scholarly journals ASL Stories with Handshape Rhyme: An Exploratory Intervention to Support English Vocabulary with Signing Deaf Readers Abstract An exploratory reading intervention using ASL stories, some with no visual handshape rhymes and others with handshape rhymes, t

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Merrilee R. Gietz ◽  
Jean F. Andrews ◽  
M Diane Clark

Abstract   An exploratory reading intervention using ASL stories, some with no visual handshape rhymes and others with handshape rhymes, to foster English print vocabulary was evaluated. Four signing deaf students, who were prelingually and profoundly deaf, between the ages of seven and eight years of age and reading at the first-grade level or below were engaged in the intervention.  During group story time sessions, stories in American Sign Language (ASL) were presented on PowerPoint slides that included stories translated into both ASL and English, and short lessons using bilingual strategies. Using a pretest-posttest design, the print words were presented within ASL stories across three conditions; 1) with no ASL handshape rhyme, 2) with ASL handshape rhyme, and 3) with English word families (e.g., cat, sat, bat) that rhyme. Students’ vocabulary scores were significantly higher on the ASL stories with handshape rhymes, marginally significant in the non-rhyming ASL stories, and non-significant in the ones with rhyming English word families. This findings point to the importance of rhyme for young deaf children attending ASL/English bilingual programs and suggest that creating ASL stories with rhyme can help to bootstrap literacy.  Future directions for research are recommended.    

2020 ◽  
Vol LXXXI (3) ◽  
pp. 165-174
Author(s):  
Justyna Kotowicz

Research to date indicates a relationship between reading skills and sign language competences in G people / deaf people. These data, however, only apply to sign languages that have undergone extensive scientific analysis (e.g. American Sign Language). Currently, there are no scientific reports in Poland regarding competences in sign language and in reading in G students / deaf students. For this reason, the present study analyses the relationship between Polish Sign Language (PSL) and understanding of the text read in written Polish. The study involved 52 G students / deaf students with prelingual hearing loss in severe or profound grades I-VI in special primary schools for deaf children and adolescents. Competences at PSL were measured using the Polish Sign Language Grammar Comprehension Test, and comprehension of the text read was tested using the Reading test by Maria Grzywak-Kaczyńska. Hierarchical analysis of multivariate regression showed that competences in PSL are a variable explaining the level of understanding of the read text (in the model the first explanatory the variable was age). Therefore, it has been demonstrated that competences in PSL are relevant to learning to read in Polish among G students / deaf students. The results obtained are important for surdopedagogical practice: they draw attention to the need to improve competences in sign language and to use sign language in the process of learning to read and develop this skill.


1997 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 384-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Coryell ◽  
Thomas K. Holcomb

With a historical context as a foundation, the current trends, practices, and perspectives regarding the manual component of educating deaf children is examined, including Manually Coded English systems and American Sign Language. As decisions are considered regarding various approaches to sign communication, it is necessary to investigate issues that support and also question the appropriateness of any given language/system. In addition to the sign language/systems, an equally important aspect is the instructional strategy that supports sign usage, such as Total Communication, Simultaneous Communication, and Bilingual Education. Issues affecting the selection and use of sign language/systems conclude this article.


1985 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol LaSasso

Earlier investigations of deaf students' test-taking strategies have described visual matching strategies consisting generally of locating a word in the question, locating the same word in the text, and selecting a response in visual proximity to that word. Studies to date have utilized multiple-choice measures. The present investigation sought to confirm and extend earlier findings by (a) determining whether visual matching test-taking strategies are used by deaf students in testing situations requiring them to generate responses; (b) describing these strategies, if found; (c) determining whether visual matching is related to overall test performance of deaf readers; and (d) determining whether there are differences between the strategies used by deaf and hearing readers with comparable SAT-HI reading comprehension test performance. The results of this investigation indicate extensive use of visual matching test-taking strategies by deaf subjects but not by hearing subjects. The extent of strategy use was not related to deaf subjects' overall performance on the lookback test. Nine variations of strategy were identified and described. Implications are drawn for teachers, researchers, and other practitioners working with deaf children.


2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-105
Author(s):  
Jon Henner ◽  
Rama Novogrodsky ◽  
Catherine Caldwell-Harris ◽  
Robert Hoffmeister

Purpose This article examines whether syntactic and vocabulary abilities in American Sign Language (ASL) facilitate 6 categories of language-based analogical reasoning. Method Data for this study were collected from 267 deaf participants, aged 7;6 (years;months) to 18;5. The data were collected from an ongoing study initially funded by the U.S. Institute of Education Sciences in 2010. The participants were given assessments of ASL vocabulary and syntax knowledge and a task of language-based analogies presented in ASL. The data were analyzed using mixed-effects linear modeling to first see how language-based analogical reasoning developed in deaf children and then to see how ASL knowledge influenced this developmental trajectory. Results Signing deaf children were shown to demonstrate language-based reasoning abilities in ASL consistent with both chronological age and home language environment. Notably, when ASL vocabulary and syntax abilities were statistically taken into account, these were more important in fostering the development of language-based analogical reasoning abilities than were chronological age and home language. We further showed that ASL vocabulary ability and ASL syntactic knowledge made different contributions to different analogical reasoning subconstructs. Conclusions ASL is a viable language that supports the development of language-based analogical reasoning abilities in deaf children.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 208-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn A. Denton ◽  
Paul T. Cirino ◽  
Amy E. Barth ◽  
Melissa Romain ◽  
Sharon Vaughn ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
pp. 120-144
Author(s):  
Catherine A. O’Brien

This chapter explores the relationship between culturally responsive school leadership and school culture in schools for the deaf. The author demonstrates how Deaf culture, identity, and culturally responsive school leadership intertwine and influence each other. This chapter reports on observations of and interviews with leaders in six schools for the deaf in the United States. Many current school leaders serving Deaf children lack knowledge and understanding of Deaf culture and Deaf identity. Culturally responsive leaders in the schools for the deaf that were studied were almost all part of Deaf culture. If school leaders are to better meet the needs deaf students’ education and identity development, they must recognize the students’ cultures and identities. The author makes a plea for better equipping potential principals and other leaders of schools for the deaf.


2021 ◽  
pp. 101-112
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Mann ◽  
Joanna Hoskin ◽  
Hilary Dumbrill

In this chapter, the authors discuss the use of dynamic language assessment with signing deaf children. This is a fairly new area, and, in spite of the growing interest on behalf of researchers and practitioners, there is very limited research. Given the lack of available studies, the authors use anecdotal information that draws on observations made by two of the authors from their own work with signing deaf children, one in a hospital and the other in a school setting. Some of the questions that will guide the discussions are: What makes dynamic assessment useful for signing deaf children? And, how do we determine that dynamic assessment is appropriate for a particular child, and how do we evaluate whether it works? The authors finish with a look at possible future directions and present recommendations on how to make dynamic assessment (more) meaningful for use with signing deaf children.


Author(s):  
Franc Solina ◽  
Slavko Krapez ◽  
Ales Jaklic ◽  
Vito Komac

Deaf people, as a marginal community, may have severe problems in communicating with hearing people. Usually, they have a lot of problems even with such—for hearing people—simple tasks as understanding the written language. However, deaf people are very skilled in using a sign language, which is their native language. A sign language is a set of signs or hand gestures. A gesture in a sign language equals a word in a written language. Similarly, a sentence in a written language equals a sequence of gestures in a sign language. In the distant past deaf people were discriminated and believed to be incapable of learning and thinking independently. Only after the year 1500 were the first attempts made to educate deaf children. An important breakthrough was the realization that hearing is not a prerequisite for understanding ideas. One of the most important early educators of the deaf and the first promoter of sign language was Charles Michel De L’Epée (1712-1789) in France. He founded the fist public school for deaf people. His teachings about sign language quickly spread all over the world. Like spoken languages, different sign languages and dialects evolved around the world. According to the National Association of the Deaf, the American Sign Language (ASL) is the third most frequently used language in the United States, after English and Spanish. ASL has more than 4,400 distinct signs. The Slovenian sign language (SSL), which is used in Slovenia and also serves as a case study sign language in this chapter, contains approximately 4,000 different gestures for common words. Signs require one or both hands for signing. Facial expressions which accompany signing are also important since they can modify the basic meaning of a hand gesture. To communicate proper nouns and obscure words, sign languages employ finger spelling. Since the majority of signing is with full words, signed conversation can proceed with the same pace as spoken conversation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-136
Author(s):  
Richard K. Moore

From the Lollard versions of the fourteenth century, the six words of the word family at the heart of Paul’s doctrine of justification have most often been represented by two English word families. Tyndale also used them for his 1526 New Testament, providing the model for KJV (1611), dominant for over 350 years. With the Reformation, this two-word-family approach became linked with the Protestants’ forensic model of justification. In the nineteenth century an alternative view was developed: the relational model. Characterized by a single English word family, it became quite influential in the last third of the twentieth century, being the preferred model of the mainstream Bible Societies in the USA and Britain. However, by the twenty-first century it had disappeared from commonly used English versions. Reasons given here show that reinstatement of the relational model is essential if Paul’s message of justification is to become intelligible to an English reader.


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