutefois, seule la première version de Kumārajīva (407) a été la cible de commentaires et d’annotations au cours du temps. Ceci nous permet d’approfondir la raison pour laquelle sa version mérite d’être étudiée dans ses différences par rapport aux autres versions. De là nous mettons en évidence la prédominance de l’emploi du terme xiang相 comme le concept le plus récurrent dans cette version. Il semble en effet que xiang ne dérive pas d’un seul et unique mot équivalent en sanskrit, d’où l’intérêt de notre recherche sur le décalage textuel entre l’original indien et sa traduction, ainsi que sur l’osmose culturelle entre le bouddhisme et la pensée traditionnelle chinoise. Dans cette optique nous axerons notre approche selon trois plans parallèles : philologique, philosophique et esthétique de la traduction. Nous évoquerons d’abord les facteurs extérieurs des textes-source et des textes-cible, puis nous entreprendrons l’analyse textuelle comparative entre les versions sanskrites et les traductions chinoises, en mettant en avant simultanément le sens terminologique et philosophique du texte. Comme xiang (phénomène) est aussi un concept clé dans l’ensemble des textes bouddhistes, nous élargirons notre vision dans une sphère plus globale, en nous référant à d’autres textes connexes. Nous finirons par l’étude de l’utilisation du terme, et son retentissement culturel dans le monde chinois dans la perspective traductologique, ce qui nous conduira également à réfléchir à la traduction bouddhique en français. / The Diamond Sūtra is renowned and popular in both the East and West. It was introduced very early in China and has not ceased to be the subject of numerous translations from the 5th to the 8th century; There are six distinct versions, all rendered by eminent monks, under the official control of Imperial Court. However, only the first translation of Kumārajīva (407) was the target of so many comments and annotations over time. This allows us to demand why this version merits further study of its differences to other versions. From here we find the use of the term xiang 相 as the most recurrent theme in the text. It seems that xiang is not derived from one single equivalent in Sanskrit, hence the focus of our research on the textual shift between the Indian origin of the word and its translation, as well as on the cultural osmosis between Buddhism and Chinese culture. With this view, our approach is based on three parallel axes: philological, philosophical researches and aesthetic study of translation. We will first deal with the questions about external factors of the source texts and the target texts. Then we undertake the comparative textual analysis between the Sanskrit and all Chinese translations, highlighting the terminological and philosophical meaning of the text. Since xiang (phenomenon) is also a key concept in Buddhist jargon, we suppose to reframe and refine our perspective by referring to other related texts. We will conclude with the use of the term and its cultural repercussions in the Chinese world from a translatological view, which leads us to think, going forward, about Buddhist translations into French.

This thesis will explore the complex relationship between marketplace exclusion and symbolic resources mediated by the market, for older consumers who have traversed from a socio-cultural identity in the majority to stand on the periphery of consumption. Employing a Consumer Culture Theory influenced perspective and using Baudrillard critical theory of symbolic exchange and death as a lens of analysis, this thesis will utilize a psycho-social method to explore how and why older consumers find themselves excluded from the market. As well as how this absence is negotiated in a society where inclusion in social life is dependent on consumption. This thesis postulates the market as an ideological structure that promulgates a capitalist ideology of life as an affirmatory force and, therefore, negates death. In doing so this thesis problematizes the dominant notion of the market in theory and practice, in particular, the notion of the market as a free and open space for participation. Contributing to an explorative effort to shed light on the complex relationship between exclusion and sign-value, marketplace representation and ideology.