ASL and the family system.

This paper examines some of the sociological implications of poor interaction on families in which one of the members is deaf. When a family systems perspective is used, once a child is diagnosed as deaf the family is no longer considered "hearing"; the parents may be hearing, the other children may be, but the family system becomes "hearing and deaf." By viewing this as a hearing/deaf problem, it becomes clear that no adequate solution can be found without the participation of deaf adults and the benefit of their perspectives and insights. We suggest that attention be directed toward neutralizing the effects of the stigma associated with deafness so that American Sign Language can become a pivotal tool for facilitating functional symbolic interaction in hearing/deaf families.     

Blue listerine, parochialism, and ASL literacy

There are not many elements of human life that have had as significant an impact on our development as literacy. Literacy has certainly been, and remains, a crucial issue especially in Deaf Education and in the Deaf World. The traditional definition of literacy has been exclusively understood as reading and writing. However, this article is intended to provide a thoughtful and provocative commentary that supports adopting new directions and comprehensive definitions for understanding literacy, which includes both written and signed languages. By applying ideas from Deaf Studies and New Literacy Studies we will conduct a thorough exploration of the fundamental components of literacy and illuminate important political and practical applications related to Deaf Education.     

Interactive video for bilingual ASL/English instruction of deaf children

Advances in technology make possible certain instructional approaches that heretofore were difficult to implement. One of these advances is the use of computers to present video instructional materials for student-directed learning. In the experimental program described here, we use a bilingual approach to teach aspects of English to deaf children who are fluent in ASL. The goal of this project is to explore ways that ASL and English can be used cooperatively to help deaf students learn more about English.     

The Use of ASL to Support the Development of English and Literacy

The purpose of this article is to review research dealing with the use of ASL in teaching English and literacy. I review some of the literature (and direct readers to additional sources) that indicates that early learning of ASL need not create concerns for future development of English structure, speech, or other cognitive skills. I also suggest ways in which ASL can contribute directly to developing more of the highlevel skills needed for fluent reading and writing. The global benefit of learning ASL as a first language is that it creates a standard bilingual situation in which teachers and learners can take advantage of one language to assist in acquiring the other and in the transfer of general knowledge. As part of this discussion, I compare English and ASL as natural languages for similarities and differences.     

How the medical professionals impact ASL and English families’ language planning policy

This article explores the journey of eight hearing families of bimodal-bilingual deaf children as they navigate the decision-making process reflecting their beliefs and values about American Sign Language (ASL) and English through their family language policy framework. The resources offered to families with deaf children often reflect a medical view, rather than a cultural perspective of being deaf. Because medical professionals, educators, and specialists who work with deaf and hard-of-hearing children have a strong influence on family members’ opinions, beliefs, and attitudes about being deaf, it is even more crucial to correct misconceptions about ASL and empower families to develop a family language policy that is inclusive of their deaf and hard-of-hearing children. This article informs researchers, teachers, and other professionals about the potential benefits and challenges of supporting the families’ ASL and English language planning policy.     

Codeswitching techniques: evidence-based instructional practices for the ASL/English bilingual classroom

The authors present a perspective on emerging bilingual deaf students who are exposed to, learning, and developing two languages--American Sign Language (ASL) and English (spoken English, manually coded English, and English reading and writing). The authors suggest that though deaf children may lack proficiency or fluency in either language during early language-learning development, they still engage in codeswitching activities, in which they go back and forth between signing and English to communicate. The authors then provide a second meaning of codeswitching--as a purpose-driven instructional technique in which the teacher strategically changes from ASL to English print for purposes of vocabulary and reading comprehension. The results of four studies are examined that suggest that certain codeswitching strategies support English vocabulary learning and reading comprehension. These instructional strategies are couched in a five-pronged approach to furthering the development of bilingual education for deaf students.     

Face processing by deaf ASL signers: evidence for expertise in distinguished local features

Several previous studies have shown that ASL signers are 'experts' on at least one test of face processing: the Benton Test of Face Recognition, a discrimination task that requires subjects to select a target face from a set of faces shown in profile and/or in shadow. The experiments reported here were designed to discover why ASL signers have superior skill as measured by this test and to investigate whether enhanced performance extends to other aspects of face processing. Experiment 1 indicated that the enhancement in face-processing skills does not extend to recognition of faces from memory. Experiment 2 revealed that deaf and hearing subjects do not differ in their gestalt face-processing ability; they perform similarly on a closure test of face perception. Finally, experiment 3 suggested that ASL signers do exhibit a superior ability to detect subtle differences in facial features. This superior performance may be linked both to experience discriminating ASL grammatical facial expression and to experience with lipreading. We conclude that only specific aspects of face processing are enhanced in deaf signers: those skills relevant to detecting local feature configurations that must be generalized over individual faces.     

Using online glossing lessons for accelerated instruction in ASL for preservice deaf education majors

Teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students must serve as language models for their students. However, preservice deaf education teachers typically have at most only four semesters of American Sign Language (ASL) training. How can their limited ASL instructional time be used to increase their proficiency? Studies involving deaf and hard of hearing students have revealed that glosses (written equivalents of ASL sentences) can serve as "bridges" between ASL and English. The study investigated whether glossing instruction can facilitate hearing students' learning of ASL. A Web site was developed in which ASL glossing rules were explained and glossing exercises provided. Posttest scores showed the experimental group improving from 39% to 71% on ASL grammar knowledge. These findings indicate that online glossing lessons may provide the means to obtain ASL skills more readily, thus preparing deaf education teachers to serve as ASL language models.     

Mentorship: mutual benefits for ASL students and gifted students (part 1)

Postsecondary American Sign Language (ASL) students are capable of teaching short lessons related to sign language and deaf culture to gifted students in elementary school. College students who work as interest-area mentors benefit gifted students while building their own academic discipline and professional skills. In Part 1 of a 2-part series of articles, the authors explain the unique needs shared by students in gifted education programs (GEPs), the concept of interest-area mentorship, and how mentors help meet the needs of gifted students in light of National Association for Gifted Children standards. Benefits for ASL students, gifted students, and GEP teachers are discussed. College instructors also benefit, because mentoring experiences help make mentors better students and professionals. Additionally, mentoring in gifted classes facilitates recruiting of the next generation of professionals. In this case, recruiting occurs with the best and brightest: gifted students.     

美国手语语言独特性探究——以美国手语中的时间信息表达为例

北美聋人使用的美国手语作为人类语言之一有着与其他语言许多的共性,同时,作为一种独特的视觉空间语言,它也有着不同于有声语言的表达特点和语言特性。它不仅通过使用手势符号表词达意,还借助头部、面部表情和上身体态的变化辅助表达更为细腻的情感、语言和语法意义。美国手语中对时间信息的表达更是体现了其语言表达上的独特性。通过对美国手语时间信息表达方式较为系统的介绍和分析,探究其作为视觉空间语言所体现出的语言表达独特性。     

Making adult education accessible to the deaf. A model of direct instructor communication in ASL

The purpose of this study was to develop a model of direct communication in American Sign Language for mainstreamed adult education courses. The model uses an individual instruction format with limited lecture time. Data were collected for 23 students (12 hearing and 11 deaf) newly enrolled in a mainstreamed word processing class. They were compared on average hours required to complete an exercise, average rates of attendance, and weekly drop rate. Attendance and drop rates were compared for new and returning students in the mainstreamed class (34 students) and 25 hearing students from a nonmainstreamed class. In addition, the average number of hours required to complete the exercises was compared for 10 new hearing students from the mainstreamed class and 11 new hearing students from the nonmainstreamed class. No significant differences were found in any of the comparisons. The study recommends further research to compare this Direct Instructor Communication Model with other more traditional deaf education models.     

Modality of language shapes working memory: evidence from digit span and spatial span in ASL signers

Deaf children who are native users of American Sign Language (ASL) and hearing children who are native English speakers performed three working memory tasks. Results indicate that language modality shapes the architecture of working memory. Digit span with forward and backward report, performed by each group in their native language, suggests that the language rehearsal mechanisms for spoken language and for sign language differ in their processing constraints. Unlike hearing children, deaf children who are native signers of ASL were as good at backward recall of digits as at forward recall, suggesting that serial order information for ASL is stored in a form that does not have a preferred directionality. Data from a group of deaf children who were not native signers of ASL rule out explanations in terms of a floor effect or a nonlinguistic visual strategy. Further, deaf children who were native signers outperformed hearing children on a nonlinguistic spatial memory task, suggesting that language expertise in a particular modality exerts an influence on nonlinguistic working memory within that modality. Thus, language modality has consequences for the structure of working memory, both within and outside the linguistic domain.