Perception of Iconicity in American Sign Language by Hearing and Deaf Subjects

1981 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 388-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penny L. Griffith ◽  
Jacques H. Robinson ◽  
John M. Panagos
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Real World ◽  
First Grade ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Deaf Adults ◽  
Definition Of

Three groups of subjects differing in age, language experience, and familiarity with American Sign Language were compared on three tasks regarding the perception of iconicity in signs from American Sign Language. Subjects were asked to guess the meaning of signs, to rate signs for iconicity, and to state connections between signs and their meaning in English. Results showed that hearing college students, deaf adults, and hearing first-grade children perform similarly on tasks regarding iconicity. Results suggest a psycholinguistic definition of iconicity based on association values, rather than physical resemblances between signs and real-world referents.

Second language acquisition across modalities: Production variability in adult L2 learners of American Sign Language

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison I Hilger ◽  
Torrey MJ Loucks ◽  
David Quinto-Pozos ◽  
Matthew WG Dye
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Linear Trend ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Experience Levels ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Production Variability ◽  
Deaf Signers

A study was conducted to examine production variability in American Sign Language (ASL) in order to gain insight into the development of motor control in a language produced in another modality. Production variability was characterized through the spatiotemporal index (STI), which represents production stability in whole utterances and is a function of variability in effector displacement waveforms (Smith et al., 1995). Motion capture apparatus was used to acquire wrist displacement data across a set of eight target signs embedded in carrier phrases. The STI values of Deaf signers and hearing learners at three different ASL experience levels were compared to determine whether production stability varied as a function of time spent acquiring ASL. We hypothesized that lower production stability as indexed by the STI would be evident for beginning ASL learners, indicating greater production variability, with variability decreasing as ASL language experience increased. As predicted, Deaf signers showed significantly lower STI values than the hearing learners, suggesting that stability of production is indeed characteristic of increased ASL use. The linear trend across experience levels of hearing learners was not statistically significant in all spatial dimensions, indicating that improvement in production stability across relatively short time scales was weak. This novel approach to characterizing production stability in ASL utterances has relevance for the identification of sign production disorders and for assessing L2 acquisition of sign languages.

Can experience with co-speech gesture influence the prosody of a sign language? Sign language prosodic cues in bimodal bilinguals

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 402-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
DIANE BRENTARI ◽  
MARIE A. NADOLSKE ◽  
GEORGE WOLFORD
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Prosodic Structure ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Prosodic Cues ◽  
Hearing Status ◽  
Native Signers

In this paper the prosodic structure of American Sign Language (ASL) narratives is analyzed in deaf native signers (L1-D), hearing native signers (L1-H), and highly proficient hearing second language signers (L2-H). The results of this study show that the prosodic patterns used by these groups are associated both with their ASL language experience (L1 or L2) and with their hearing status (deaf or hearing), suggesting that experience using co-speech gesture (i.e. gesturing while speaking) may have some effect on the prosodic cues used by hearing signers, similar to the effects of the prosodic structure of an L1 on an L2.

scholarly journals Effects of language experience on the perception of American Sign Language

Cognition ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill P. Morford ◽  
Angus B. Grieve-Smith ◽  
James MacFarlane ◽  
Joshua Staley ◽  
Gabriel Waters
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Language Experience

scholarly journals Prevalence of Self-Reported Hypertension in Deaf Adults Who Use American Sign Language

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 1215-1220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abbi N Simons ◽  
Christopher J Moreland ◽  
Poorna Kushalnagar
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Deaf Adults

Practicing Anthropology inside the Academy: What We Learned Applying Anthropology in Collaborating with Colleagues, Internal, and External Organizations

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-24
Author(s):  
Monica E. Rodriguez ◽  
Penney Nichols-Whitehead
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Real World ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Community Organization ◽  
American Sign ◽  
The Real ◽  
University Department ◽  
Knowledge And Practice

Abstract Applying anthropology often involves going from the academy to the real world. In this article, we discuss bringing anthropological knowledge and practice back to the academy. The authors collaborated with a local community organization and with a university department to teach faculty, staff, and students American Sign Language and about Deaf culture. One author is a hard of hearing anthropologist who reflects on the way this project began through experiences as an adjunct professor at two universities. Through this example, we explore the lessons we learned and provide advice.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document