Examines the variety of sign language used in Southern and central Pakistan and Northwestern India, including its grammatical profile, word classes, the relationship between word class and functional slot, the marking of basic syntactic relations, shifters, number systems, types of possession, negation, questions, subordinate clauses, and…

Survey responses from teachers of hearing-impaired children indicated that, although 39 percent of all respondents and 59.1 percent of signing respondents reported that they used an artificial sign system in the classroom, only 8.1 percent of all respondents and 12.3 percent of signing respondents may actually be using one. (Author/CB)

Suggestions are presented for planning a successful dramatic production by adolescent deaf students. Suggestions deal with script selection, stage direction, scenery, props, costumes, use of American Sign Language rather than signed English, and the need for all actors' signed lines to be visible to the entire audience. (JDD)

The study analyzed the dyadic conversational speech of two hearing-impaired twin boys trained in simultaneous communication. Results indicated the adolescents used an integrated bimodal form of English with a grammatical base that did not vary as a function of the presence or absence of simultaneous signs. (Author/DB)

The article reviews issues related to the cognitive styles, processing modes, and learning strengths and weaknesses that should be considered when selecting augmentative and alternative communication techniques for persons with autism. Stressed is the need to change communication techniques to accommodate the expanding needs and capabilities of…

Recent research has shown that sign language varieties in India and Pakistan are related. This report examines the possible relationship of sign language varieties in India and Pakistan to those in Nepal by analyzing comparative lexical data from sign language varieties in the three countries. (10 references) (VWL)

The results of testing 14 hearing children who learned American Sign Language as preschoolers show that these bimodal, bilingual youngsters achieve significantly higher scores than average on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and suggest knowing a sign language may have a positive influence on a hearing child's acquisition of English. (11…

Exploration of two sign languages independently employed by two isolated deaf signers in a single northern India village found that both languages included such negative structure elements as context-dependence, multichannels, and nondiscrete, ambiguous signs. One signer, strongly embedded in close relationships that formed a tiny speech…

Videotaped elicited short Spanish texts and free conversations from a 23-year-old deaf woman and a 57-year-old deaf man who used Argentine Sign Language (LSA) showed that negative statements generally included a negative manual sign. The sign DECIR-NO (SAY-NO) functions in LSA as an agreement negative verb. There also exists an affirmative…

Explains how to make a well-designed signage package that is effective and enhances visitor first impressions of an institution. Examines questions to ask when planning traffic-pattern signage and the significance of the different hierarchy of signs; concludes with advice on signage design. (GR)

A study of deaf adult students' experience with Australian Sign Language (Auslan) emphasized that failure to acknowledge Auslan as a valid literacy is a tool for repression. Greater recognition of Auslan could widen opportunities for deaf people in further education. (SK)

Presents sign language as a central fact in the life of deaf individuals and groups and therefore as a focus for educational efforts. Looks at the different ways languages are presented to the eye instead of the ear, examines bilingualism and its special life in the life and education of deaf persons, and shows teachers ways to ask and answer…

Discuses different approaches into what language (including nonverbal communication) is, and stresses that there is no great gulf between spoken language and nonverbal communication. Redirects attention to where one ought to look for language. (Author/VWL)

Suggests considering the following before creating abbreviations of sign languages: the recognition of signed languages as official languages; the standardization of signed languages; the existence of different signed languages using the same spoken language as a substitute language; whether attention should be given to countries whose names share…

Focuses on phrasal prominence in American Sign Language (ASL). Reviews the marking of stress and phrase boundaries in ASL, and discusses prominence assignment at the phrasal level, with brief mention of lexical stress. (Author/VWL)