English teachers of deaf and hard‐of‐hearing students in French schools: needs,barriers and strategies

This paper deals with English teachers who work with deaf and hard‐of‐hearing (D/HH) students. In France deaf students are required to attend foreign language classes – mostly English classes. The purpose is not to teach them British sign language (BSL) or American sign language (ASL), but written and/or spoken English. Indeed, sign languages are distinct from spoken languages and differ from country to country: there is no universal sign language. English teachers of the deaf are mostly hearing people. They work either in mainstream or special schools. Most of them have no specific qualifications. In this context, they are faced with the tremendous challenge of how to adjust their teaching to their students’ impairment and at the same time develop the latter's knowledge and skills in English. In order to analyse teaching practices in English classes, questionnaires, interviews and in‐class observations in several special and mainstream schools were conducted. Findings show that different teaching strategies are used in order to make English lessons accessible to D/HH students: teachers have to adapt their teaching language and also use written and visual supports to accommodate D/HH students. Obviously teacher training needs to be improved.     

聋校开设“手语汉语互译”课程的研究与实践

本文以手语语言学研究成果为基础,在反思传统聋教育现状的前提下提出了一种全新的聋校语文教学法———通过手语和汉语互译训练,帮助中高年级聋生提高汉语书面语水平,并在教学实践中初见成效。本课程的核心理念为:聋童的第一语言是自然手语,聋校语文教学应当从二语习得理论中借鉴方法;明确聋童的汉语学习实质上是从自然手语到书面汉语的转换过程,教学中要严格区分自然手语和汉语这两种不同的语言。     

Individual differences in sign language abilities in deaf children

The study attempted to identify characteristics of individual differences in sign language abilities among deaf children. Connections between sign language skills and rapid serial naming, hand motor skills, and early fluency were investigated. The sample consisted of 85 Finnish deaf children. Their first language was sign language. Simple correlations and multiple linear-regression analysis demonstrated the effect of early language development and serial hand movements on sign language abilities. Other significant factors were serial fingertapping and serial naming. Heterogeneity in poor sign language users was noted. Although identifying learning disorders in deaf children is complicated, developmental difficulties can be discovered by appropriate measurements. The study confirmed the results of earlier research demonstrating that the features of deaf and hearing children's learning resemble each other. Disorders in signed and spoken languages may have similar bases despite their different modalities.     

两种不同的手语

手语的运用有不同的方式。有的手语运用与有声语言之间存在对应 关系。有的手语运用与有声语言之间没有对应关系。根据这种差异,我们可 以把手语分为两种不同的类型。这两种类型的手语具有不同的特点和价值。 明确这两种手语的异同对于手语研究和聋教育研究都是非常重要的。     

Education of deaf students in Spain: legal and educational politics developments

This article examines the legal instruments and educational politics affecting deaf persons' educational rights in Spain. We present a historical view of deaf education in Spain before and after the Congress of Milan (1880) and then introduce educational legislation and practices in recent decades. At present, Spanish legislation is moving toward recognition of sign languages and the suitability of bilingual education for deaf students at all educational levels. This is a consequence of taking into account the low academic achievement of two generations of deaf students educated in a monolingual model. Bilingual projects are now run throughout Spain. We emphasize that efforts must be made in the legal sphere to regulate the way in which professionals who know sign language and Deaf culture-teachers, interpreters, deaf adult models-are incorporated in bilingual deaf schools.     

Studies of neural processing in deaf signers: toward a neurocognitive model of language processing in the deaf

The ability to comprehend and produce language stands as a defining characteristic of human cognition and enables the transfer of knowledge and culture within human society. A proper characterization of the human capacity for language is required for the development of interventions that may be used to assist those individuals who have failed to achieve, or who have lost competence in, language behaviors. For signed languages, models of competent language use are lacking. This lack of knowledge hampers the development of effective assessment measures for deaf children who may be experiencing learning problems beyond those confronting the normal deaf child. I discuss two research avenues that have begun to provide a window into the neural systems involved in sign language processing: studies of language disruptions in adult deaf signers who have suffered brain injury, and studies of functional brain imaging in normal deaf signers. This research provides a basis for the development of a comprehensive neurocognitive model of sign language processing.     

聋校双语教学简述

双语教学主张把聋人母语和主流社会语言作为聋校教学和交际的语言,使聋人能在聋文化和听文化中成为自由生活的双语平衡者。双语教学是在口语法、全面交流法被认为都不能真正满足聋人发展需要而提出的;双语教学以积极的态度看待聋人,它重视聋人的群体文化;双语教学认为聋人掌握手语可以促进英语的学习。双语教学需要聋人教师参与,需要家长学会手语。双语教学也接受聋童进行听觉言语训练     

Language codes and sense-making among deaf schoolchildren

There are at least two languages (American Sign Language [ASL], English) and three modalities (sign, speech, print) in most deaf individuals' lives. Mixing of ASL and English in utterances of deaf adults has been described in various ways (pidgins, diglossia, language contact, bilingualism), but children's mixing usually is treated as the 'fault' of poor input language. Alternatively, how might language mixing serve their communication goals? This article describes code variations and adaptations to particular situations. Deaf children were seen to exhibit a wide variety of linguistic structures mixing ASL, English, Spanish, signing, and speaking. Formal lessons supported a recoding of English print as sign and speech, but the children who communicated English speech were the two who could hear speech. The children who communicated ASL were those who had deaf parents communicating ASL or who identified with deaf houseparents communicating ASL. Most language produced by the teacher and children in this study was mixed in code and mode. While some mixing was related to acquisition and proficiency, mixing, a strategy of many deaf individuals, uniquely adapts linguistic resources to communication needs. Investigating deaf children's language by comparing it to standard English or ASL overlooks the rich strategies of mixing that are central to their communication experience.     

一种新的聋校课堂教学用语--大屏幕语言

聋教育课堂教学用语的选择一直是聋教育理论研究、争论的一个热点[1][8]。本文剖析了聋校课堂教学用语的使用规律,提出了以发展的观点使用课堂教学用语的思想;提出了大屏幕语言的概念,讨论了它的言语特征及其在聋校教学中的重要作用;认为它是一种新的语言符号,是手势语、指语、口语、书面语之外的第五种教学用语,是计算机在聋教育应用中的新理念,是一种真正的聋计算机辅助教学手段。     

Bilingual-bicultural models of literacy education for deaf students: considering the claims

As Carolyn Ewoldt (1996) points out '[M]uch has been written of late about the viability of a bilingual focus in deaf education.' While these writings are necessary to the ongoing pedagogical dialogue in the field, much of the rhetoric suffers because, rather than truly adopting a 'holistic perspective', arguments and positions focus only on selected aspects of the relevant theoretical and research information. If proponents of bilingual education for deaf children truly rely on 'research on the benefits of native sign language and from theoretical and research support coming from other disciplines' (Ewoldt, 1996, p. 5) to support their claims, then these research and theoretical supports must be examined as comprehensively, and holistically, as possible. Weaving together only a few threads of theory and research does not create the fabric for a pedagogical position that can withstand close scrutiny and analysis.In this article, we will touch on some of the major claims made in explications of bilingual models of literacy education for deaf students (Baker, 1997; Livingston, 1997; Mashie, 1995; Mason & Ewoldt, 1996). Our goal is to broaden the scope of the discussion on some of the major arguments and to encourage an expanded dialogue in this ongoing debate. It is not our aim to argue against the concept of bilingual education for deaf students nor to advocate the exclusion of native sign languages from the classroom. Rather, we support the concept of a bilingual education for deaf students with native sign languages playing a key role; however, we contend that the model as it is currently conceived requires further scrutiny and analysis.     

Deaf clubs today: do they still have a role to play? The cases of Cyprus and Greece

The present study investigated the current functions of Deaf clubs in Cyprus and in Greece. The researchers conducted in-depth semistructured interviews with 24 Cypriot and 22 Greek deaf individuals ages 19-54 years. The researchers found that the Deaf clubs in both countries provide a gathering place for deaf people, organize social and sport activities, and promote their demands through legislation. In addition, Deaf clubs maintain and transmit Deaf culture and history to future generations, offer Deaf role models to young deaf children and their families, and provide Deaf awareness to hearing people (e.g., through sign languages classes). The study participants also stressed the role of Deaf clubs in deaf people's lives, unity, and prospects for future progress.     

Deafness in sub-Saharan Africa

Deaf education in sub-Saharan Africa originated in the 19th century, primarily through efforts by hearing European missionaries who typically followed their homelands' oral-only practices. But education became available to only a fraction of the deaf population. In the 20th century, Andrew Foster, a deaf African American missionary and Gallaudet University's first African American graduate, had unparalleled impact on deaf education in the region, establishing 31 schools for the Deaf, training a generation of deaf leaders, and introducing his concept of Total Communication, which embraced both American and indigenous signs. Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa have provided leadership in deaf education, but throughout the region there is growing acceptance of sign language use in school, and secondary and postsecondary education for the Deaf is increasingly available. Some national constitutions safeguard the rights of citizens with disabilities and even recognize indigenous sign languages. International disability organizations, particularly the World Federation of the Deaf, have helped change attitudes and train leaders. Despite some grim present realities, prospects for continued progress are good.     

Visual-kinetic communication in Europe before 1600: a survey of signs lexicons and finger alphabets prior to the rise of deaf education

Visual-kinetic communication systems - ancient finger numbers, medieval and Renaissance finger alphabets, conventionalized 'coverbal' gesture systems for oratory and the theater, the Roman pantomime, monastic sign lexicons, and the elusive possibility of natural sign languages - have all received the scholarly attention that has turned up the few surviving primary texts from the period before 1600. The extant documentation indicates that many visual-kinetic systems were sporadically in use among the general (i.e., hearing) population to a degree almost unimaginable to post-Renaissance societies such as ours that popularly associate 'gesture languages' with the deaf. In detail, however, the texts are often difficult to interpret, not only because of their scarcity and generally highly allusive nature, but also because of modern historians' often unproductive or misproductive approaches to them. This survey is meant to provide an overview of the textual evidence and a foundation for both sign language linguists and historians of the deaf education to analyze and interpret more accurately and usefully the extant evidence for visual-kinetic communication systems before the rise of Deaf Education.     

Working memory for sign language: a window into the architecture of the working memory system

Traditionally, working memory has been divided into two major domains: verbal and visuo-spatial. The verbal domain of working memory can be characterized either by its relationship to language or by its grounding in auditory processing. Because of this ambiguity, languages that are not auditory and vocal (i.e., signed languages) pose a challenge to this conception of working memory. We describe several experiments with deaf users of American Sign Language (ASL) that explore the extent to which the architecture of working memory is determined by the constraints of auditory and visual processing and the extent to which it is determined by the characteristics of language. Various working memory effects were investigated: phonological similarity, word length, and articulatory suppression. The pattern of evidence strongly supports the existence of a sign-based 'rehearsal loop' mechanism parallel to the speech-based rehearsal loop. However, we also discuss evidence pointing to differences between the speech loop and the sign loop from forward and backward digit span tasks with deaf and hearing subjects. Despite their similarities based on linguistic properties, the speech loop and the sign loop appear to diverge due to the differing processing demands of audition and vision. Overall, the results suggest that the architecture of working memory is shaped both by the properties of language structure and by the constraints imposed by sensorimotor modality.     

The linguistic milieu of Norwegian children with hearing loss

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 more detailed than those in other studies and required all three groups to consider not only the use of the two native languages, Norwegian and Norwegian Sign Language, but other forms combining sign and speech. The data revealed that languages used with the children included both native languages as well as various mixtures depending on context, situation, and the nature and purpose of the communication. The results are considered from the perspective of the amount and quality of language input and intake necessary for language acquisition and literacy.     

Environmental Learning of Social Cues: Evidence From Enhanced Gaze Cueing in Deaf Children

The susceptibility to gaze cueing in deaf children aged 7–14 years old (N = 16) was tested using a nonlinguistic task. Participants performed a peripheral shape-discrimination task, whereas uninformative central gaze cues validly or invalidly cued the location of the target. To assess the role of sign language experience and bilingualism in deaf participants, three groups of age-matched hearing children were recruited: bimodal bilinguals (vocal and sign-language, N = 19), unimodal bilinguals (two vocal languages, N = 17), and monolinguals (N = 14). Although all groups showed a gaze-cueing effect and were faster to respond to validly than invalidly cued targets, this effect was twice as large in deaf participants. This result shows that atypical sensory experience can tune the saliency of a fundamental social cue.     

汉语手语语法研究

为了解释和分析聋人书面语使用中词汇量少、句子成分省略和颠倒、不使用修饰成分等语言现象。本研究在理论语法、教学语法和中介语法的指导下,把10个聋人手语故事分解为1757幅静止的手语照片、对比聋人的书面语提出了手势词语、表情词语、聋式词语、身体词语、口型词语等概念,指出聋人手语中聋式词语、表情词语、身体词语和口型词语缺失是造成聋人书面语言中词汇量少的主要原因。同时结合手语的句法特点对聋人书面语中的句子现象进行了解释。     

中国手语工具书编纂研究

中国手语是一门视觉语言,是中国聋人使用的语言。手语工具书系统汇辑手语方面的资料,并按特定方法加以编排,以供需要时查阅。本研究意在描述中国手语工具书编纂概况,梳理编纂的特征,并提出中国手语工具书编纂的建议,进而推动中国手语的基础研究,完善中国手语工具书的编纂,最终促进中国聋人参与社会生活,提高文化素质,满足聋人生活、学习和工作的需要。     

电影《通天塔》中的和谐与冲突主题

人类的和谐共处和矛盾冲突的必然性、偶然性是2007年奥斯卡最佳影片《通天塔》的主题。在上帝创造了世界之后,整个地球只有一种语言和少量词汇。地球上的人类决定建造一座可以直达天堂的高塔。但上帝并不乐见于此。他决定将所有这些人划分成不同的种族,居住在不同的地方,讲的是不同的语言,因而使他们无法互相容易地沟通交流。在电影中,一次灾难情况的出现引出了不同种族、不同语言以及不同文化背景的个体之间的千丝万缕的联系并体现了人类的区别性和同一性。这部影片的和谐与冲突的主题也随之变得突出。语言作为人类的普遍沟通方式,也是影片用来揭示主题的一个重要因素。这部电影涉及了多个国家和不同的语言:英语、日语、墨西哥语、摩洛哥语,甚至还有聋哑人的手语。影片所使用的语言,以及各类人的表面沟通和错综复杂的关系体现人类思想相互沟通的重要性。