The Mechanics of Fingerspelling: Analyzing Ethiopian Sign Language
Kyle Duarte
Abstract
British Sign Name Customs
Linda Day and Rachel Sutton-Spence
Abstract
Numeral-Incorporating Roots in Numeral Systems: A Comparative Analysis of Two
Sign Languages
Mariana Fuentes, Mar�a Ignacia Massone, Mar�a del Pilar Fern�ndez-Viader,
Alejandro Makotrinsky and Francisca Pulgar�n
Abstract
Literacy Behaviors of Deaf Preschoolers during Video Viewing
Debbie Golos
Abstract
A Call for Improvement: The Need for Research-Based Materials in American Sign
Language Education
Robertta Thoryk
Abstract
The Mechanics of Fingerspelling: Analyzing
Ethiopian Sign Language
Ethiopian Sign Language utilizes a fingerspelling system that represents Amharic
orthography. Just as each character of the Amharic abugida encodes a
consonant-vowel sound pair, each sign in the Ethiopian Sign Language
fingerspelling system uses handshape to encode a base consonant, as well as a
combination of timing, placement, and orientation to encode a paired vowel. This
fingerspelling system is a productive polymorphemic method of naming the written
characters of the Amharic language.
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British Sign Name Customs
Research presented here describes the sign names and the customs of name
allocation within the British Deaf community. While some aspects of British Sign
Language sign names and British Deaf naming customs differ from those in most
Western societies, there are many similarities. There are also similarities with
other societies outside the more familiar cultures of most English-speakers.
Naming customs in the British Deaf community are shown here to vary over time,
with changes in education and other key elements of the British Deaf experience
influencing the choice and use of sign names. While descriptive sign names are
important within the British Deaf community, arbitrary signs, and those derived
from the English language are also important. Additionally BSL sign names are
shown to vary among different sections of the Deaf community. In contrast to
reports from America, we find that British Deaf parents in the past have rarely
allocated sign names to their children�deaf or hearing�beyond fingerspelled
forms of their English names. Some of these children of Deaf parents retain
these fingerspelled forms throughout their lives. Others only acquire names
motivated by descriptive processes on entering school or even later in life.
Thus, we conclude that, unlike people in many societies, the overwhelming
majority of British Deaf people appear to acquire descriptive sign names from
outside their families.
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Numeral-Incorporating Roots in Numeral
Systems: A Comparative Analysis of Two Sign Languages
Numeral-incorporating roots in the numeral systems of Argentine Sign Language (LSA)
and Catalan Sign Language (LSC), as well as the main features of the number
systems of both languages, are described and compared. Informants discussed the
use of numerals and roots in both languages (in most cases in natural contexts).
Ten informants took part in the LSC data collection, and six in the LSA data
collection. The data were corroborated by analyzing the videos available at
www.youtube.com/confargsordos
(for LSA) and by videos and books provided by the ILLESCAT Foundation (for LSC),
as well as by previous research. A general inventory of roots in both languages
and specifically of roots in both numerals systems was carried out. The role of
roots in the formation of ordinals and cardinals and the main features of both
number systems are described. The data suggest that numeral-incorporating roots
in these number systems are formed only from numerals that do not derive from
manual counting. This assumption is discussed, and further research about this
point is emphasized.
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Literacy Behaviors of Deaf Preschoolers
during Video Viewing
A pressing concern in the education of deaf children is their lack of academic
success as measured by literacy rates. Most deaf children finish high school
reading below a fourth-grade level. Educational television programs have
successfully fostered preschool hearing children�s emergent literacy skills. As
for preschool deaf children, however, there has been only limited research on
whether this medium can be effective.This study uses descriptive analyses to
determine the type and frequency of literacy behaviors that preschool deaf
children engage in while viewing an educational video in American Sign Language.
Children were videotaped during three such sessions, and the videos were coded
for literacy-related engagement behaviors. The results of this study indicate
that preschool deaf children engaged in a variety of such behaviors regardless
of age and ASL exposure and that these behaviors increased after multiple video
viewings.
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A Call for Improvement: The Need for
Research-Based Materials in American Sign Language Education
Educational reform and financial considerations have emphasized accountability
and use of research-based materials and strategies in education. Simultaneously,
with growing enrollment in elementary, secondary, and postsecondary ASL
programs, the number of commercially marketed materials has grown. Do such
materials stand up under scrutiny when examined for relationship to current
educational research and to requests for evidence of efficacy? A commercially
available program for improving fingerspelling recognition was tested, using
qualitative and quantitative methods, as an example of the type of research
needed within the field.
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