The concept of total communication is being increasingly incorporated into educational programs for the deaf. Because American Sign Language plays a basic role in the deaf community, it must also be a critical part of education for deaf children. (Author/CL)

An examination of C. Ferguson's characteristics of diglossia (function, prestige, literary heritage, acquisition, standardization, stability, grammar, lexicon, and phonology) questions the assertion that American Sign Language is inferior to signed English. (CL)

Explores the relationship between lexicography and variation in both spoken languages and sign languages. Examines the function of dictionaries and discusses the nature of linguistic variation, using an example of lexical variation in American Sign Language. (Author/VWL)

This article promotes the utilization of Sign Language of the Deaf as a primary and secondary research language. The article discusses English as the traditional research language, the role of sign language in bilingualism, possible uses for American Sign Language (ASL) as a research language, and the availability of ASL-based literature for…

In years past, pencils and paper, chalk and chalkboards were common sights on school campuses. Fast forward to 2007--personal laptops, PDAs and PowerPoint presentations are the communication tools of choice. The traditional images that came to mind when remembering one's school days are no longer. Evolving technology and innovations in school…

This paper considers the range of ways that sign languages use geometric symmetry temporally and spatially to create poetic effect. Poets use this symmetry in sign language art to highlight duality and thematic contrast, and to create symbolic representations of beauty, order and harmony. (Contains 8 tables, 14 figures and 6 notes.)

Can we effectively integrate Deaf students into our post-secondary classes before recognizing and listening to them? Studies indicate that Deaf students continue to struggle, be silenced, and experience isolation when mainstreamed. Deaf students, or second-language students, inevitably develop new identities once included; however, we cannot…

This qualitative case study investigated the process by which eight hearing parents went about making decisions to promote language acquisition and literacy learning in their deaf children, who or what influenced that process, and how they coped emotionally with the impact of deafness on literacy and language acquisition. Data from interview…

Deaf users might find it difficult to navigate through websites with textual content which, for many of them, constitutes the written representation of a non-native oral language. With the aim of testing how the information structure could compensate for this difficulty, 27 prelingual deaf users of sign language were asked to search a set of…

Hearing-impaired (N=45) and hearing (N=177) teachers of the deaf participated in a national survey on sign language preference and skills. An English-like sign model was preferred overall, although hearing-impaired teachers were split almost equally between that and American Sign Language. Teachers reported poor levels of sign performance and…

The article describes a language program for junior and senior high school deaf students in which American Sign Language was used to teach English language skills. Two examples illustrate the ways in which students use what they already know to approach new learning situations. (Author/CL)

An interpreter's role is to facilitate communication and convey all auditory and signed information so that both hearing and deaf individuals may fully interact. The common types of services provided by interpreters are: (1) American Sign Language (ASL) Interpretation--a visual-gestural language with its own linguistic features; (2) Sign Language…

Comments on questions regarding Deaf culture, with particular reference to black Americans. It is suggested that it is essential to acknowledge that within cultures there is a range of views and values and that it is of fundamental importance to construct theories that embody that understanding as well as a dialectical relationship. (CK)

Productions of sentence stimuli by five ASL-English bilinguals and six signed-English users who know no ASL were compared in two conditions (speech-alone or signing-alone, speech and signing combined). Speech took longer combined than alone, whereas signed English took longer alone than combined. (Author/CR)

Every day, teachers face the time-consuming task of adapting materials from curricula that do not meet their students' needs or match their learning styles. This article discusses ready-made literacy units specifically designed for teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students. The units were part of the Cornerstones Project, an activity of the…