Does knowledge of language transfer across language modalities? For example, can speakers who have had no sign language experience spontaneously project grammatical principles of English to American Sign Language (ASL) "signs"? To address this question, here, we explore a grammatical illusion. Using spoken language, we first show that a…

Attitudes to sign languages or language policies are often not overtly discussed or recorded but they influence deaf young people's educational opportunities and outcomes. Two qualitative studies from Scotland investigate the provision of British Sign Language as accommodation in public examinations. The first explores the views of deaf pupils and…

This article discusses the function of a particular feature of sign language--mouth action--as it is expressed in various discourse contexts. Specifically, we examine forms of mouthing and mouth gesture as they are used in signed narrative and expository texts, highlighting the signers' choices during the production of these two text types. We…

Deaf education research and practice have not always lived up to the ideal of improving deaf students' lives. Consequently, we have constructed novel arguments supporting deaf pedagogy using pragmatic ethics, the aim of which is to increase benefit and decrease harm to individuals and society. The ideal of "harm reduction" asks the…

The article presents a systematical review of the studies on the Spanish and international language policy in signs language. The target is the analysis of the diverse international politics, demonstrating the current state of the education of language of signs and its possible progress in the inclusive education, there being valued the teaching…

The purpose of this case study was to explore the communication needs of a child with deafness and cerebral palsy (DCP) and how these needs can be supported by interventions targeting the use of communication approaches and strategies. One semi-structured interview with the child's parents and five observations of the child in different contexts…

Parents of deaf children must decide whether to raise their child using spoken and/or signed language. Multilingual parents have the additional decision of whether to use multiple spoken languages (with or without a signed language as well). These communication choices -- which can be both explicit and implicit -- can change over time and are…

In this positional essay, Jessica A. Scott, G. Sue Kasun, and Stephanie J. Gardiner-Walsh discuss their experiences and frustrations around American Sign Language interpreters in higher education settings. They draw from their intersecting experiences as researchers of language and/or deaf education to call for a "flipping of scripts"…

Purpose: This study compares responses of children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) who use spoken language with responses of children who have typical hearing on a repeated word association task to evaluate lexical-semantic organization. Method: This study included 109 participants in early kindergarten or who had completed first grade. The…

Background: Opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities to become bi/multilingual tend not to be widely available despite demonstrated linguistic and extralinguistic advantages associated with an ability to use more than one language. This article focuses on the learning experiences of students with intellectual disabilities in…

Bilingual education programs for deaf children have long asserted that American Sign Language (ASL) is a better language of instruction English-like signing because ASL is a natural language. However, English-like signing may be a useful bridge to reading English. In the present study, we tested 32 deaf children between third and sixth grade to…

Nonmanual articulations in sign languages range from being semantically impoverished to semantically rich, and from being independent of manual articulations to coordinated with them. But, while this range has been well noted, certain nonmanuals remain understudied. Of particular interest to us are nonmanual articulations coordinated with manual…

Communicating in languages other than one's mother language is a demanding task. Even when mastering basic skills in a foreign language, communication is challenging unless you are a frequent user. The vocabulary and grammar rules tend naturally to be forgotten over time. This is even more critical when distinct channels are used by one's mother…

Self-assessment skills are emphasized in signed language Interpreter Education Programs (IEPs), and it is well-established that self-assessment is an essential element of a sign language interpreter's professional development, yet anecdotal evidence suggests that practicing interpreters frequently do not engage in self-assessment. This study aimed…

This article argues in favour of higher education studies in sign language (SL) related disciplines, more specifically, sign language interpreting and translation (SLIT) -- focusing on the Spanish, and Basque, academic situation and societal needs. Firstly, we offer an overview of higher education SL teaching and SLIT training in Europe and Spain.…