Hearing-impaired high school students created a simulated world where sign language was the dominant mode of communication, and role-played such careers as doctors, bankers, and police officers. Hearing students were invited to visit this simulated world and found how inaccessible various facilities and services were to people without sign…

Argues that, although South African Sign Language (SASL) contains a high degree of lexical diversity, there exists an underlying common syntactic and morphological base on which all the different varieties are grounded. This common base provides a foundation on which future educational and language policy may be developed. (17 references)…

Experienced deaf-blind users (N=10) of sign language tested their ability to receive signed messages including isolated signs and sentences. A set of 122 isolated signs was received with an average accuracy of 87%. Signed sentence reception accuracy ranged from 60-85%, with errors accounted for primarily by deletions and phonological or…

Examined the use of bimodal communication (BC), sign language with spoken English, by hearing college students in five scenarios and during informal discussions between scenarios. The results indicated that varying signing ability affected signers' BC rate and that skilled signers adapted the amount of BC they used to the social situation. (three…

The acquisition of the formational aspects of American Sign Language signs was examined in nine young children of deaf parents. Videotape records of early sign language development were made during monthly home visits. The study focused on the acquisition of three principal formational components of any American Sign Language sign: location,…

Examination of the spoken English development of a hearing child whose deaf parents used American Sign Language (ASL) identified a consistent but not extensive ASL influence on simultaneity of expression, undifferentiated versus differentiated features, bound versus free morpheme mechanisms, and word order. (47 references) (Author/CB)

In a survey concerning repetitive stress injury (RSI) and carpal tunnel syndrome, 87 percent of the 40 sign language interpreters reported that they had at some time experienced at least 2 symptoms associated with RSI, and most interpreters knew others with RSI problems. Data indicate that RSI is a severe problem among sign language interpreters.…

Describes a study in which drama and sign language were used in a multisensory approach to language learning to tap the physical, kinesthetic, and visual abilities of four-year-old Head Start children. Finds that the teacher-directed activities resulted in significantly higher scores for children in the treatment group. (PRA)

Forty hearing-impaired adults read and retold short stories, in either English or American Sign Language (ASL). Analysis indicated that there was more explicitness in ASL, with more importance placed on specification of instruments involved in an action. No significant story differences were found between subjects' stories and stories of…

Seven preschool children with hearing impairment or deafness were studied for nine months as they learned to read, write, and spell or fingerspell their names. Analysis revealed that the children learned that names are powerful expressions of identity through teacher demonstrations, immersion in a literacy-rich environment, and numerous…

This study analyzed the fingerspelling of 25 teachers using Signing Exact English (SEE) 1 or 2, and 25 teachers using Manual/Signed English or Pidgin Signed English with their hearing-impaired students. Intergroup differences were not significant. Teachers used fingerspelling primarily to introduce novel words, spell short words, and spell proper…

Examination of two native American Sign Language signers' use of negative headshakes found that negative headshakes (1) were used syntactically to indicate negation; (2) could be accompanied by other nonmanual behaviors; (3) could accompany a negative lexical item; and (4) were synchronized generally with syntactic constituents. (Author/CB)

Evaluates the contribution of visuo-gestural modality versus linguistic factors in determining the order of elements in sign language. The results of a study show that Italian Sign Language differs along significant lines from both spoken Italian and pantomime. (22 references) (GLR)

This study compared American Sign Language (ASL) abilities in 36 deaf adults who acquired ASL either in early childhood or in later childhood and who were born deaf or later lost their hearing. Subjects who acquired ASL as a second language after early childhood outperformed those who acquired it as a first language at the same age. (Author/DB)

Describes a program and curriculum in American Sign Language developed by the state government of Kentucky in cooperation with Eastern Kentucky University that was used with hearing state employees so they could communicate more effectively with those with hearing impairments. (JOW)