Attempts to prove that users of American Sign Language (ASL) do perform within a closed system of manual and nonmanual sign production features (phonemes and distinctive features). Deaf signers are quite capable of creating nonsense words as well as communicating with signers of other languages through pantomime and other paralinguistic features.…

Surveys recent literature on the origins of language, and speculates on the history of human language, especially on the factors contributing to the change from a gestoral to a vocal system. (Available from the University of Alabama Press, Periodicals Department, Drawer 2877, University, Alabama 35486.) (AM)

Examined were the cognitive and social play behaviors of hearing impaired kindergarten children. Relations probed included those between: (1) children's social and cognitive play and sign-based or oral-aural-based classroom instruction; (2) children's overall efforts to communicate and type of class instruction; and (3) the quality of children's…

A collection of research materials on sign language and primatology is presented here. The essays attempt to show that: sign language is a legitimate language that can be learned not only by humans but by nonhuman primates as well, and nonhuman primates have the capability to acquire a human language using a different mode. The following…