The first step in engaging deaf and hard of hearing children in language-rich environments is getting their attention. Hearing teachers intuitively raise their voices as they enter their classes to get students' attention; Deaf teachers intuitively wait for the students to look at them. Deaf sign language teachers report that when hearing students…

According to Ong (1986), for a long time, in the human history, direct or "vis-à-vis" communication has been the only modality of communication; traditions have essentially been oral and their survival depended on the continuous renewal, which was represented by the "vis-à-vis" narration of stories and activities. In this way,…

In a literary form such as comics that combines images and texts punctuation is due to play a specific function. From its invention in the beginning of the 19th century, creators like Topffer or Dore played with it, especially the expressive signs, imitating what happened at the same time in numerous novels. The habit of overloading the images,…

Listening comprehension input is necessary for language learning and acculturation. One approach to developing listening comprehension skills is through exposure to massive amounts of naturally occurring spoken language input. But exposure to this input is not enough; learners also need to make the comprehension corpus meaningful to their learning…

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 longitudinal study explored how gestures changed with with respect to speech as two children progressed from producing single words to producing two-word combinations. Two girls were followed from the production of only single words to their first production of two-word combinations. One child was followed from 14.5 to 18 months; the second…

Discusses the importance of increasing effective communication in outdoor education programs. Examines sensory preferences and how they affect vocabulary, voice tone, and body language. Describes ways that outdoor educators can use this information to improve their communication skills. (LP)

Discusses the relationship between communicative function and grammar, and the relationship between initiation and discourse. Using a systemic functional framework, a model is set up with with three planes (semiotic, discourse, and language/paralanguage) and two linguistic levels (grammar and phonology) to demonstrate how situation, communicative…

A 13-episode British television serial about international countries competing for a large project in an imaginary country provides the basis for a series of instructional materials in intercultural business communication. Video is seen as an excellent tool for teaching languages and other aspects of communication because it allows entry into the…

Discusses the signals that are used to create, sustain, and end conversational involvement in two different languages, with examples provided of paralinguistic attention getters, linguistic conversation initiation signals, "in-tune" signals, and "face-saving" signals from a study of English and Greek. (CB)

Students of German need to be made aware of the pragmatic contrasts between American English and standard German to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. Examples are given of contrasts such as power relationships between speaker and listener, affecting choice of verb; the uses of "bitte" and "danke" versus "please"…

This manual presents instructional units designed to offer a break from daily classroom routines in German instruction. These audio-motor units provide variety and listening practice, introduce new vocabulary in context, and present cultural materials in a novel way. Suggestions for classroom use include acting out commands, using gestures,…

Reports on the continuing work in the development of a computerized writing system for American Sign Language (ASL) called Signfont. Inventories for handshapes and nonmanual markers are presented and discussed extensively. A proposed inventory of phonetic handshapes in ASL are appended. (Author/LMO)

Utah State University changed its "potentially...boring and probably...useless" French civilization course (taught in French and required of majors) to an English-taught course for French majors and majors in business, economics, political science, and prelaw. The new course focuses on stereotypes, cultural differences, and current…

The syllabus for a college-level speech course at California State University, Los Angeles, designed to help students of English as a second language bring their pronunciation closer to mainstream English is presented. While the primary focus is on pronunciation improvement, the course also provides functional communication practice. The students…