Data on the natural acquisition of sign language occurring in deaf children of deaf parents were obtained through observation of 10 deaf children (9- to 75-months-old). Short biographical sketches were compiled for each S from the parents' family history. The children tested on a cortical audiometer as severely to profoundly hearing impaired. Over…

Sociolinguistic data regarding code selection and nonverbal modes of learning are examined in the gesture communication system of the (Oglala and Brule) Sioux. Sign language is viewed as an extra-linguistic mode of communication currently in use in Indian classrooms. It is one alternative to literacy as a means of communication; however, this is…

One of a series on Anthropology and Education by the Columbia Teachers College Press, this is a group of papers with a common focus upon language behavior in the classroom. The emphasis of the authors is not on the structure of language, but on how language is used to communicate between teachers and students. The book is divided into three parts:…

Presents the international flag and pennant code and suggests a variety of classroom uses of this means of communication. (CP)

In the debate over continuities versus discontinuities in the emergence of language, sign language is not taken to be the antithesis, but is presented as the antecedent of spoken languages. (Author/HP)

A study utilizing deaf children investigating the question, "must a child experience language in order to learn language?" found that the children themselves actually devise their own communications system. There was no evidence that the childrens' language was an imitation of their mother's. (SL)

Results of a 10-week program in which 32 moderately retarded persons (3-19 years old) were taught to use American Indian Sign Language (AMERIND) suggested that AMERIND may be preferable to American Sign Language because of its concreteness and its intelligibility to untrained observers. (CL)

A study involving six institutionalized retarded males was designed to determine if sign-object and sign-word training would lead to acquisition of word-object associations. (Author)

This paper examines the assignment and use of name signs in the deaf community. A total of approximately 450 individual name signs were collected, recorded, and analyzed. (CFM)

Evaluation of a program which taught six severely mentally retarded individuals (ages 8-25) to sign interactively with each other found participants showed increased signing skills in a training play situation, generalized use of these skills in a second play situation, and maintained the trained skills over a 2 to 4 month period. (Author/DB)

A national sample of 414 juniors and seniors in high schools for hearing impaired students was surveyed with an Attitudes Toward Alcohol scale developed for this purpose and administered in sign language. Four factors (hedonism, concern with health, value structure, and addiction) were identified as contributing to negative attitudes toward…

The article describes development in Illinois of the Department of Rehabilitation Services Sign Language Assessment Tool. The instrument is designed to evaluate the level of receptive and expressive sign language proficiency of rehabilitation personnel serving the deaf. (DB)

The Spoken Language Predictor (SLP) can help determine the most appropriate communication mode in educating a profoundly hearing impaired child. The measure provides weighted scores for hearing capacity, language competence, nonverbal intelligence, family support, and speech communication attitude and results in three possible educational…

Argues that the beginnings of language need to be sought not in the universal abstract grammar proposed by Chomsky but in the evolution of the everyday interaction of the human species. Studies indicate that there is no great gulf between spoken language and nonverbal communication. (SED)