Describes code shifting study in communicative behavior of hearing child interacting with deaf child and mother, both of whom signed. Hearing child knew signing, but did not sign at home. Although communication change occurred, code shifting was influenced more by motivational variables and by hearing child's own flexibility with language than by…

Some 76 hearing children in prekindergarten classes, half receiving sign instruction and half not, were tested on English vocabulary acquisition. Children who received the sign instruction scored significantly higher on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test than children receiving sign instruction. (Contains 15 references.) (Author/LB)

Spatial relations in American Sign Language (ASL) are often signed from the perspective of the signer and so involve a shift in perspective and mental rotation. This study examined developing knowledge of language used to refer to the spatial relations "front," "behind," "left," "right," "towards," "away," "above," and "below" by children learning…

Papers in this issue include the following: "Code-Mixing in Hongkong Cantonese-English Bilinguals: Constraints and Processes" (Brian Chan Hok-shing); "Information on Quantifiers and Argument Structure in English Learner's Dictionaries" (Thomas Hun-tak Lee); "Systematic Variability: In Search of a Linguistic…

The challenges faced by deaf students learning English are very different from those of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students. These differences include the amount of linguistic input, motivation, language attitudes, and the use of a visual-spatial language. (38 references) (Author/CB)

Notes that sign language is the third most used second language in the United States and that early childhood is an ideal language-learning time. Describes the experiences of one preschool where American Sign Language has become an integral part of the curriculum. Includes guiding principles, classroom do's and don'ts, and a resource list of…

Reports on a four-month study of deaf education programs conducted in Sweden and Denmark in March of 1990, and discusses three aspects of language learning involving deaf children's learning sign language as a first language, Swedish as a second language, and hearing parents' and teachers' learning of Swedish Sign Language. (14 references)

Learning sign language is a multisensory, high-interest, developmentally appropriate activity for young children. Learning to sign improves children's attention, self-esteem, motivation, sensitivity to others, language development, reading and math readiness, behavior management, vocabularies, and retention; and allows for inclusion of special…

Second-, fifth-, and eleventh-graders (N=102) trained and tested on recalling the meanings of 64 American Sign Language nouns and verbs performed significantly better on recalling signs of high translucency and signs learned with mnemonic explanations. Fifth graders did better than the other two groups. (CB)

Many educational institutions have already determined that American Sign Language (ASL) is indeed a language, that it has a culture, and it is sufficiently foreign to fulfill a foreign language requirement. Consequently, schools and universities struggle to place ASL in the context of academic foreign language programs. The challenge is to develop…

This article addresses a number of common confusions that characterize much of the debate about the status of American Sign Language (ASL) as a foreign language option. The article begins with a broad overview of the nature and characteristics of different kinds of signing as they are used in the deaf culture and between the deaf and hearing…

This thesis investigated the effects of adding the learning of American Sign Language (ASL) signs (as part of the Applied Behavior Analysis) on the negative behaviors of seven developmentally disabled children (aged 8-13 years). The children were measured on the following: overall disruptive behavior; aggressive behavior; tantrums; and the use of…

Analyzes the structure of Providence Island Sign Language as affected by the interaction of deaf signers with hearing signers in the Providence Island community. (AM)

The English Language Institute at Gallaudet University (District of Columbia) prepares foreign deaf students to attend college in the United States through a year-long intensive literacy program in American English and immersion in American Sign Language and deaf culture. The Institute's educational philosophies and teaching strategies focus on…

Examines a number of ways in which the process of natural acquisition of American Sign Language (ASL) from competent adult and child users of the language might directly enhance the learning of English. The natural acquisition of ASL, contact signing, and fingerspelling may enhance English language literacy. (45 references) (MDM)