The education of the deaf--the bock mart, being a list of books on the deaf, speech and speech-reading, the language of signs, etc., now in print.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Books↗
SEARCH · PubMed Health
Results for “Sign Language”
Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Neural plasticity detected in short- and long-term cochlear implant users using PET.
The interaction of listening to words and watching sign language in short-term and long-term cochlear implant (CI) users who have learned sign language after becoming deaf was measured using PET. In short-term CI users the auditory cortex was inactive while in long-term CI users it was fully activated with the simultaneous presentation of auditory and visual input. The result suggests the possibility that the interference of rival modalities may be diminished with experience and the preference switchover from the visual input to the auditory input could be accomplished by means of the neural plasticity persisting in the mature human auditory cortex.
Adolescent↗
The development of communication and language in deaf preschool children with cochlear implants.
The study is an ongoing longitudinal and qualitative psycho-social study of the communicative development in 19 preschool children with cochlear implants, using sign language. The children are video-recorded in natural interactional settings. Analysis of patterns of communication show that 16 of the children use sign language in communication with adults and peers. With regard to oral communication, 13 children were observed to utter single words or speech-like sounds upon an adult's request, but seldom used spoken words spontaneously. Six children used single spoken words in dialogues with adults if the content of the dialogue was about the here and now, and if the topic of reference was clear. None of the children in the study were able to take part in age-adequate play activities with peers when speech was used in communication. The results are discussed in reference to early mother-infant interaction, the development of communication and language, and the significance of early close relationships for children's social and emotional development.
Child↗
The Profile of Multiple Language Proficiencies: A Measure for Evaluating Language Samples of Deaf Children.
This article reports the process of creating a developmental measure that assesses the multilingual capabilities of deaf children and the problems that were encountered. Because deaf children may be using more than one method of communication (e.g., sign language skills and spoken language skills), it is important to evaluate their skills as completely as possible. In a pilot study, we used a nominal scale that assessed language skills based on a single continuum, with good English and good American Sign Language (ASL) skills as its two extremes and approximately equal skills in both as the midpoint. In the main study, a more complete measure was created, the Profile of Multiple Language Proficiencies (PMLP). The PMLP uses a single scale that represents the different stages of language development that can be observed in both English and ASL. The PMLP showed reasonable initial reliability and has good promise as an easy-to-use measure of developing language skills in children who use multiple modalities of communication. Using the PMLP as a prototype, we discuss some of the issues that influence the reliability and validity in evaluating such a scale and how these can be overcome or avoided.
Journal Article↗
Extrapolating from spoken to signed prosody via laboratory phonology.
Laboratory phonology tests the predictions of phonological analyses through experimental investigations of phonetic behavior. This paper describes how a laboratory phonologist might investigate three issues in the analysis of the prosody of signed languages: the internal structure, if any, of the signed syllable, the realization of lexical and phrasal prominence, and the marking of edges. The paper proposes to investigate the internal structure of the syllable by adapting a variety of psycholinguistic techniques that have been extensively used to study the phonetic packaging of phonological material in spoken languages. Phonological and phonetic arguments are presented in support of the hypothesis that signed languages will increase movement kinematics to convey phrasal and perhaps lexical prominence, and an experiment is sketched that would test this hypothesis. Finally, the paper suggests that the experimental study of the edges of sign articulations might allow a clearer choice between competing phonetic and phonological accounts of external sandhi in language in general.
Humans↗
Gestures, the language of signs, and human communication.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Communication↗
On creating a workable signing environment: deaf and hearing perspectives.
This article studies teams of service providers in education and psychiatric services, in which a substantial number of both deaf and hearing people work together as colleagues. It focuses specifically on the challenges involved in cooperatively creating a signing work environment. Using a methodology that draws on the principles of ethnography, it identifies and explores the meaning constructions associated with signing at work, from deaf and hearing perspectives. Data were collected through interviews in three organizations all in the United Kingdom: two specialist psychiatric units for deaf adults and a school for deaf children. Forty-one informants participated (20 deaf, 21 hearing). Results show that from a deaf perspective, hearing people's use of sign language in their presence at work is closely associated with demonstrating personal respect, value, and confidence, and hearing colleagues' willingness to sign is more significant than their fluency. From a hearing perspective, results demonstrate that sign language use at work is closely associated with change, pressure, and the questioning of professional competence. The challenges involved in improving deaf/hearing relations are perceived from a deaf perspective as largely person-centered, and from a hearing perspective as primarily language-centered. The significance of organizational factors such as imbalances in power and status between deaf and hearing colleagues is explored in relation to the findings.
Journal Article↗
The medium of signs: nominalism, language and the philosophy of mind in the early thought of Dugald Stewart.
In 1792 Dugald Stewart published Elements of the philosophy of the human mind. In its section on abstraction he declared himself to be a nominalist. Although a few scholars have made brief reference to this position, no sustained attention has been given to the central role that it played within Stewart's early philosophy of mind. It is therefore the purpose of this essay to unpack Stewart's nominalism and the intellectual context that fostered it. In the first three sections I aver that his nominalism emanated from his belief that objects of the mind--qualities, ideas and words--were signs that bore no necessary relation to the external objects that they were meant to represent. More specifically, it was these signs that were arranged into systems of thought by the 'operations of the mind'. The next three sections suggest that his treatment of words as signs most probably originated in his views on language and medicine and that his nominalistic philosophy of mind could also be extended to systems that sought to classify the natural world. I conclude by suggesting several avenues of enquiry that could be pursued by future scholars interested in excavating Stewart's thought.
Classification↗
The effect of communication mode on the development of phonemic awareness in prelingually deaf students.
Two groups of prelingually deaf children and a hearing control group participated in an experiment examining the effect of communication mode on the development of phonemic awareness. Sixteen of the deaf students (mean grade 6.9) were trained orally, using spoken language as their principal means for communication at home and at school. Another 16 deaf students (mean grade 6.9), all of them deaf children of deaf parents, acquired sign language as their primary language. The mean grade of the hearing control group was 6.5. The performance of the two deaf groups indicates that permanent auditory deprivation leads to substantially reduced phonemic awareness but does not entirely block its development. Contrary to expectation, the development of phonemic awareness in individuals with impaired hearing was not significantly affected by their preferred communication mode. Results further suggested that, for deaf individuals with excellent skills in sign language, the functional impairment caused by prelingual deafness may be restricted to the processing of phonological information.
Adolescent↗
How children make language out of gesture: morphological structure in gesture systems developed by American and Chinese deaf children.
When children learn language, they apply their language-learning skills to the linguistic input they receive. But what happens if children are not exposed to input from a conventional language? Do they engage their language-learning skills nonetheless, applying them to whatever unconventional input they have? We address this question by examining gesture systems created by four American and four Chinese deaf children. The children's profound hearing losses prevented them from learning spoken language, and their hearing parents had not exposed them to sign language. Nevertheless, the children in both cultures invented gesture systems that were structured at the morphological/word level. Interestingly, the differences between the children's systems were no bigger across cultures than within cultures. The children's morphemes could not be traced to their hearing mothers' gestures; however, they were built out of forms and meanings shared with their mothers. The findings suggest that children construct morphological structure out of the input that is handed to them, even if that input is not linguistic in form.
Asian People↗
The relationships between reading processes and English skills of deaf college students.
This research project investigated the relationships between various working memory (WM) recoding processes and English language skills in a sample of 86 prelingually deaf college students from varied educational backgrounds. Part 1 reports the results of a short-term memory (STM) experiment and a Recoding Strategies questionnaire. The STM results suggested that, for most deaf students, neither the speech, sign, or visual codes are as efficient as the speech code of hearing persons for the purpose of maintaining English linguistic information in WM. However, the ability to use speech-based recoding processes was positively correlated with WM capacity, and the use of sign recoding was found to decrease as the ability to make efficient use of a speech recoding strategy increased. In addition, the questionnaire data suggested that neither the speech nor sign recoding systems provide the majority of students with a complete internal representation of English surface structure grammatical information in WM. There was no evidence that the use of sign language in education interfered with the ability to develop a speech recoding strategy, or that knowledge of American Sign Language (ASL) negatively influenced the acquisition of English skills. The overall pattern of results suggested that WM processes and recoding strategies may be influencing grammatical processes, and the acquisition of English skills, in distinctive ways.
Journal Article↗
Documenting English syntactic development in face-to-face signed communication.
The authors explored the face-to-face English competence of five students who were participating in a larger study of teachers' use of English-based signing. Using case studies, the authors report on the students' development of English-based signing at the beginning and end of their involvement in this 4-year study. Grammatical forms similar in English and American Sign Language (ASL) were initially more readily produced when tested for in English, and showed consistently higher attainment levels across all the students, than grammatical forms that are different in English and ASL. The authors found emerging English forms that could be documented (a) between prompted and imitated utterances and (b) within blocks of test items examining the same grammatical constructions. The authors conclude that teachers' concerted efforts to use English-based signing as a language of instruction enhance deaf students' English acquisition. Such signing helps build a bridge between native sign language and the development of English skills necessary for literacy.
Child↗
THE BRAIN AND DISORDERS OF COMMUNICATION. THE LANGUAGE OF SIGNS AND SYMBOLIC BEHAVIOR OF THE DEAF.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Brain↗
Deafness in sub-Saharan Africa.
Deaf education in sub-Saharan Africa originated in the 19th century, primarily through efforts by hearing European missionaries who typically followed their homelands' oral-only practices. But education became available to only a fraction of the deaf population. In the 20th century, Andrew Foster, a deaf African American missionary and Gallaudet University's first African American graduate, had unparalleled impact on deaf education in the region, establishing 31 schools for the Deaf, training a generation of deaf leaders, and introducing his concept of Total Communication, which embraced both American and indigenous signs. Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa have provided leadership in deaf education, but throughout the region there is growing acceptance of sign language use in school, and secondary and postsecondary education for the Deaf is increasingly available. Some national constitutions safeguard the rights of citizens with disabilities and even recognize indigenous sign languages. International disability organizations, particularly the World Federation of the Deaf, have helped change attitudes and train leaders. Despite some grim present realities, prospects for continued progress are good.
Africa South of the Sahara↗
Balancing between deaf and hearing worlds: reflections of mainstreamed college students on relationships and social interaction.
This qualitative study of the social aspects of mainstreaming from the perspective of deaf college students indicates that for some students, social adjustment to college is complicated by experiences of separation and alienation from both deaf and hearing peers. Data were collected through open-ended interviews with deaf students who had little or no previous experience with or exposure to deaf culture or language before their arrival at a mainstream college environment. Feelings of isolation, loneliness, and resentment were most intense during orientation and first year, when alienation from the deaf student community appeared to be caused by lack of sign language skills, unfamiliarity with norms and values of deaf culture, and perceived hostility from deaf peers. Simultaneous experiences of separation from hearing peers appeared to be caused by physical barriers inherent in the classroom, residence hall, and cafeteria environments, as well as by discrimination from hearing peers, who tended to stereotype deaf students. Findings suggest that those involved in the administration and delivery of postsecondary programs for the deaf should investigate the experiences of students who arrive on campus without knowledge of sign language or familiarity with deaf culture and evaluate currently existing programs and services designed to meet these students' needs.
Journal Article↗
The impact of visual communication on the intersubjective development of early parent-child interaction with 18- to 24-month-old deaf toddlers.
This article presents a study that examined the impact of visual communication on the quality of the early interaction between deaf and hearing mothers and fathers and their deaf children aged between 18 and 24 months. Three communication mode groups of parent-deaf child dyads that differed by the use of signing and visual-tactile communication strategies were involved: (a) hearing parents communicating with their deaf child in an auditory/oral way, (b) hearing parents using total communication, and (c) deaf parents using sign language. Based on Loots and colleagues' intersubjective developmental theory, parent-deaf child interaction was analyzed according to the occurrence of intersubjectivity during free play with a standard set of toys. The data analyses indicated that the use of sign language in a sequential visual way of communication enabled the deaf parents to involve their 18- to 24-month-old deaf infants in symbolic intersubjectivity, whereas hearing parents who hold on to oral-only communication were excluded from involvement in symbolic intersubjectivity with their deaf infants. Hearing parents using total communication were more similar to deaf parents, but they still differed from deaf parents in exchanging and sharing symbolic and linguistic meaning with their deaf child.
Child Development↗
Written language abilities in deaf Italians.
Written texts produced by 10 Italian deaf native signers in four different writing tasks were analyzed. Data analysis focused on linguistic and orthographic nonstandard forms. The written production of deaf subjects with deaf parents (DD) was compared to the written production in two control groups: a group of 10 hearing subjects with deaf parents (HD) and a group of 10 subjects who have had no contact with deaf people or sign language (HH). The results duplicate findings from previous studies. Deaf subjects display a pattern of selective difficulty with Italian grammatical morphology, especially with free-standing function words. The four different writing tasks used in the present study yield results indicating that text type does influence our assessment of deaf writing abilities. A comparison of the texts written by deaf native signers with those of two hearing groups confirms the view that difficulties in the acquisition of written Italian are best explained by deafness itself, not by the influence of a previously acquired Sign Language, and that the specific difficulties with grammatical morphology displayed by our deaf subjects cannot be attributed solely to their limited experience with written Italian.
Journal Article↗
Elderly deaf patients' health care experiences.
BACKGROUND: Approximately 10% of the US population has some degree of hearing loss, and 2 million Americans are deaf. Most medical school curricula and major textbooks characterize deafness as pathologic condition only, which is at odds with the movement to understand the Deaf population as a minority group with a unique language and cultural tradition. Physicians might therefore be unprepared to meet the needs of deaf patients effectively and sensitively. This study seeks to understand the health care experiences of elderly Deaf adults in Richmond, Va. METHODS: The authors conducted focus groups of elderly Deaf persons. Real-time voice-interpretation of the sign language communication allowed for tape recording and full transcription. The authors independently analyzed the transcripts using an editing style, and incorporated feedback on their interpretation from participants. RESULTS: Participants experienced many practical barriers to effective health care, including problems with scheduling appointments and communicating with providers. They believed that providers are ill-prepared to care for them and worried that prejudice might be a more subtle obstacle. Participants seemed resigned to these circumstances. CONCLUSIONS: The authors suggest a possible explanation for this perspective, and make specific recommendations for three levels of competency in caring for deaf patients. When the provider and the office staff provide methods to communicate with deaf patients using telephone-assisted communication, qualified interpreters, and some basic knowledge of lipreading or sign language, the care of deaf patients is greatly enhanced and the physician-patient relationship improved.
Age Factors↗