Despite the fact that American Sign Language (ASL) courses at the college-level have been increasing in frequency, little is understood about the capabilities of hearing individuals learning a sign language as a second language. This study aims to begin assessing the language skills of advanced L2 learners of ASL by comparing L2 signer productions…

The current article deals with the issue of increased dropouts of deaf pupils from compulsory education (primary and junior high school) and tries to map out plausible reasons according to what principals and teachers for the deaf say, which might account for these dropouts. Official statistics are employed to demonstrate reduced graduation rates…

The authors describe the use of cochlear implants with deaf children in Norway and examine how this intervention has raised new expectations and some tensions concerning the future of education for deaf students. They report on two studies of communication within school learning environments of young children with implants in Norwegian preschools…

The study compared psychosocial risk behaviors of adolescents who were deaf or hard of hearing with those of their hearing peers in a residential treatment facility. Statistically significant differences emerged between groups. The adolescents who were deaf or hard of hearing demonstrated clinically higher scores than those of their hearing peers…

This article demonstrates that theories intended to prevent ethnocentric influence for one pair of languages may, in fact, be the catalyst for the phenomenon it purports to prevent in another pair. While it explores the issue in relation to sign language translation, the article raises the question of whether the findings can be extrapolated to…

This article explores constructed action (a signer's use of various parts of their body--such as the head, torso, and eyegaze--to depict the actions of a character) and why it appears to be an obligatory accompaniment to some so-called "classifier" (or polycomponential) signs. It is posited that constructed action is used to depict aspects of…

One hundred American Sign Language signs selected from sign vocabularies used with mentally retarded persons were rated for iconicity (the visual resemblance between a sign and the object or action it represents) by 20 college students, 12 deaf adults, and 20 first graders. (Author)

Provides an overview of the development of the "Gallaudet Dictionary of American Sign Language." Discusses obstacles faced in making the dictionary. (Author/VWL)

Points out the distinctions between descriptive and arbitrary systems for assigning name signs in American Sign Language, focusing on the linguistic properties and social factors of the arbitrary system. It is argued that, although both systems provide primary name signs for deaf children, only the arbitrary system is native. (Author/CB)

Argues that deaf individuals who sign and use the majority language regularly (in written form, for example) are bilingual and, because they must adapt to both the hearing and deaf worlds, are also bicultural. Implications for the bilingual and bicultural education of deaf children are discussed. (17 references) (JL)

This article on motivation in the form of signs focuses on the following: the nature of sign forms; iconic motivation; memorability; Ludic motivation; taxonomic motivation; and dimensions of information. (JL)

Focuses on the early career of the Deaf intellectual, Ferdinand Berthier. Berthier was a pioneer for deaf education and the use of sign language in the 1820s and 1830s. (Author/VWL)

A qualitative study was conducted that reflected an analysis of a 6-week poetry unit in a language arts classroom of 6th and 8th graders at a school for the deaf in a large city in the northeastern United States. The school served a large population of children of poverty who were of Latino and African American descent. The study was guided by 4…

Research into the sign languages of the deaf is reviewed, particularly as it relates to the study and use of sign language in the Irish context. The first section offers an overview of deafness, the deaf experience, acquisition of linguistic and social identity, the sociology of the deaf community, and the role of sign language. Subsequent…

Reports the results of using techniques of historical-comparative linguistics to determine the extent to which American Sign Language (ASL) has influenced basic vocabulary in Modern Standard Thai Sign Language (MSTSL), and the relationship of MSTSL to sign language varieties used in Thailand prior to ASL influence. (15 references) (Author/CK)