Four experiments investigated classroom learning by deaf college students receiving lectures from instructors signing for themselves or using interpreters. Deaf students' prior content knowledge, scores on postlecture assessments of content learning, and gain scores were compared to those of hearing classmates. Consistent with prior research, deaf…

Differential acquisition of American Sign Language and Amerind signs was compared among moderately to severely mentally handicapped adolescents (n=10) in a residential training facility. Results showing both quicker acquisition and stronger retention of Amerind signs were thought to result from the more concrete and less complex nature of Amerind…

Describes single finger sign contact in data from ten different sign languages. The relative frequencies of signs using each of the four possible fingers are examined. Proposes distinctive features to explain the differences in frequency and use of these handshapes in sign languages in general. (Author/LMO)

This study compared the total amount of training time and total number of trial blocks for individuals with severe developmental disabilities to acquire mands under control of unconditioned establishing operations and mands under control of transitive conditioned establishing operations for manual sign and for the Picture Exchange Communication…

Uses data from Toddler Sign Program, a nine-month program of bimodal input and assessment involving 25 handicapped and nonhandicapped toddlers (11 to 33 months old at program onset). Explores boundary conditions (most extreme conditions under which a phenomenon holds) of sign advantage phenomenon (where signs are learned earlier and more easily…

Studied accuracy and use of sequence number string in hearing 3- to 5-year-olds and in deaf 4- to 6-year-olds using the Belgian French Sign Language. Found that deaf children exhibited age-related lags in knowledge of the number sequence, and made different errors from those of hearing children, reflecting the rule-bound nature of sign language.…

In one investigation with 48 deaf and hard-of-hearing (hh) high school students and a second investigation with 48 deaf/hh college students, all viewed one lecture with an interpreter and one with the C-Print[R] speech-to-text support service. High school students retained more lecture information when they viewed speech-to-text support, compared…

This study examined deaf children's reading comprehension in relation to the linguistic structures of their sign languages of fluency and the amount of sign language input they had received. Children (n=47) born severely or profoundly deaf, in age groups from 7 to 15 years and all attending day classes in which the English-structured Manually…

The gesture systems developed by 10 deaf children, each incapable of acquiring a conventional spoken language naturally and not exposed to a conventional manual language by their hearing parents, were compared and contrasted to both the speech and the gesture systems developed by three hearing children learning English. (Author/BE)

Offers a preliminary examination of several sign language varieties in use in Costa Rica and attempts to explain the relationship among these varieties. Based on comparative lexical data, it is postulated that at least four distinct sign languages exist in Costa Rica. Implications for future research are also discussed. (eight references) (JL)

Outlines basic functions of passive constructions in language in general, and describes in more detail what form this takes in a proposal of American Sign Language (ASL). Compares discourse examples of active and passive constructions in ASL, addresses the role of topicalization in passive constructions, and discusses passives and reference…

A comparison of terms from the lexical domain of color naming across 10 different sign languages from 7 different sign language groups suggested that, for naming colors, sign languages follow universal patterns not dependent upon the channel of language expression and reception. (Author)

Reviews research from the fields of cognitive neuroscience and psycholinguistics, comparing spoken and signed language by looking at data concerning either cortical representations or early acquisition. (Author/VWL)

Focuses on the turn-taking patterns of Deaf signers and compares them with turn-taking patterns found in spoken interaction. Reports on research involving conversational data obtained from two Deaf friendship groups that aimed to establish whether Deaf interactants orient to a one-at-a-time model of turn-taking or whether there was any evidence to…

Background: Specific language impairment has previously solely been documented for children acquiring spoken languages, despite informal reports of deaf children with possible sign language disorder. The paper reports the case of a deaf child exposed to British Sign Language (BSL) from birth, who has significant developmental deficits in the…