Children's ability to share attention with another social partner (joint attention) plays an important role in language development. However, our understanding of the role of joint attention comes mainly from children learning spoken languages, which gives a very narrow, speech-centric impression of the role of joint attention. This study broadens…

Martha's Vineyard Sign Language (MVSL) is an extinct village sign language hypothesized to be a sister of British Sign Language (BSL) and a significant contributor to early American Sign Language (ASL) (Groce 1985). After the last deaf MVSL signer died, signs were elicited from five hearing signers. This study analyzes that data through a series…

Visual manifestations of an object that moves from one place to another are common in sign languages. Here, we offer an overview of techniques for conveying motion of an entity based on an examination of storytelling and poetry in seven sign languages. The signer can use embodiment and/or classifiers to show translocating movement of an object, or…

Multiple-baseline-across-word-sets designs were used to determine whether a computer-based intervention would enhance accurate word signing with four participants. Each participant was a hearing college student with reading disorders. Learning trials included 3 s to observe printed words on the screen and a video model performing the sign twice…

Many literature reviews or other types of reviews (e.g., meta-analyses, scoping reviews) in deaf education research are focused upon primarily or exclusively research that is performed in U.S. contexts or English-speaking contexts only. However, research that is conducted in non-English-speaking, non-U.S. settings that may be more likely to be…

For some deaf people, sign language is the preferred language, the one in which they feel most comfortable. However, there are very few assessment tools developed or adapted for sign languages. The aim of this study was to translate and adapt in Italian Sign Language (LIS) the Italian version of the Youth Quality of Life Instrument--Deaf and Hard…

The deaf population of Martha's Vineyard has fascinated scholars for more than a century since Alexander Graham Bell's research on the frequent occurrence of deafness there and since Groce's book on the island's signing community (Groce, N. E. (1985). "Everyone here spoke sign language: Hereditary deafness on Martha's Vineyard."…

The aim of this research was to analyze the use of iconicity during language acquisition of Israeli Sign language and spoken Hebrew. Two bilingual-bimodal infants were observed in a longitudinal study between the ages of 10-26 months. I analyzed infants' production of iconic words, signs, and gestures. The results showed that infants' use of vocal…

Additional language (L2/Ln) research largely focuses on learners whose first languages are spoken and who are learning additional spoken languages. In the past few decades, sign languages have become increasingly popular for hearing students in schools. These students must not only learn the vocabulary and grammar of sign languages but also manage…

Studies have shown that iconicity can provide a benefit to non-signers during the learning of single signs, but other aspects of signed messages that might also be beneficial have received less attention. In particular, do other features of signed languages help support comprehension of a message during the process of language learning? The…

Variation occurs in sign languages, just as in spoken languages. Lexical variation is very common and has been related to individual schools for the deaf, so-called "schoolization," rather than only to region or other common sociolinguistic factors, such as gender, social class, etc. (Baker et al. 2016). This study investigates lexical…

Language barriers negatively affect access to social services, particularly for D/deaf populations who use Sign Language. "D/deaf" is used to encompass both the cultural conception of capital-D Deafness and the medical conception of lowercase-d deafness. Language translation/interpretation is a common need among practitioners of social,…

Signs in sign languages have been mainly analyzed as composed of three formational elements: hand configuration, location, and movement. Researchers compare and contrast lexical differences and similarities among different signs and languages based on these formal elements. Such measurement requires extensive manual annotation of each feature…

Although research of bilingualism in a single aural-oral linguistic mode is common, this has yet to be extended to visual-gestural modes of language use. This is a significant research gap, as deaf people and signed languages are agentic forces that contribute to a diverse global linguistic and sociocultural landscape. In this article, we present…

The intersectional identities and lived experiences of Signing Latinx are insufficiently documented. Reflecting on my own lived experiences, I began to question traditional research paradigms that often neglected the stories shared by individuals from different communities within the larger Signing Latinx community. As I was introduced to Critical…