The development of sign language recognition legislation is a relatively recent phenomenon in the field of language policy. So far only few authors have documented signing communities' aspirations for recognition legislation, how they work with their governments to achieve legislation which most reflects these goals, and whether and why outcomes…

This paper presents a critical examination of key concepts in the study of (signed and spoken) language and multimodality. It shows how shifts in conceptual understandings of language use, moving from bilingualism to multilingualism and (trans)languaging, have resulted in the revitalisation of the concept of language repertoires. We discuss key…

In this study, we investigated how activation unfolds in sign production by examining whether signs that are not produced have their representations activated by semantics (cascading of activation). Deaf signers were tested with a picture-picture interference task. Participants were presented with pairs of overlapping pictures and named the green…

Colonial and decolonial tensions manifested in a unique, Mexican school for the deaf that used Mexican Sign Language for instruction. (De)colonial tensions were inherent in the school's work, from its non-Mexican, Foreign-origin school board to its child-of-deaf-adults principal's vision. We observed the presence of a colonial legacy, decolonial…

In the study reported on here we investigated the effects of sign language barriers among Deaf learners in special schools for the Deaf and Blind in the Motheo District in the Free State province of South Africa. Semi-structured focus group interviews were held with 7 teachers (2 males and 5 females) and 10 Grade 8 learners (6 males and 4 females)…

Learning and Reading Assistant (LARA) is an open source platform that enables conversion of plain texts into an interactive multimedia form designed to support second- and foreign-language (L2) learners. In this workshop, we illustrate the open source aspects using collaborative work carried out during a six-week summer project at the Árni…

The scales for measuring problem-solving skills developed for students without impairment do not seem to include essential criteria for measuring the problem-solving skills of secondary school-aged students with hearing impairment. In order to compensate for these lacks and accurately measure these students' problem-solving skills, a scale of…

Although the attitudes of hearing people towards deaf people have been studied for several years, most of these studies have focused on medical professionals or children in K-12 classrooms. Limited research has examined the attitudes of hearing university students towards deaf people in sign language courses. This study aimed to investigate and…

In German Switzerland the learning and assessment of Swiss German Sign Language ("Deutschschweizerische Gebärdensprache," DSGS) takes place in different contexts, for example, in tertiary education or in continuous education courses. By way of the still ongoing implementation of the Common European Framework of Reference for DSGS,…

One way of increasing caregivers' language accessibility when interacting with a deaf child is through visual communication strategies. By using both a longitudinal and cross-sectional approach, this study will reveal which strategies deaf and hearing parents prefer and implement in their daily communication with their deaf children. First, the…

We draw on an article published in 1973 in this journal. We described how we taught "Geoff," a 6-year old boy with autism, an elementary form of sign language during the course of 24 one-hour sessions held over a 12-week period (Webster et al. in "J Autism Child Schizophr" 3:337-346, 1973; Fruchter in "Autism: new…

This paper presents the features of an online test framework for a receptive skills test that has been adapted, based on a British template, into different sign languages. The online test includes features that meet the needs of the different sign language versions. Features such as usability of the test, automatic saving of scores, and score…

Members of the Deaf New American community reported they arrived in the United States with no formal education, unable to read or write in their native language, and had zero fluency in English. Efforts to educate them have floundered, and the study aims to find out why and how to fix the problem. Interviews of eight Deaf New Americans yielded…

At least since the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, deaf children worldwide have a right to education not only in the spoken and written language of their country, but also in the national sign language. The pedagogical use of a sign language in European schools for the deaf began in the 1980s and has since evolved…

Sometimes parents just do not know where to begin once their child has been diagnosed as deaf or hearing impaired. This booklet helps answer some of the questions these parents might have. A resource section has been included for parents and professionals for future reference. One of the most important things to remember is that, once a child has…