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.     

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.     

The hands have it: number representations in adult deaf signers

This study examines a wide range of numerical representations (i.e., quantity, knowledge of multiplication facts, and use of parity information) in adult deaf signers. We introduce a modified version of the number bisection task, with sequential stimulus presentation, which allows for a systematic examination of mathematical skills in deaf individuals in different modalities (number signs in streaming video vs. Arabic digit displays). Reaction times and accuracy measures indicated that deaf signers make use of several representations simultaneously when bisecting number triplets, paralleling earlier findings in hearing individuals. Furthermore, some differences were obtained between the 2 display modalities, with effects being less prominent in the Arabic digit mode, suggesting that mathematical abilities in deaf signers should be assessed in their native sign language.     

Common features of expertise in working life: implications for higher education

ABSTRACT

We need to know what it means to be an expert in working life today. Universities are often accused of neglecting the basic idea that higher education should be relevant to working life, and research on the subject of expertise in today’s workplace is lacking. Thirteen experts from different fields were interviewed and the obtained data were analysed using grounded theory as an analytical approach. The research questions were: (1) How do experts define expertise? (2) What kind of problems persist in their work? and (3) How are ‘routine’ and ‘adaptive’ expertise performed? The results revealed that expertise is more a social and collaborative phenomenon than an individual property. Experts develop new solutions and seek constant learning in their work. They excel at spontaneous problem solving. These findings suggest that, to prepare students to become experts, deliberate learning and practice should be provided within a framework of collaborative problem solving.     

Phonological processing in deaf children: when lipreading and cues are incongruent

Deaf children exposed to Cued Speech (CS), either before age two (early) or later at school (late), were presented with pseudowords with and without CS. The main goal was to establish the way in which lipreading and CS combine to produce unitary percepts, similar to audiovisual integration in speech perception, when participants are presented with synchronized but different lipreading and auditory information (the McGurk paradigm). In the present experiment, lips and cues were sometimes congruent and sometimes incongruent. It was expected that incongruent cues would force the perceptual system to adopt solutions according to the weight attributed to different sources of phonological information. With congruent cues, performance improved, with improvements greater in the early than the late group. With incongruent cues, performance decreased relative to lipreading only, indicating that cues were not ignored, and it was observed that the effect of incongruent cues increased when the visibility of the target phoneme decreased. The results are compatible with the notion that the perceptual system integrates cues and lipreading according to principles similar to those evoked to explain audiovisual integration.     

聋校语文教学如何培养聋生的审美能力

聋校语文教材中呈现了多姿多彩的审美形态和审美范畴。在教学中要引领学生感受美,启迪学生鉴赏美,鼓励学生体现美。培养和提高聋生的审美能力。     

Developments in cognitive socialization: implications for deaf education

Over the past 2 to 3 decades, the cognitive socialization literature has advanced about 40 major issues that could have a major impact on the principles and procedures of deaf education. The article presents a conceptual model of the cognitive social bases of language that is derived from the philosophical view of constructionism and theoretical perspectives of speech act theory and relevance theory. With the cognitive socialization perspective and this conceptual model, 4 of the 40 issues are discussed: (a) the centrality of intent replacing reinforcement as a more viable account of language acquisition, (b) modality and core issues of language, (c) lack of construct validity in assessment, and (d) heterogeneity. Implications for the advancement of deaf education are discussed throughout.     

Factors predicting recall of mathematics terms by deaf students: implications for teaching

In this study of deaf high school students, imagery and familiarity were found to be the best predictors of geometry word recall, whereas neither concreteness nor signability of the terms was a significant predictor variable. Recall of high imagery terms was significantly better than for low imagery terms, and the same result was found for high- over low-familiarity and signability. Concrete terms were recalled significantly better than abstract terms. Geometry terms that could be represented with single signs were recalled significantly better than those that are usually fingerspelled or those represented by compound signs. Teachers with degrees and/or certification in mathematics had significantly higher self-ratings for the strongest predictor variables, imagery (visualization), and familiarity, as compared with those without such formal training. Based on these findings, implications for mathematics instruction, teacher education, and research are provided.     

Problem-solving in a case-based course: Strategies for facilitating coached expertise

This paper proposes the use of specific coaching strategies to facilitate student use of expert-like problem-solving strategies while analyzing and solving instructional design case studies. Findings from an exploratory study, designed to examine changes in students' problem-solving skills as they analyzed case studies, suggested that students could show expert characteristics at times, under some circumstances, but did not perform like experts on a regular basis. At two midwestern universities, 37 students analyzed 6 to 10 case studies both in class and in on-line discussions. Comparisons were made both within and across students, as well as across time, to examine patterns and changes in student problem-solving approaches. Findings suggested that primary influences on the incidence of expert performance were more external than internal and might be more aptly characterized as “coached expertise”. Specific suggestions are included for coaching the development of student problem-solving skills within a case-based course.     

特色:地方院校生存发展之魂

办学特色是地方院校生存和发展之魂。特色的科学内涵和影响办学特色形成的因素是地方院校形成办学特色首先要解决的问题。     

Face processing in infancy: developmental changes in the use of different kinds of relational information

Adults use both first-order, or categorical, relations among features (e.g., the nose is above the mouth), and second-order, or fine spatial relations (e.g., the space between eyes), to process faces. Adults' expertise in face processing is thought to be based on the use of second-order relations. In the current study, 5-month-olds detected second-order changes, but 3-month-olds failed to detect second-order changes induced by 2 different manipulations. Three-month-olds did detect first-order changes, however. Also, inversion affected 5-month-olds' processing of second-order but not first-order information. These results suggest that, although sensitivity to first-order relations is available by 3 months or earlier, sensitivity to second-order information may not develop until sometime between 3 and 5 months of age.     

Accessing university education: perceptions, preferences, and expectations for interpreting by deaf students

This paper provides a brief review of the history of deaf education in Australia, Australian Sign Language (Auslan), and Auslan interpreting. A panel of Australian deaf university students from diverse linguistic and educational backgrounds provides insights into their perceptions of sign language interpreting provision in university lectures. They commented on their interpreting preferences after viewing two videotaped segments of university lecture interpretation, one demonstrating a predominantly free approach and the other a predominantly literal approach. Expectations of the deaf students were explored in relation to the educational backgrounds and qualifications of university interpreters; comprehension of interpreters is also discussed. Results suggest that the university students preferred interpreters to combine both interpretation styles, switching between literal and free approaches when appropriate. In doing so, students can access lecture content in Auslan while accessing subject-specific terminology or academic language in English. In terms of qualifications, the students advocated for interpreters to have a university qualification in general, especially if they are working in a university context. However, the students also acknowledged that interpreting did not provide them with full access in educational settings.     

Linguistic diversity in a deaf prison population: implications for due process

The entire deaf prison population in the state of Texas formed the basis for this research. The linguistic skills of prison inmates were assessed using the following measures: (1) Kannapell's categories of bilingualism, (2) adaptation of the diagnostic criteria for Primitive Personality Disorder, (3) reading scores on the Test of Adult Basic Education, and (4) an evaluation of sign language use and skills by a certified sign language interpreter who had worked with deaf inmates for the past 17 years. Deaf inmates with reading scores below the federal standard for literacy (grade level 2.9) were the group most likely to demonstrate linguistic incompetence to stand trial, meaning that they probably lacked the ability to understand the charges against them and/or were unable to participate in their own defenses. Based on the language abilities and reading scores of this population, up to 50% of deaf state prison inmates may not have received due process throughout their arrest and adjudication. Despite their adjudicative and/or linguistic incompetence, these individuals were convicted in many cases, possibly violating their constitutional rights and their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.     

Higher education for deaf students: research priorities in the new millennium

A review of research on deaf students in higher education reveals a significant body of knowledge about the barriers these students face in gaining access to information in the classroom. Much less is known about the potential solutions to these problems. In addition, there is a dearth of research on the effectiveness of such support services as interpreting, note taking, real-time captioning, and tutoring, particularly with regard to their impact on academic achievement. This article summarizes relevant research and suggests directions for educational researchers interested in enhancing academic success and the retention of deaf students in higher education programs.     

Oral language acquisition by deaf pupils in primary education: impact of musical education

When a child has some hearing loss, a great number of interdependent factors of human development, and more particularly linguistic development that come into play, is apparent. From a school perspective, some requirements can be met in order to make school the best place to enhance this linguistic development, while at the same time the deaf child is educated in a normalized environment. The aim of this paper is to carry out a longitudinal follow‐up of a group of five deaf pupils educated in mainstream schools, considered as optimal for school integration, and to analyse their linguistic development considering both the excellence of the school and the use of a programme of musical education with deaf pupils throughout the period of study. These data are compared with those obtained from another sample of deaf pupils, educated in similar settings, who did not follow the aforementioned hearing training programme. The main results show that musical education has some positive effects on supra‐segmental aspects of language, on voice quality and on the structuring of simple sentences.     

National study of master teachers in deaf education: implications for teacher education

After an extensive review of relevant literature, the investigators developed a questionnaire on teacher characteristics and behaviors in relation to master teachers and distributed it electronically to deaf education professionals. The questionnaire recipients represented administrators, experienced teachers (e.g., those with 3 or more years' experience), and college and university faculty responsible for preparing teachers of the deaf. Follow-up interactive interviews were conducted with representatives of each constituency. Considerable similarities were noted in the priorities assigned across the three different constituencies, including a value placed on strong communication skills, having a passion about teaching, being collaborative, remaining current in the field, helping students become independent learners, and employing cognitive strategies. Analyses of responses by constituency are provided, along with recommendations for action, particularly for teacher education programs that are intent on graduating more teachers with master teacher potential.