A model is proposed to explain when communication in the manual modality will assume grammatical properties and when it will not. An experiment with 16 hearing adults suggests the necessity of segmentation and combination in all communication. Manual communication need not be characterized by grammatical properties only when it accompanies speech.…

The paper reports on a two-part longitudinal study of the English language competencies of deaf students for whom total communication through manual coded English (MCE) was the primary method of instruction. In Part I of the study, the performance of three groups of deaf Ss who used MCE was compared with that of three groups of normal hearing Ss…

Sign languages modulate the production of signs in space and use this spatial modulation to refer back to entities--to maintain coreference. We ask here whether spatial modulation is so fundamental to language in the manual modality that it will be invented by individuals asked to create gestures on the spot. English speakers were asked to…

Examines the acquisition of conditional sentences in American Sign Language (which entail the use of both manual signs and grammaticized nonmanual facial expressions) by deaf children. The results indicate that children first acquire manual conditional signs before they employ obligatory grammaticized facial expressions, and also acquire manual…

A description of the sign language used in a Mexican village shows its parallels with other sign languages, its similarity to the folk gestural system of Mexico and its distinguishing aspects. Examples illustrate its syntax, grammar and lexicon. (PMJ)

Language tests were administered by videotape to 27 deaf children taught to sign English. The tests, one in manual English (ME) and the other in American Sign Language (ASL) each included twelve grammatical distinctions: two aspects of adjectival modification (opposition and ordering), two types of pluralization (is/are and indicative in ME, dual…

The analysis of questionnaire responses of 888 teachers of the hearing impaired found that deaf teachers, teachers with less than six years of experience, and junior high and high school teachers reported incorporating fewer English grammatical features in their sign communication than other teachers. (Author/DB)

The study of pidgin and creole languages, usually emphasizing oral language codes, offers insights into language, especially as an observably dynamic phenomenon. However, channel is highly influential on the surface form of the language code. Pidgin sign language codes, not dependent on oral language codes, can serve as an ideal forum for the…