Multimedia Dictionary and Synthesis of Sign Language

2011 ◽  
pp. 268-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franc Solina ◽  
Slavko Krapez ◽  
Ales Jaklic ◽  
Vito Komac
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Deaf People ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Proper Nouns ◽  
Basic Meaning ◽  
The World

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.

Discovering sign language

2019 ◽  
pp. 81-90
Author(s):  
François Grosjean
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Research Program ◽  
Deaf Child ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Sign ◽  
The World ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Right

The author discovered American Sign Language (ASL) and the world of the deaf whilst in the United States. He helped set up a research program in the psycholinguistics of ASL and describes a few studies he did. He also edited, with Harlan Lane, a special issue of Langages on sign language, for French colleagues. The author then worked on the bilingualism and biculturalism of the deaf, and authored a text on the right of the deaf child to become bilingual. It has been translated into 30 different languages and is known the world over.

scholarly journals Pautas orientativas para la asistencia a la diversidad y la inclusión de personas sordas

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. 6441-6452
Author(s):  
Roberto García Sánchez ◽  
Justo Pedro Hernández González
Keyword(s):  
Continuing Education ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Deaf People ◽  
Deaf Students ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Sign Language Interpreters ◽  
The World ◽  
The University

Comunidad  Sorda es aquella que participa de unos valores culturales y lingüísticos construidos en torno a la lengua de signos y a una concepción visual del mundo. Entre las personas sordas usuarias de la lengua de signos algunas aprendieron a signar en su infancia y otras siendo ya adultas; hay quienes son usuarias de audífonos o implantes cocleares y, entre ellas, hay quienes usan la lengua de signos y quienes no. También debemos mencionar a aquellas personas sordas que, a causa de un sistema educativo no inclusivo, tienen problemas de expresión y comprensión de textos escritos. Al igual que en el resto de la población, entre las personas sordas encontraremos niños, jóvenes, mayores, personas sordas con otra(s) discapacidad(es)... Todas y cada una de ellas con sus necesidades y demandas concretas. Es importante saber que, aun tratándose de un colectivo heterogéneo, todas las personas sordas, cualquiera que sea su tipo o grado de sordera, situación individual e independientemente de que sean o no usuarias de las lenguas de signos, comparten la necesidad de acceder a la comunicación e información del entorno sin barreras de ningún tipo. Por ese motivo es necesario desarrollar un servicio de orientación, asesoramiento y acción tutorial específico para el alumnado sordo que tenga en cuenta sus necesidades y dificultades y que evite cualquier tipo de discriminación o falta de accesibilidad al contenido universitario del tipo que sea. Por lo tanto, es necesario proporcionar este servicio con los recursos audiovisuales necesarios, intérpretes de lengua de signos española y formación continua a la comunidad universitaria. Es fundamental coordinarse con las asociaciones de personas sordas para cumplir los requisitos básicos que garanticen su inclusión, puesto que éstas son las que conocen mejor sus necesidades por la lucha de sus derechos, y orientar a la universidad para la consecución de dicha finalidad.   A Deaf Community is one that participates in cultural and linguistic values built around sign language and a visual conception of the world. Among the deaf people who used sign language, some learned to sign in their childhood and others when they were adults; there are those who use hearing aids or cochlear implants and, among them, there are those who use sign language and those who do not. We will also find deaf people who, because of a non-inclusive educational system, have problems of expression and comprehension of written texts. As in the rest of the population, among the deaf people we will find children, young people, elderly, deaf people with other disability(ies). . . Each and every one of them with their specific needs and demands. It is important to know that, even if it is a heterogeneous collective, all deaf people, whatever their type or degree of deafness, individual situation and regardless of whether or not they are users of sign languages, share the need to access the communication and information of the environment without barriers of any kind. For this reason it is necessary to develop a service of guidance, advice and specific tutorial action for deaf students that takes into account their needs and difficulties and avoids any type of discrimination or lack of accessibility to university content of any kind. Therefore, it is necessary to provide this service with the necessary audiovisual resources, Spanish sign language interpreters and continuing education to the university community. It is essential to coordinate with associations of deaf people to meet the basic requirements to ensure their inclusion, since they are the ones who best know their needs by fighting for their rights, and guide the university to achieve that goal.

Dictionaries of Libras from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Century

2019 ◽  
pp. 298-318
Author(s):  
Jorge Bidarra ◽  
Tania Aparecida Martins
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
First Century ◽  
Deaf People ◽  
Deaf Community ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The World ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Historical Trajectory

Sign languages, structurally different from oral languages, are based on gestures and involve their own grammars and repertoires of lexical units (signals or signs), and they play an important role in establishing communication among deaf people around the world. This chapter primarily focuses on the development of dictionaries for Libras (an acronym for Língua Brasileira de Sinais, or ‘Brazilian Language of Signs’), the natural language of the Brazilian deaf community. It traces the influence of the first dictionary of the deaf in Brazil, Iconographia dos Signaes dos Surdos-Mudos (‘Iconography of Signs of Deaf-Mutes’), which was published in 1875 by the National Institute of Education of the Deaf (INES) and authored by Flausino José da Gama, a student at the Institute. In their demonstration of the influence and inspiration this dictionary gave to lexicographers who followed da Gama, Bidarra and Martins outline the historical trajectory of sign languages up to the present, considering different and parallel paths for sign languages in different countries, forms of stigmatization of sign language, and barriers to its use. Incorporating this historical and transnational analysis, Bidarra and Martins present both a broad discussion of the various models of sign language dictionaries that have been used around the world and an in-depth analysis of the development of Libras dictionaries in Brazil to the modern day.

BILINGUALISM AND IDENTITY IN DEAF COMMUNITIES. Melanie Metzger (Ed.). Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press, 2000. Pp. xii + 317. $55.00 cloth.

2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-497
Author(s):  
Christine Monikowski
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Deaf Child ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Deaf People ◽  
Deaf Community ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Linguistic Rights

In this volume of the Sociolinguistics in Deaf Communities series, Metzger has edited 11 diverse topics addressing two themes: the perception of Deaf people and Deaf communities, and bilingualism. Deaf people's perception of themselves and their community is explored by authors who discuss an excellent array of topics, ranging from “miracle cures” for Deaf children in Mexico to the nature of name signs in the New Zealand Deaf community; from the linguistic rights of Deaf people in the European Union to a search for the roots of the Nicaraguan Deaf community; from a semiotic analysis of Argentine Sign Language to an analysis of how a Deaf child (American Sign Language) and his hearing family (English) make sense of each other's world views.

scholarly journals Commentary: Shapes and Sites of Deaf People’s Transinstitutionalization

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-27
Author(s):  
Kristin Snoddon ◽  
Joanne Weber
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Language And Identity ◽  
Deaf People ◽  
Educational Settings ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Language Support ◽  
Mainstream Education ◽  
Deaf Teachers

This commentary describes our perspective on transinstitutionalization as deaf teachers and researchers from different regions of Canada, and accounts for some of the ways in which transinstitutionalization manifests in the lives of deaf people, particularly in educational settings. In the present day, so-called inclusive education is often presented as the progressive alternative to institutionalization, or deaf schools. However, mainstream education in regular settings without adequate sign language support and the continuing polarization of language and identity options for deaf children are two of the main ways in which transinstitutionalization recurs for deaf children and adults and threatens the vitality of sign languages.

scholarly journals The Common Misconceptions about Sign Language

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 110-132
Author(s):  
Khunaw Sulaiman Pirot ◽  
Wrya Izaddin Ali
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Deaf People ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
British Sign Language ◽  
The Common ◽  
Language Universal ◽  
Common Misconceptions

This paper entitled ‘The Common Misconceptions about Sign Language’ is concerned with the most common misconceptions about sign language. It also deals with sign language and its relation with the spoken language. Sign language, primarily used by deaf people, is a fully-developed human language that does not use sounds for communication, but it is a visual-gestural system that uses hands, body and facial gestures. One of the misconceptions is that all sign languages are the same in the worldwide. Such assumptions cause problems. Accordingly, some questions have been raised: first, is sign language universal? Second, is sign language based on spoken language? And third, is sign language invented by hearing people?      The aim of the paper is to have a deeper understanding about sign language. It also demonstrates the similarities and differences between the two different modalities: sign language and spoken language. The paper is based on some hypothesis. One of the hypotheses is that sign languages are pantomimes and gestures. It also hypothesizes that the process of language acquisition in sign language for deaf people is different from the language acquisition in spoken language for hearing people.     To answer the questions raised, the qualitative approach is adopted. The procedure is to collect data about the subject from books and articles and then analyze the data to obtain the aim of the study.  One of the conclusions is that sign language is not universal. It is recommended that more work can be carried out on the differences between either American Sign Language (ASL) or British Sign Language (BSL) with reference to zmânî âmâžaî kurdî (ZAK) Kurdish Sign Language) at all linguistic levels.   

De Nederlandse Gebarentaal En Taalonderwijs

1991 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 75-82
Author(s):  
Beppie van den Bogaerde
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Deaf People ◽  
Teaching Materials ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Language Courses ◽  
Native Signers

Sign Language of the Netherlands (SLN) is considered to be the native language of many prelingually deaf people in the Netherlands. Although research has provided evidence that sign languages are fully fletched natural languages, many misconceptions still abound about sign languages and deaf people. The low status of sign languages all over the world and the attitude of hearing people towards deaf people and their languages, and the resulting attitude of the deaf towards their own languages, restricted the development of these languages until recently. Due to the poor results of deaf education and the dissatisfaction amongst educators of the deaf, parents of deaf children and deaf people themselves, a change of attitude towards the function of sign language in the interaction with deaf people can be observed; many hearing people dealing with deaf people one way or the other wish to learn the sign language of the deaf community of their country. Many hearing parents of deaf children, teachers of the deaf, student-interpreters and linguists are interested in sign language and want to follow a course to improve their signing ability. In order to develop sign language courses, sign language teachers and teaching materials are needed. And precisely these are missing. This is caused by several factors. First, deaf people in general do not receive the same education as hearing people, due to their inability to learn the spoken language of their environment to such an extent, that they have access to the full eduational program. This prohibits them a.o. to become teachers in elementary and secondary schools, or to become sign language teachers. Althought they are fluent "signers", they lack the competence in the spoken language of their country to obtain a teacher's degree in their sign language. A second problem is caused by the fact, that sign languages are visual languages: no adequate system has yet been found to write down a sign language. So until now hardly any teaching materials were available. Sign language courses should be developed with the help of native signers who should be educated to become language-teachers; with their help and with the help of video-material and computer-software, it will be possible in future to teach sign languages as any other language. But in order to reach this goal, it is imperative that deaf children get a better education so that they can contribute to the emancipation of their language.

3. Deaf Persons and Sign Languages

2020 ◽  
pp. 55-92
Author(s):  
John D. Bonvillian ◽  
Nicole Kissane Lee ◽  
Tracy T. Dooley ◽  
Filip T. Loncke
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Distinct Structure ◽  
Hearing Children ◽  
Deaf Persons ◽  
International Conventions

Chapter 3 introduces the reader to various aspects of sign languages, including their historical development and use within educational contexts by Deaf communities in Europe and the United States. Also covered is the initiation of the field of sign language linguistics by William C. Stokoe, a linguist who systematically proved that American Sign Language (ASL) was indeed a language with its own distinct structure and properties that differed from any spoken language. The phonological parameters of signs receive considerable attention, highlighting ways in which the unique properties of sign languages allow them to represent meaning in ways that are more consistently transparent and iconic than similar phenomena in the speech modality. Despite these similarities across sign languages, the differences among the sign languages of the world led Deaf persons to create and develop the lingua franca of International Sign (previously Gestuno) for use at international conventions. Finally, the similarities and distinctions between the processes of language development and acquisition across the modalities of speech and sign are discussed, as well as how signing benefits the learning of spoken language vocabulary by hearing children.

Competences in Polish sign language and the ability to understand read text in G students / deaf students

2020 ◽  
Vol LXXXI (3) ◽  
pp. 165-174
Author(s):  
Justyna Kotowicz
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Deaf Students ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Learning To Read ◽  
Scientific Analysis ◽  
Level Of Understanding ◽  
The Relationship

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.

scholarly journals Deaf jokes and sign language humor

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Sutton-Spence ◽  
Donna Jo Napoli
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Visual Experience ◽  
Deaf People ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Deaf Identity ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
The World ◽  
The Creation

AbstractThis paper describes the humor of Deaf communities, arguing that the humor is related primarily to the dominant visual experience of Deaf people, but also influenced by their knowledge of humor traditions in the hearing society at large. Sign language humor in America and Britain may be seen in the creation of new visual signs, the witty reanalysis of existing signs and in bilingual games in which English is manipulated within sign languages. The content of Deaf humor supports the in-group of community members who embrace their signing collective Deaf identity and denigrates out-group people, including deaf people who do not belong to the community and hearing people who are often seen as a threat to the community. Many of these jokes also make reference to sign language. We conclude that the visual nature of Deaf humor is one of its key characteristics and ask what else this can tell us about the Deaf cultural way of interacting with and presenting the world.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document