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Books > Language & Literature > Language & linguistics > Sign languages, Braille & other linguistic communication
In this book, the authors present current research in the study of
sign language. The opening paper concentrates on content structure
in an example of formal Kenyan Sign Language discourse: a sermon.
The main discussion point is grammatical cohesion, or how content
is structured through textual features that link episodes together
in discourse. The paper analyzes this through references,
substitutions, ellipses, discourse markers, and conjunctions. The
authors also discuss a study focusing on a computer-based adaptive
test of American Sign Language ability known as the American Sign
Language Discrimination Test developed at the Rochester Institute
of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf. This
test measures the propensity for discerning phonological and
morphophonogical contrasts in American Sign Language. In this
study, the American Sign Language Discrimination Test, or ASL-DT,
item pool was expanded to enhance the efficiency of the test along
a wider range of abilities, with the objective of offering
supplementary evidence of the tests legitimacy. Later, a study is
presented on the impact of familiarity and the use of American Sign
Language in deaf humans conversational behaviors in order to
support the current research expressing difference in
conversational register in response to different types of partners.
Additionally, the research offers proof of linguistic aspects of
American Sign Language that are similar to spoken languages.
Lastly, a study is presented on the Direct Experience Method, a
method of teaching sign language with visual support, in an effort
to help teachers understand the benefits of using a small amounts
of students native language in second language classrooms.
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