scholarly journals Accent or not? Language attitudes towards regional variation in British Sign Language

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Rowley ◽  
Kearsy Cormier
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Regional Variation ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Link Type ◽  
British Sign Language ◽  
Linguistic Behaviour ◽  
The Uk ◽  
High Degree ◽  
British Sign

Abstract British Sign Language (BSL) has been shown to have a high degree of regional variation especially at the lexical level. This study explores awareness and attitudes of the British deaf community towards this regional variation. We studied interview data from the BSL Corpus (http://bslcorpusproject.org/data) from 121 deaf, BSL signers from six regions across the UK including Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, London and Manchester, focusing on responses to five questions in relation to regional variation in BSL. Responses were analysed using thematic analysis, following (Braun, V. & V. Clark. 2006. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2). 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa). Findings reveal that BSL signers exhibited overall high levels of meta-linguistic awareness, as many of their attitudes and beliefs were in line with what has been reported in relation to linguistic behaviour with BSL such as mouthing, fingerspelling and accommodation. In addition, BSL signers seem to place enormous value on regional variation in BSL, believing that such variation contributes to the richness of BSL as a language and puts it on equal footing with the surrounding majority language, i.e. English. We explore the implications of these attitudes towards a broader understanding of language ideologies, including the concept of accent.

Variation and recent change in fingerspelling in British Sign Language

1990 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Sutton-Spence ◽  
Bencie Woll ◽  
Lorna Allsop
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Regional Variation ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Recent Change ◽  
Code Mixing ◽  
Television Shows ◽  
British Sign Language ◽  
Changing Attitudes ◽  
British Sign

ABSTRACTBritish Sign Language is a language exhibiting extensive regional variation and undergoing rapid change, in a period of changing attitudes to the language and the community of signers. Fingerspelling (a representation of written English) is an aspect of BSL that reflects these variations strongly. Analysis of interviews with Deaf signers appearing on BBC television shows that use of fingerspelling may vary according to various demographic factors and the signers' use of voice. There has also been a decrease in the overall use of fingerspelling in BSL over the last 10 years. Strong evidence is presented to support the claim that fingerspelling in BSL is of two distinct linguistic types. Some fingerspelling involves code-mixing with English, whereas some has become incorporated into the language itself. Further evidence for such a “discontinuity” between the code-mixing and borrowing is presented and discussed.

scholarly journals Catatonia in a woman who is profoundly deaf-mute: case report

2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (11) ◽  
pp. 418-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gbolagade Sunmaila Akintomide ◽  
Stuart Williams Porter ◽  
Anita Pierce
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Case Report ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Accurate Diagnosis ◽  
Diagnosis And Management ◽  
British Sign Language ◽  
Hearing Problem ◽  
First Case ◽  
The Uk ◽  
British Sign

SummaryCatatonia is a common but underrecognised complication of bipolar disorder, with a quarter of in-patients with bipolar disorder developing catatonia. Almost 9 million people in the UK are deaf or have a significant hearing problem and British Sign Language is the preferred language of 50 000–70 000 people within the UK. Between 1 and 2% of these individuals (i.e. the same as in the rest of the population) will experience bipolar disorder in their lifetime and therefore the accurate diagnosis of catatonia is important. We report a case of catatonia presenting with dysphagia in a woman who is profoundly deaf–mute and who has bipolar disorder. This report highlights some modifications of presentation and difficulties of accurate diagnosis and management of catatonia in this patient. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of catatonia in someone who is profoundly deaf–mute.

scholarly journals Health State Values of Deaf British Sign Language (BSL) Users in the UK: An Application of the BSL Version of the EQ-5D-5L

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-556
Author(s):  
Gemma E. Shields ◽  
Katherine D. Rogers ◽  
Alys Young ◽  
Sofia Dedotsi ◽  
Linda M. Davies
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Health State ◽  
British Sign Language ◽  
The Uk ◽  
British Sign

scholarly journals Using Serious Games for Learning British Sign Language Combining Video, Enhanced Interactivity, and VR Technology

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 996-1016
Author(s):  
Daphne Economou ◽  
Melissa Russi ◽  
Ioannis Doumanis ◽  
Markos Mentzelopoulos ◽  
Vassiliki Bouki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
British Sign Language ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Games For Learning ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Further Development ◽  
British Sign

One in every six persons in the UK suffers a hearing loss, either as a condition they have been born with, or they developed during their life. Nine hundred thousand people in the UK are severely or profoundly deaf. Based on a study by Action on Hearing Loss UK in 2013 only 17 percent of this population, can use the British Sign Language (BSL). That leaves a massive proportion of people with a hearing impediment who do not use sign language struggling in social interaction and suffering from emotional distress. It also leaves even a larger proportion of Hearing people who cannot communicate with those of the deaf community. This paper presents a Serious Game (SG) that aims to close the communication gap between able hearing people and people with hearing impairment by providing a tool that facilitates BSL learning targeting the adult population. The paper presents the theoretical framework supporting adult learning based on which a SG game using Virtual Reality (VR) technology has been developed. The paper explains the experimental framework of the study. It presents the creation of the research instruments to facilitate the study comprising of a SG that integrates video and conventional video-based educational material. It reports and analyses the study results that demonstrate the advantage of the SG in effectively supporting users learning a set of BSL signs. It also presents qualitative outcomes that inform the further development of the game to serve learning needs. The paper closes with conclusions, directions for further development of this educational resource, and future studies.

Crosslinguistic similarity and variation in the simultaneous morphology of sign languages

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 571-608
Author(s):  
Diane Brentari ◽  
Laura Horton ◽  
Susan Goldin-Meadow
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
British Sign Language ◽  
Verb Phrases ◽  
Classifier Predicates ◽  
Crosslinguistic Variation ◽  
Hong Kong Sign Language ◽  
British Sign

Abstract Two differences between signed and spoken languages that have been widely discussed in the literature are: the degree to which morphology is expressed simultaneously (rather than sequentially), and the degree to which iconicity is used, particularly in predicates of motion and location, often referred to as classifier predicates. In this paper we analyze a set of properties marking agency and number in four sign languages for their crosslinguistic similarities and differences regarding simultaneity and iconicity. Data from American Sign Language (ASL), Italian Sign Language (LIS), British Sign Language (BSL), and Hong Kong Sign Language (HKSL) are analyzed. We find that iconic, cognitive, phonological, and morphological factors contribute to the distribution of these properties. We conduct two analyses—one of verbs and one of verb phrases. The analysis of classifier verbs shows that, as expected, all four languages exhibit many common formal and iconic properties in the expression of agency and number. The analysis of classifier verb phrases (VPs)—particularly, multiple-verb predicates—reveals (a) that it is grammatical in all four languages to express agency and number within a single verb, but also (b) that there is crosslinguistic variation in expressing agency and number across the four languages. We argue that this variation is motivated by how each language prioritizes, or ranks, several constraints. The rankings can be captured in Optimality Theory. Some constraints in this account, such as a constraint to be redundant, are found in all information systems and might be considered non-linguistic; however, the variation in constraint ranking in verb phrases reveals the grammatical and arbitrary nature of linguistic systems.

Learning & Using British Sign Language: Current Skills & Training of Hearing Professionals

1982 ◽  
Vol 1031 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-178
Author(s):  
James G. Kyle ◽  
Bencie Woll ◽  
Peter Llewellyn-Jones
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
British Sign Language ◽  
British Sign
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