Introduces an issue of the journal containing articles that investigate candidate components of a prosodic system in sign languages, within the context of particularly relevant issues raised in spoken language research. (Author/VWL)

The story of the Abbe de l'Epee's "methodical signs" is best known as a key moment in Deaf history. However, at the time of the French Revolution this story served a larger political function. The example of de l'Epee's deaf students, and their seemingly miraculous command of ideas learned through gestural signs, helped the French…

This article discusses Johnston's estimate of the number of signing Deaf people in Australia and queries whether it adequately accounts for nonnative signers or reflects the numbers who make use of services in Auslan. It concurs with Johnston's projection of a decline in the size of this population, and discusses the ways in which the Deaf…

This study investigated the effects of noise and filtering on the intelligibility of speech produced during simultaneous communication (SC). Four normal hearing, experienced sign language users were recorded under SC and speech alone (SA) conditions speaking Boothroyd's forced-choice phonetic contrast material designed for measurement of speech…

We examined the influence of sign language iconicity on children's ability to describe the function of objects. Forty-eight hearing preschoolers were divided into three groups and asked to describe the function of 15 high and 15 low iconic signs. We questioned the Hearing/Verbal (H/V) group verbally, Hearing/Verbal+Sign (H/V+S) group verbally with…

Positron emission tomography was used to investigate whether the motor-iconic basis of certain forms in American Sign Language (ASL) partially alters the neural systems engaged during lexical retrieval. Most ASL nouns denoting tools and ASL verbs referring to tool-based actions are produced with a handshape representing the human hand holding a…

A question about the historical origin of equal sign and double arrow symbolism in balanced chemical equation is raised. The study shows that Marshall proposed the symbolism in 1902, which includes the use of currently favored double barb for equilibrium reactions.

To date, much information about Sign Bilingualism, gleaned from parents and/or teachers, has been written from a strong hearing viewpoint. As deaf children should be the main beneficiaries from a Sign Bilingual Education, this project was designed to enable the children to recall their experiences and share their multi-aspect views with other deaf…

We tested the hypothesis that syntactic and narrative comprehension of a natural sign language can serve as the linguistic basis for skilled reading. Thirty-one adults who were deaf from birth and used American Sign Language (ASL) were classified as skilled or less skilled readers using an eighth-grade criterion. Proficiency with ASL syntax, and…

This paper compares the views of parents and teachers of the deaf on deaf children's literacy at home. We made DVD recordings of 12 young deaf children (aged 3-5) sharing books with their parents at home. Six families used British Sign Language (BSL) as their main means of communication and for interacting around books, and six used spoken…

Metalinguistic abilities of 20 hearing-impaired children, aged 4-10, were assessed by asking them to judge synonymy of sentence pairs presented in Signed English, Pidgin Sign English, and American Sign Language. None of the children had developed metalinguistic abilities in any of the sign language systems. (Author/JDD)

This article summarizes a paper by Robert E. Johnson et al., "Unlocking the Curriculum: Principles for Achieving Access in Deaf Education." The paper examines the failure of total communication practices to educate deaf children and recommends that deaf children learn American Sign Language first and learn English as a second language. (JDD)

Language involves the use of symbols in the form of words or signs that allow people to communicate their thoughts, ideas, and needs. Even without formal language, many children who are deaf-blind learn to communicate with gestures and object or picture symbols. Symbolic expression makes it possible to express thoughts and feelings about the…

While many explanations have been offered for the increased rate of autism, the true cause remains unknown. Nonetheless, in the United States, "diagnoses of autism are increasing faster than any other diagnosis of developmental disability in children." But this statement, like others pertaining to the characteristics of autism and the relevant…

The article is based on a national survey in Norway of the linguistic situation of deaf children. Parents, teachers, and children were asked to make judgments on topics related to the children's' language milieu at home and at school by means of detailed questions using two response methods: a language inventory and rating scales. The inventory is…