Examines two views of the relations between a bilingual's language repertoires: the lexical and the conceptual mediation hypotheses. In an experiment using cloze completions that required either simple recall or inferences, the interaction between task and cloze type indicates that different processes mediate interpretation and transliteration.…

This paper discusses the role of American Sign Language (ASL) in educating deaf children, based on the history of using manually coded English (MCE). The paper concludes that use of ASL should not be the ultimate goal of bilingual bicultural programs, and, in some classrooms, the optimal program will be complementary use of ASL and MCE. (JDD)

Part of a curriculum unit on preventing sexual abuse of persons with disabilities, the manual is intended to help instructors present the material to hearing impaired students. Illustrations of sign language are presented for such terms as sexual contact, sexual assault, incest, same sex assault (man/woman), rape (acquaintance/marital), exposer,…

The paper examines the use of the Makaton Vocabulary, a language program designed to provide a controlled method of teaching approximately 350 signs from British Sign Language with speech, to mentally handicapped and other language handicapped persons. The approach stresses two-way functional communcation using a core of basic words. Extension of…

A pilot project is described in which an introductory course in sign language was successfully taught to five groups of nondeaf persons in Vermont and New Hampshire via closed circuit television. (Author)

The text for a course in manual communication contains 45 lessons and 565 signs, each illustrated by a drawing indicating the shape of the hands, the place where the hands move to and from, and the movements. Practice exercises for each lesson, designed to foster progressive reinforcement of acquired vocabulary, are grouped together with…

Simultaneous communication of six hearing mothers to their hearing-impaired chilren was studied to determine the extent to which signed messages matched spoken messages. From samples of 100 utterances, a mean 40.5 utterances were signed fully. Approximately 18 percent of the spoken morphemes were deleted, on the average. (Author/CL)

Notes that three papers and commentary (in this issue) emphasized importance of including data on manual modality when studying language development and its relationship to other domains. Discusses advantages of using robustness analysis rather than precursor relations to study domain relations. Suggests alternative theoretical context to which…

Fifteen undergraduates were trained to identify abstract forms in response to manual sign, CVC (consonant vowel consonant) sense syllables, or combined manual sign plus CVC nonsense syllables. Results suggest that facilitative effects of manual sign labels upon comprehension may be due to the iconic relationship between signs and their referents.…

Research shows that native signers do better academically than Ss who use speechreading, written English, or manual forms of English. Instruction through a natural sign language is also a benefit, and the transition to teaching through English can be successfully accomplished at about the fifth-grade level. (Author)

Discusses several neurolinguistic investigations of lateralization in the deaf. Questions frequency of bilingualism among deaf and suggests other factors relating to structural facets of sign language and to sociolinguistic organization of the deaf community also need to be taken into account in order to explain lateralization patterns in native…

American Sign Language (Ameslan) includes sex role stereotypes which implicitly treat females as subordinate to males. Particularly notable is the use of the upper portion of the head and brain area to sign male specific terms and the lower portion of the face to sign female specific terms. (Author/GC)

Focuses on the lexicon of American Sign Language poetics. (Author/VWL)

Responds to an article on the use of artificially developed sign language for the teaching of biology, and discusses the inaccuracies presented concerning the Technical Signs Project, which emphasizes the collection of existing signs rather than the artificial development of signs. Sign guidelines based on naturally developed signs are appended.…

Tells the story of a 16-year-old boy who attended and was expelled from the Spanish National School for Deaf Mutes and the Blind during the 1870s. (Author/VWL)