Sign Language Program Structure and Content in Institutions of Higher Education
in the United States, 1994-2004
Sheryl B. Cooper, Joel I. Reisman, and Douglas Watson
Abstract
Language Between Bodies: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding Linguistic
Politeness in American Sign Language
Daniel R. Roush
Abstract
Use of Text Messaging by Deaf Adolescents in Japan
Yoshiko Okuyama and Mariko Iwai
Abstract
A Segmental Framework for Representing Signs Phonetically
Robert E. Johnson and Scott K. Liddell
Abstract
Sign Language Program Structure and Content
in Institutions of Higher Education in the United States, 1994�2004
The purpose of this study was to compare important characteristics of
sign language programs in institutions of higher education in the
United States in 1994 and 2004. Data were collected regarding (a) program
structure, (b) program content and resources, and (c) opinions
and recommendations of program administrators.
Data show that sign language programs have become increasingly
accepted and entrenched in American postsecondary institutions. Additionally,
data in a variety of categories support the theory that these
programs have become more stabilized in terms of leadership and coordination,
position within the institution, structure, and standardization
of content.
This article discusses a ten-year comparative study by the authors. The results
of three research questions were published in the
American Annals of the Deaf
(Spring 2008); this article provides the results of the remaining three research
questions.
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Language Between Bodies: A Cognitive Approach
to Understanding Linguistic Politeness in American Sign Language
This article proposes an answer to the primary question of how the
American Sign Language (ASL) community in the United States conceptualizes
(im)politeness and its related notions. It begins with a review
of evolving theoretical issues in research on (im)politeness and
related methodological problems with studying (im)politeness in natural
signed-language interaction. Because human conceptual systems
of abstract notions such as (im)politeness employ cognitive metaphorical
mappings and because ASL has strong iconic devices at its disposal,
this article reports the results of applying the conceptual metaphor theory
(Lakoff and Johnson 1980; Lakoff 1987, 1993; Wilcox 2000; Taub 2001; see
also Steen 2007 and Steen et al. 2010) to an analysis of
ethnographically collected linguistic data. Because conceptualizations
of (im)politeness are better understood as part of a broader system of
conceptual domains, this article provides a survey of metaphorical (as
well as metonymical and image schematic) mappings and their respective
linguistic expressions, which constitute ASL�s (im)politeness-related
system of domains. Also included is a discussion of how this
methodological and analytical approach may advance theoretical notions
of (im)politeness.
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Use of Text Messaging by
Deaf Adolescents in Japan
This article discusses a survey study that drew on seventy-five high school
students at a residential deaf school in Japan. The aim of the survey was to
examine the various ways in which deaf adolescents use text messaging and to
determine whether they use the technology differently from the hearing high
school students surveyed in our previously published study. The present study
found that deaf high school students use texting for different purposes than do
their hearing counterparts. Contrary to the media hype about text messaging, the
difficulties associated with the language of technology-mediated communication
are identified in the deaf student data. The results of the current study raise
questions about modern technology�s much-claimed empowerment of individuals with
a hearing impairment. In addition, this article reports on the methodological
issues of conducting a survey with a linguistic minority, including the choice
of wording.
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A Segmental Framework for
Representing Signs Phonetically
The arguments for dividing the signing stream in signed languages
into sequences of phonetic segments are compelling. The visual
records of instances of actually occurring signs provide evidence of
two basic types of segments: postural segments and trans-forming segments.
Postural segments specify an alignment of articulatory features,
both manual and nonmanual. In contrast, during trans-forming segments at
least some of the articulatory features are changing. Both
types of segment are divisible into subcategories based on descriptive
details of duration and nature of muscular activity. Features that describe
the finer details of the manner in which a trans-forming change
is accomplished argue for the specification of trans-forming segments
as a part of the phonetic record. We conclude that an adequate phonetic
representation of signs must account for both postural and transforming
segments.
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