Two hundred and fifty years ago, L'Epée and Heinicke were engaged in a disagreement over the role of signs in the education of deaf students, with L'Epée supporting both natural and methodical signs and Heinicke advocating for an oral method without a manual component. This was the beginning of the oral/manual controversy. This controversy set a…

Because sign languages have two main articulators, signers simultaneously experience both possibilities and constraints in the articulation and perception of linguistic messages. Sign languages commonly convey different linguistic units with each hand, and additional information is conveyed in nonmanual signals. Meaningful perseverations (or sign…

The basic impoverishment of deafness is not lack of hearing but lack of language. To illustrate this, we have only to compare a 4-year-old hearing child, with a working vocabulary of between 2,000 and 3,000 words, to a child of the same age, profoundly deaf since infancy, who may have only a few words at his command. Even more important than…

Head Thrust is a significant nonmanual signal in American Sign Language (ASL). It occurs on the final sign in a conditional clause, in combination with a brow raise and a rotated head position. The signal is unlike other grammatical signals involving a brow raise. (Author/CB)

This paper describes Seeing Essential English (SEE), which is a manual code of English designed to specifically reflect English, and signed in English word order. The paper attempts to clear up misconceptions concerning SEE and confusion between SEE and Signing Exact English, provide some historical background about its development, and review…

A prereading model based on a 9-month longitudinal study of 45 deaf preschool children from state residential schools is presented. The model contends that reading can be initiated by giving deaf children opportunities to match their internalized manual language to printed words, stressing reading-related activities involving parents, teachers,…

Presents information on deafness and deaf people that is helpful to librarians communicating with deaf patrons. Communication modes and preferences are discussed, including speaking and facial expression, speech reading, lipreading, and sign language; and methods of optimizing conditions for good communication are described. (11 references) (LRW)

This pamphlet answers many questions about demographic aspects of hearing-impaired individuals, such as the number of hearing-impaired and deaf persons in the United States, the number with hearing problems that restrict communication, the number of hearing-impaired students and number of deaf college students, the demographic groups which have a…

Two different sign languages are in use by deaf persons in Jamaica. The "urban" variation is very similar to varieties of signing used in the United States, while the "rural" or "country" sign language is marked by use of physical portrayals and emphasis on physical characteristics. (CB)

Provides an overview of past and present library services to, and policies about, deaf people. Unique characteristics of the deaf community are discussed; recent developments in deaf studies, communication techniques, and laws affecting library services to deaf people are reviewed; and the roles libraries can play in providing services are…

The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) uses a unique, individualized, Self-Instruction Lab to improve students' communication skills. The lab provides students with supplemental independent classroom practice that helps lessen time demands for the teacher. (Author/PHR)

Describes a cooperative-learning project of the Kansas School for the Deaf and a nearby public high school. Students first participated in a workshop on visual-gestural communication and then met together daily for two weeks to design and build their 4' by 8' miniature golf "greens". Goals of communication, cooperative learning,…

Describes the development of the Interactive Video Questionnaire for interviewing deaf persons. The questionnaire uses videodisc and bar-code readers to present survey questions on screen in American Sign Language, Signed English, speech reading, or as English subtitles. (DB)

A bilingual education program for deaf children (ages 13-16) in American Sign Language (ASL) and English is described. Using a team-teaching approach, a deaf teacher taught social studies using ASL while a hearing teacher taught language arts using Signed English and speech. Follow-up activities are summarized and a teaching unit outlined. (VW)

Notes that sign language is the third most used second language in the United States and that early childhood is an ideal language-learning time. Describes the experiences of one preschool where American Sign Language has become an integral part of the curriculum. Includes guiding principles, classroom do's and don'ts, and a resource list of…