New research on sign language / Reynard Louis, editor.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Louis, Reynard, editor.

Series:

Languages and linguistics series.

Languages and Linguistics Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sign language--Research.

Sign language.

Gesture--Research.

Gesture.

Linguistics--Research.

Linguistics.

Discourse analysis--Research.

Discourse analysis.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Place of Publication:

New York : Nova Science Publishers, 2017.

Summary:

In this book, the authors present current research in the study of sign language. The opening paper concentrates on content structure in an example of formal Kenyan Sign Language discourse: a sermon. The main discussion point is grammatical cohesion, or how content is structured through textual features that link episodes together in discourse. The paper analyzes this through references, substitutions, ellipses, discourse markers, and conjunctions. The authors also discuss a study focusing on a computer-based adaptive test of American Sign Language ability known as the American Sign Language Discrimination Test developed at the Rochester Institute of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf. This test measures the propensity for discerning phonological and morphophonogical contrasts in American Sign Language. In this study, the American Sign Language Discrimination Test, or ASL-DT, item pool was expanded to enhance the efficiency of the test along a wider range of abilities, with the objective of offering supplementary evidence of the tests legitimacy. Later, a study is presented on the impact of familiarity and the use of American Sign Language in deaf humans conversational behaviors in order to support the current research expressing difference in conversational register in response to different types of partners. Additionally, the research offers proof of linguistic aspects of American Sign Language that are similar to spoken languages. Lastly, a study is presented on the Direct Experience Method, a method of teaching sign language with visual support, in an effort to help teachers understand the benefits of using a small amounts of students native language in second language classrooms.

Contents:

Establishing grammatical cohesion in Kenyan sign language (KSL) formal discourse: the case of a sermon delivered in KSL / (Jefwa G. Mweri, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Department of Kiswahili, Faculty of Arts, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya, and others)

Method and Materials for a Computer-Based Test of Sign Language Ability: The American Sign Language Discrimination Test (ASL-DT) / (Joseph Bochner, Wayne Garrison, Kim Kurz, Jason Listman, Vincent Samar, and Deirdre Schlehofer, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, USA)

The Effects of Conversational Partner Familiarity in Deaf Signers / (Amanda C. Davis and Mary Lee A. Jensvold, PhD, Linfield College, McMinnville, OR, USA, and others)

Using Written English in the American Sign Language Classroom / (Jason Listman and Kalyna Sytch, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, USA).

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references at the end of each chapters and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-5361-2895-3