Presents study analyzing gestural communication of hearing children between one and two years of age, comparing it with the communication of a deaf child of deaf parents exposed to sign language since birth. Results suggest that the capacity to combine symbols, referential words, or signs simultaneously depends on exposure to a linguistic input. (…

Deaf children unable to acquire oral language naturally and who are not exposed to a standard manual language can spontaneously develop a structured sign system that has many of the properties of natural spoken language. This communication system appears to be largely the invention of the child himself. (Authors/BT)

A description of 14 communication systems used by the deaf blind is provided. (PHR)

People take their folk gestures seriously, which is illustrated in the fact that several folk gestures, such as raising the right hand and kissing the Bible, are used in religious and legal ceremonies. These and other gestures, such as making the sign of the cross and knocking on wood, are folk gestures used today which have their roots in early…

Examined were message-receiving skills of schoolchildren in relation to their mother's messages. Participants were hearing children four, six, and eight years of age and deaf children six to 10 years of age. Findings revealed that mothers achieved high levels of communicative success with their six- and eight-year-old hearing children but…

This paper examines historical processes in American Sign Language (ASL) and shows that there is a tendency for signs to change in the direction of arbitrariness, rather than maintaining a level of iconicity. Changes at the formational level are seen as contributing to language-internal consistency, at the expense of transparency. (Author/CLK)

POSITION PAPERS, DISCUSSION, AND RESEARCH PROPOSALS COVER COMMUNICATION, LEARNING, REHABILITATION, AND RESETTLEMENT. COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS OF THE DEAF BLIND ARE RELATED TO OTHER CONCEPTS OF COMMUNICATION. VERBAL SYMBOLS AND NONVERBAL SOUNDS IN COMMUNICATIVE PERCEPTION AND THE COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE ROLES OF THE LANGUAGE OF SOUND IN RELATION TO…

Deaf ethnicity, as the social phenomenon of deafness, is presented as the proper context in which to consider language learning, language teaching, and language planning in the education of the deaf. (Author/NCR)

Discussed are the acquisition of native sign language by deaf children and the factors which must be considered by teachers in providing a transition from sign language to the oral method. (KW)

The article elaborates on the assumption that since sign languages are received and initially processed by the visual system, then the rules for the formation of signs of a sign language would be constrained by the limits of the visual system. (Author/NCR)