“Switching caps”

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-52
Author(s):  
Lauren W. Reed
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Signed Language ◽  
Supplementary Material ◽  
Considerable Individual Variation ◽  
Port Moresby

Abstract Abstract (Australian Sign Language) Most bilingualism and translanguaging studies focus on spoken language; less is known about how people use two or more ways of signing. Here, I take steps towards redressing this imbalance, presenting a case study of signed language in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The study’s methodology is participant observation and analysis of conversational recordings between deaf signers. The Port Moresby deaf community uses two ways of signing: sign language and culture. sign language is around 30 years old, and its lexicon is drawn largely from Australasian Signed English. In contrast, culture – which is as old as each individual user – is characterised by signs of local origin, abundant depiction, and considerable individual variation. Despite sign language’s young age, its users have innovated a metalinguistic sign (switch-caps) to describe switching between ways of communicating. To conclude, I discuss how the Port Moresby situation challenges both the bilingualism and translanguaging approaches.

scholarly journals Investigating the Implementation Process of a Curriculum: A Case Study from Papua New Guinea

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Anna Marisen Joskin
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Diffusion Of Innovation ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
English Education ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Shared Meanings ◽  
Port Moresby

<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate how policy intentions of the curriculum were received and practiced by teachers and to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation process. The study probed three levels of an implementation process of an Outcomes-Based English Education curriculum in two urban secondary schools in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The specific focus of implementation was on: the initial introduction process, teachers’ beliefs and attitudes, and classroom practices. This research was an exploratory one using focus group discussions, structured interviews, participant observations, and document analysis. A case study method was used; two qualitative studies situated within the constructivist and symbolic interactionism paradigms were used to probe alignment of policy with practice using the diffusion of innovation theoretical lenses. Content, discourse, and document analyses were used to give interpretations to themes resonating with the research focus; these themes were derived both deductively and inductively from data. Findings revealed that the curriculum change was challenging as policy expectations failed to align with practices. There were little shared meanings between teachers’ views and classroom practices; this lack of connection contradicted policy intentions. There also appeared to be no connection by policy makers of the inbuilt tensions inherent in the outcomes-based model of education adopted for PNG. In relation to this, findings from this study revealed the need for collaborative professional development if policy is to be aligned with practice. Hence, this study offers a working tool called a Kibung PD framework as a priority for curriculum implementation at the classroom level.</p>

On The Relevance of Signed Languages to Research in Interpretation

Target ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
William P. Isham
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Visual Channel ◽  
Signed Languages ◽  
Signed Language ◽  
Research Opportunity ◽  
The Difference

Abstract Research using interpreters who work with signed languages can aid us in understanding the cognitive processes of interpretation in general. Using American Sign Language (ASL) as an example, the nature of signed languages is outlined first. Then the difference between signed languages and manual codes for spoken languages is delineated, and it is argued that these two manners of communicating through the visual channel offer a unique research opportunity. Finally, an example from recent research is used to demonstrate how comparisons between spoken-language interpreters and signed-language interpreters can be used to test hypotheses regarding interpretation.

scholarly journals Uncovering the Transnational Networks, Organisational Techniques and State-Corporate Ties Behind Grand Corruption: Building an Investigative Methodology

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 29-54
Author(s):  
Kristian Lasslett
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Resistance Movements ◽  
Local Characteristics ◽  
Systematic Methodology ◽  
Complex Forms ◽  
Port Moresby

While grand corruption is a major global governance challenge, researchers notably lack a systematic methodology for conducting qualitative research into its complex forms. To address this lacuna, the following article sets out and applies the corruption investigative framework (CIF), a methodology designed to generate a systematic, transferable approach for grand corruption research. Its utility will be demonstrated employing a case study that centres on an Australian-led megaproject being built in Papua New Guinea’s capital city, Port Moresby. Unlike conventional analyses of corruption in Papua New Guinea, which emphasise its local characteristics and patrimonial qualities, application of CIF uncovered new empirical layers that centre on transnational state-corporate power, the ambiguity of civil society, and the structural inequalities that marginalise resistance movements. The important theoretical consequences of the findings and underpinning methodology are explored.

Training sign language interpreters in Australia

Babel ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jemina Napier
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Innovative Approach ◽  
Professional Practices ◽  
Sign Language Interpreters ◽  
Delivery Modes ◽  
Signed Language ◽  
Sign Language Interpreting ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Sydney Australia

Abstract This paper describes an innovative approach to training sign language interpreters, through a program established at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. The course is innovative because sign language and spoken language interpreting students jointly study key subjects, which enables all students to gain insight into the theoretical applications and professional practices of their respective working experiences. This component is particularly innovative as sign language interpreting programs are typically provided as language specific courses with little (if any) exposure to interpreting students of other languages. This paper will provide an overview of the program for both spoken and signed language interpreters, detailing the structure, content and delivery modes, with the aim of encouraging other interpreter educators to consider combining the teaching of all language interpreters.

scholarly journals Libras and Articulatory Phonology

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-124
Author(s):  
Adelaide H. P. Silva ◽  
André Nogueira Xavier
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Phonological Representation ◽  
Articulatory Phonology ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Signed Languages ◽  
Signed Language ◽  
Brazilian Sign Language ◽  
Traditional Approaches

This paper proposes a new approach to the phonological representation of Brazilian Sign Language (Libras). We depart from the observation that traditional analyses have overlooked features of signed languages which have no (exact) correspondence in spoken languages. Moreover, traditional approaches impose spoken language theoretical constructs on signed languages analyses and, by doing so, they disregard the possibility that signed languages follow different principles, as well as that analytical categories for spoken languages may be inaccurate for signed languages. Therefore, we argue that an approach grounded on a general theory of movement can account for signed language phonology in a more accurate way. Following Articulatory Phonology, we propose the analytical primes for a motor-oriented phonological approach to Libras, i.e., we determine which are the articulatory gestures that constitute the lexical items in a signed language. Besides, we propose a representation for the sign BEETLE-CAR in terms of a gestural score, and explain how gestures coordinate in relation to each other. As it is discussed, this approach allows us to more satisfactorily explain cases of variation attested in our data.

scholarly journals Investigating the Implementation Process of a Curriculum: A Case Study from Papua New Guinea

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Anna Marisen Joskin
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Diffusion Of Innovation ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
English Education ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Shared Meanings ◽  
Port Moresby

<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate how policy intentions of the curriculum were received and practiced by teachers and to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation process. The study probed three levels of an implementation process of an Outcomes-Based English Education curriculum in two urban secondary schools in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The specific focus of implementation was on: the initial introduction process, teachers’ beliefs and attitudes, and classroom practices. This research was an exploratory one using focus group discussions, structured interviews, participant observations, and document analysis. A case study method was used; two qualitative studies situated within the constructivist and symbolic interactionism paradigms were used to probe alignment of policy with practice using the diffusion of innovation theoretical lenses. Content, discourse, and document analyses were used to give interpretations to themes resonating with the research focus; these themes were derived both deductively and inductively from data. Findings revealed that the curriculum change was challenging as policy expectations failed to align with practices. There were little shared meanings between teachers’ views and classroom practices; this lack of connection contradicted policy intentions. There also appeared to be no connection by policy makers of the inbuilt tensions inherent in the outcomes-based model of education adopted for PNG. In relation to this, findings from this study revealed the need for collaborative professional development if policy is to be aligned with practice. Hence, this study offers a working tool called a Kibung PD framework as a priority for curriculum implementation at the classroom level.</p>

scholarly journals Language Experience Impacts Brain Activation for Spoken and Signed Language in Infancy: Insights From Unimodal and Bimodal Bilinguals

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyne Mercure ◽  
Samuel Evans ◽  
Laura Pirazzoli ◽  
Laura Goldberg ◽  
Harriet Bowden-Howl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Brain Activation ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Temporal Region ◽  
Brain Lateralization ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Signed Language ◽  
Significant Difference

Recent neuroimaging studies suggest that monolingual infants activate a left-lateralized frontotemporal brain network in response to spoken language, which is similar to the network involved in processing spoken and signed language in adulthood. However, it is unclear how brain activation to language is influenced by early experience in infancy. To address this question, we present functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data from 60 hearing infants (4 to 8 months of age): 19 monolingual infants exposed to English, 20 unimodal bilingual infants exposed to two spoken languages, and 21 bimodal bilingual infants exposed to English and British Sign Language (BSL). Across all infants, spoken language elicited activation in a bilateral brain network including the inferior frontal and posterior temporal areas, whereas sign language elicited activation in the right temporoparietal area. A significant difference in brain lateralization was observed between groups. Activation in the posterior temporal region was not lateralized in monolinguals and bimodal bilinguals, but right lateralized in response to both language modalities in unimodal bilinguals. This suggests that the experience of two spoken languages influences brain activation for sign language when experienced for the first time. Multivariate pattern analyses (MVPAs) could classify distributed patterns of activation within the left hemisphere for spoken and signed language in monolinguals (proportion correct = 0.68; p = 0.039) but not in unimodal or bimodal bilinguals. These results suggest that bilingual experience in infancy influences brain activation for language and that unimodal bilingual experience has greater impact on early brain lateralization than bimodal bilingual experience.

scholarly journals Depicting and describing meanings with iconic signs in Norwegian Sign Language

Gesture ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay Ferrara ◽  
Rolf Piene Halvorsen
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Language Discourse ◽  
Modes Of Representation ◽  
Signed Language ◽  
Iconic Signs

Abstract There is growing momentum towards a theory of languaging that acknowledges the diverse semiotic repertoires people use with each other. This paper contributes to this goal by providing further evidence from signed language discourse. In particular, we examine iconic signs from Norwegian Sign Language, which can be interpreted as both “regular” lexical signs and token depictions. This dual potential is manipulated by signers in context. We analyze these signs as descriptions and depictions, two different modes of representation. Then we compare these signs to some of the description and depiction that occurs in spoken language discourse. In this way we aim to present some of the advantages of using description and depiction in analyses of communication and interaction. By doing this, we also forge links between the languaging of speakers and the languaging of signers.

scholarly journals preliminary study exploring the relation between visual prosody and the prosodic components in sign language

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maaten Renckens ◽  
Leo De Raeve ◽  
Erik Nuyts ◽  
María Pérez Mena ◽  
Ann Beesemans
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Prosodic Cues ◽  
Deaf Readers ◽  
Signed Language ◽  
Visual Prosody ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
The Voice

Type enriched with visual prosody is a powerful tool to encourage expressive reading. Visual prosody adds cues to text to guide vocal variations in loud-ness, duration, and pitch. More vocal variations result in a less monotonous voice and thus more expression. A positive e!ect of visual prosody is known on the voice of normal hearing readers and of signed bilingual deaf readers who developed signed language and spoken language. These deaf readers rely on speech as well as sign language and both modalities can be used interchangeably to compensate each other. This preliminary study explores visual prosody in text in relation to Flemish Sign Language to see if sign language can be used to explain prosody. We asked deaf readers between 7 and 18 to relate prosodic cues to videos presenting prosodic components of Flemish Sign Language. We found that those readers connect the prosodic cues with the components in Flemish Sign Language as intended. Larger word-spacing cor-relates with a pause between signs, a wider font with a sign with ‘longer du-ration’, a thicker font with more ‘displacement’ in the sign, a raised font with a ‘faster velocity’ in the sign. However, some confusion occurred as participants seemed to extract only two prosodic components in the sign language: both the ‘faster velocity’ and ‘longer duration’ were referred to in terms of 'speed' and were not perceived as separate prosodic components. Participants were confused about why there were three cues in the text. Therefore, it is advised to re-evaluate and to re-design visual prosody for sign language with only ‘displacement’ and ‘speed’ in mind.

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