Basing a manual communication system on written forms of English has two problems: (1) conventional forms of manual communication are based on the wrong modality; and (2) they do not represent English on any level. This causes an imbalance in the word-to-sign ratio in the classroom. (PJM)

The problems and satisfactions of teaching deaf children are discussed in this interview with a teacher of the deaf. Uses of Ameslon and signed English, talking, and valuable teaching approaches are offered. (JD)

Describes the development of a sign that was understood only by certain members of a group. The stages of evolution are studied from its original gross pattern to a refined, simpler sign. The sign had only two years to develop and was influenced by phonological and social-environmental constraints. (PJM)

Discusses the paradigms in American Sign Language (ASL) resulting from a process called "numeral incorporation" and others in which numeral handshapes alternate to express different numerical values. Concludes that not only are the signs in the "decade" paradigm fixed units in ASL grammar, but so are all the other examples of numeral…

The SCHOOL/WORK program fosters the transition to work of deaf and hard-of-hearing high school students in Philadelphia. Students perform community service and work training activities while receiving academic instruction in mainstreamed as well as special education settings. (SK)

A study involving 12 hearing sign language users examined the effect of the signing task on temporal features of speech during simultaneous communication (SC). Results indicated longer sentence duration for SC than speech-only conditions, and longer anticipatory duration of the diphthong and interword interval preceding the experimental words.…

A study involving 20 listeners investigated the potential influence of alterations in the temporal structure of speech produced during simultaneous communication on the perception of final consonant voicing. Results found that accurate perception was not impaired by the durational changes accompanying the typically slower speech pattern of…

This response to a previous article on aerial spelling (AS) in New Zealand Sign Language applauds the original author's effort to highlight an interesting feature of deaf communication but finds some claims questionable. These include the lack of research on AS, failure to include AS in the Dictionary of New Zealand Sign Language, and imposition…

A teacher at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf (District of Columbia) briefly describes the process of interpreting poetry and drama into American Sign Language (ASL) with his students. The process involves analysis and discussion, followed by mapping the subtext and adapting it to ASL. The process improves not only acting skills but also…

Discusses the issue of the use of signed language dictionaries in the standardization of signed languages with reference to the Australian Sign language (Auslan) dictionaries. Details the structure of the Auslan dictionaries and argues that bilingual, bidirectional dictionaries of this type must be produced if communities are to encourage language…

Discusses the linguistic situation of the deaf and the shift in linguistic ideology from graphocentrism to orocentrism, which forms the scenario in which deaf people are struggling to legitimize their natural form of expression. Questions both graphocentrism and orocentrism and proposes neutral terms and a neutral perspective from which orality…

Discusses sign language use in South Africa and the deaf as an oppressed community. The following issues are addressed: language planning and sign language, the role of sign language as the vernacular of an oppressed linguistic community, and the implications of sign language for other cultural and social issues that divide South African society.…

Twenty deaf adults were interviewed about their use of name signs. Results revealed underlying cultural values expressed in name signs, and also provided practical information about the making and bestowing of name signs, changing one's name sign, and evolution in the name sign system. (Author/CB)

The study compared scores on a literacy battery of hearing-impaired subjects exposed to either an instructional communication system that attempts to completely encode a language (e.g. oral English, Signing Exact English) or to signed systems that incompletely encode spoken English. Students using the completely encoded language tended to perform…

Describes some creative teaching "gimmicks," such as a professional microphone, a speed spelling machine, a tachistoscope, and an electronically programable advertising sign. (MM)