The volume represents in microcosm the sort of faculty-trainee-student interaction that is a priority at the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) at the University of North Dakota. Seven studies by faculty and students of SIL include the following: "Lexical Variation in Mexican Sign Language" (J. Albert Bickford); "Reflexives in…

The Total Communication Checklist and Assessment screening tool for multihandicapped students is presented to assist the language examiner to select areas requiring more precise testing. The checklist, which contains 196 rating entries, consists of the following four sections: (1) readiness for symbolic communication, (2) preference for speech,…

The process of film making can be thought of as beginning with a person's feeling or concern about something. To communicate this feeling to others, the film maker (sender) must develop an organic unit which will provide a vehicle that can embody the feeling/Story-Organism. The film maker selects and orders a series of signs, images, or events…

Analysis of survey responses of 57 teachers of the deaf (preschool-grade 4) concerning their practices of reading aloud to children found that teachers spent more time reading aloud for pleasure than for content and that they used such techniques as discussing characters, setting, and vocabulary to mediate the text for students before, during, and…

The Test of Visual Perceptual Abilities and the Test of Spatial Perception in Sign Language were developed and administered to 682 hearing-impaired students, aged 8-18. Results showed that a significant relationship exists between visual perceptual abilities and the ability to comprehend the essential spatial components of sign language.…

The comprehension of 30 severely and profoundly deaf students (ages 10 to 17) was evaluated under 11 communication conditions involving individual and combined presentations of lipreading, listening, fingerspelling, and signed English. Severely deaf students scored higher than profoundly deaf students under all but one condition, and all students…

The Transition Competence Battery for Deaf Adolescents and Young Adults consists of six subtests related to employment and independent living, and uses booklets and videotapes/videodisks with questions presented in sign language. Comparison of alternative formats indicated that group administration of the multiple-choice format produced acceptable…

A study of 98 African-American and Hispanic parents of children with hearing loss found low levels of stress. The communicative ability through signing of the child was significantly related to stress, with Hispanics differing significantly from African Americans in making greater use of coping strategies. (Author/CR)

An overview is provided of (a) deaf education in China, (b) views of deaf Chinese, and (c) recent empowering international collaborations. China's national policy focuses on oral/aural education and hearing rehabilitation. However, everyday practice in schools for deaf children includes various forms of Chinese Sign Language. Early childhood…

This paper describes the implementation of a bilingual education program teaching both British Sign Language (BSL) and English at a school serving 100 profoundly deaf elementary and secondary students and an additional 100 deaf students in the post-16 provision. The decision to adopt a bilingual approach is discussed, and while the approach was…

A study examined the effects of the use of sign language in young hearing children's language development. The study tracked a class of 19 Maryland students from their first week of prekindergarten over the 2-year period that ended with the last week of their kindergarten year. Subjects received sign instruction during the prekindergarten year and…

This paper discusses recent trends in provision of educational programs and services reflecting the Deaf community's recognition in Australia as a linguistic and cultural minority, focusing on the Bilingual/Bicultural program of the Thomas Pattison School in Sydney (Australia). The history of Deaf culture, language, and education in Australia and…

Described is an eclectic program for teaching language and prevocational skills to severely developmentally delayed children. Included are an introduction, a language flow chart, and sections providing behavioral objectives in the following areas: developmental receptive language objectives, developmental expressive language objectives, an…

Communication methods for the hearing impaired are discussed in 12 conference papers. Papers from the United States are "Adjustment through Oralism" by G. Fellendorf, "Prospectus of Patterning" (a method of teaching speech to deaf children) by M.S. Buckler, and "Visual Monitoring of Speech by the Deaf" by W.…

Repercussions of "Language and Education of the Deaf" by Herbert R. Kohl are examined as a followup. The original study described the education and achievement of profoundly deaf individuals in America, presented a critique of the literature that had grown around the problems of the deaf, and focused on the relative failure of deaf education.…