George Veditz's "The Preservation of the Sign Language" was a popular film about the deaf language. Sixty five years later, in 1977, Veditz's film was retrieved and screened at the opening of a conference on the research and teaching of American Sign Language. Despite the age and the condition of the film, the screening held the audience…

This article examines the various ways in which deaf people have protected and promoted sign language during the early decades of the twentieth century. Arguing that deaf people played an active role in their own history, the author shows how members of the community--through formal and informal collaboration--ultimately defeated strict oralist…

This paper presents the findings of an experiment in which 20 Greek Deaf students produced written texts under two different conditions of language input: (1) a translation from a videotaped story in Greek sign language, and (2) a direct composition produced from a picture story--a neutral non-linguistic input. Placing Deaf writing within a…

A central feature of a sign bilingual approach is the use of sign language, and the associated role of deaf adults in deaf children's education. This project explores whether this approach is compatible with the goals of cochlear implantation, which are to maximise a deaf child's potential to hear and improve speech perception. There is no…

This article presents an analysis of the functional roles of "baby signing" in three hearing families in the United States, as well as a discussion of the social and ideological implications of the practice. Baby signing fits neatly into the parenting ideologies prevalent in the professional class in the United States that value early…

Given the interest in comparing speech production development in children with normal hearing and hearing impairment, it is important to evaluate how variables within speech elicitation tasks can differentially affect the acoustics of speech production for these groups. In a first experiment, children (6-14 years old) with cochlear implants…

This study examined the possible sources of variability in sign language mastery in two deaf children of hearing parents. The study considered the interaction of environmental and innate factors within the framework of the "Nativization" hypothesis, which suggests that all language learners initially construct a linguistic system which…

This paper explains how the hearing loss of deaf persons affects communication, describes methods deaf individuals use to communicate, and addresses the role of interpreters in the communication process. The volume covers: communication methods such as speechreading or lipreading, written notes, gestures, or sign language (American Sign Language,…

This paper argues that current practices in total communication classrooms have basically assigned the responsibility of communication to hearing-impaired students who must adapt to the variation in communication behaviors displayed by each of their teachers. The paper advocates use of a model communication and language policy designed to…

Intended to provide a uniform pattern for use by employers and labor representatives in setting up and operating effective apprenticeship programs for sign, display, and allied workers, guidelines are listed under the following headings: Definitions, qualifications for apprenticeship, selection of apprentices, term of apprenticeship, related…

Examines the social rejection and acceptance of American Sign Language (ASL) since its introduction in schools for the deaf in 1817. Concludes that the evolutionary nature of ASL binds its use to the deaf community. (Author/FMW)

The perspectives of seven hearing parents on their use of sign communication with their deaf children were evaluated. All parents had chosen Signed English rather than American Sign Language (ASL). Parents' understanding of ASL varied greatly; they reported difficulty in developing personal and family fluency in Signed English; and they identified…

This study investigates the cultural and educational ideas of the French deaf poet-teacher Pierre Pelissier (1814-1863) who was an instructor at the Paris Deaf Institute from the early 1840s until his death in 1863. As a young man, Pelissier became interested in composing poetry and through his verse, captured many of the social frustrations…

The political discourse of Deaf ethnolinguistic identity has empowered Deaf people in recent decades to deconstruct a pathological model of deafness and the deficit pedagogy that centres on acquisition of speech and social assimilation. The engagement of Deaf community members in consultation and employment in the New Zealand (NZ) education system…

Congenitally, profoundly deaf children whose first language is British Sign Language (BSL) and whose speech is largely unintelligible need to be literate to communicate effectively in a hearing society. Both spelling and writing skills of such children can be limited, to the extent that no currently available assessment method offers an adequate…