In order to investigate the role of visual perceptual abilities in the acquisition and comprehension of sign language, four tests of perceptual ability were administered to 120 entering hearing-impaired students and 23 new hearing staff members at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. (Author)

The primary language hypothesis of short-term memory coding was challenged by an experiment with eight normally hearing college students and a review of the literature about deaf subjects. Whether or not deaf signers recode printed words into sign depends on a variety of task and subject factors. (SLD)

Comparison of 149 deaf and 121 hearing college students on the Approaches to Studying Inventory found the impact of deafness relatively slight. Discriminant analysis indicated deaf students, especially those who preferred sign communication, had more difficulty with relating ideas on different topics although they were more likely to adopt a…

Fifty-seven college students enrolled in their first week of introductory manual communication classes demonstrated limited ability to assess their own communication skills. A discussion of sign systems, interpreter skills, and ethics aided some students in putting their skills into perspective, but 41% continued to overestimate their abilities at…

To assess competency in American Sign Language (ASL) and manually coded English (MCE), 219 National Technical Institute for the Deaf students, judged to be skilled signers, viewed videotaped stories, one in ASL and one in MCE, followed by true/false questions in the same language as the story. (Author/PHR)

Discusses background information about the deaf that may be useful to reading teachers working with older deaf students; suggests additional sources of information on sign language and reading instruction for the deaf. (MKM)

Described is the integrated model of services for deaf students at California State University at Northridge, in which deaf students attend regular classes with the aid of interpreters. A review of previous research considers the attending behavior of deaf persons to the interpreter, the onset of fatigue in the interpreter, and the ways in which…

The nineteenth-century debate over use of the manual versus the oral approach to deaf education is discussed and related to the prevailing social and educational thought. Both approaches are seen as oppressive and antideaf. Current efforts to reconceptualize deafness have produced calls for bilingual-bicultural programs. (IAH)

This study evaluated the recognition and retention of transparent and nontransparent manual signs by 50 sign-naive hearing college freshmen. There was a significant decrease in the number of nontransparent signs retained as the period of time after training increased. Implications for sign language training with nonverbal hearing persons are…

The major goals of this communication textbook for hearing impaired students are to illustrate that public speaking is an activity for hearing impaired persons, to discuss public speaking techniques unique to hearing impaired communicators, and to facilitate comprehension of content by special learning devices. Separate chapters deal with public…

Reviews a study on deaf native sign language. Indicates that the modification of natural perceptual categories after language acquisition is not bound to a particular transmission modality, but rather can be a more general consequence of acquiring a formal linguistic system. (Author/SK)

This article explores some of the complexities of the question as to whether or not American Sign Language (ASL) is a foreign language. It reviews the historical oppression of the deaf, the development of ASL and its defining value to proponents of deaf culture, mentions other language systems (including foreign sign systems) used by the…

Conventional methods are inadequate for teaching deaf people, especially at college level. In order to determine whether television would be more effective, several factors needed to be investigated. Priority was given to the design of the instructional program. A multisensory method (the simultaneous method) was adopted. Tests showed that the…