Raija Nieminen, a deaf woman from Finland, had been leading a very full life as both a librarian and mother of two children. Then her husband Jukka won an exciting new job designing the harbor in the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. Raija suddenly needed to start her life over again in a small, hot, developing country where both the hearing and deaf populations used languages foreign to her. Voyage to the Island recounts the remarkable story of how she adjusted to a strange, exotic island, first by seeking out other deaf persons and learning their sign language. Later, she met Alfonso, a deaf child and an orphan, and realized that he was only one of many deaf children who needed her help. Soon, Raija was teaching at the island's school for the deaf. Her vivid stories of daily frustration mixed with moments of exhilaration at the school make Voyage to the Island an unforgettably moving book. It becomes even more poignant against the backdrop of her own accomplishments as a deaf person advocating complete communication among all people in all communities.

Ethiopian Sign Language (EthSL) emerged relatively recently; its development is closely tied to the establishment of the first school for deaf students in Addis Ababa by American missionaries in 1963. Today, EthSL is used by more than a million members of the Ethiopian Deaf community, but it remains an under-researched language of Ethiopia. In this work, Eyasu Hailu Tamene presents a groundbreaking study of EthSL that touches on multiple aspects of Deaf people's lives in Ethiopia. Tamene collects data from three principal groups of people: deaf participants, teachers of deaf students, and parents of deaf children. He examines EthSL use within families, in formal and informal settings, and in various community spaces. He documents the awareness among different groups of the services available for deaf people, such as sign language interpreters and Deaf associations. He finds that members of the Deaf community show positive attitudes toward the use of EthSL and investigates the factors that impact those attitudes. His work indicates that there are still critical gaps in recognition and support for the use of EthSL, which can pose a threat to the vitality of the language. The Sociolinguistics of Ethiopian Sign Language will help to advance public understanding of EthSL and contribute to improved educational and social outcomes for the Deaf community in Ethiopia.

The field of sign language interpreting is undergoing an exponential increase in the delivery of services through remote and video technologies. The nature of these technologies challenges established notions of interpreting as a situated, communicative event and of the interpreter as a participant. As a result, new perspectives and research are necessary for interpreters to thrive in this environment. This volume fills that gap and features interdisciplinary explorations of remote interpreting from spoken and signed language interpreting scholars who examine various issues from linguistic, sociological, physiological, and environmental perspectives. Here or There presents cutting edge, empirical research that informs the professional practice of remote interpreting, whether it be video relay service, video conference, or video remote interpreting. The research is augmented by the perspectives of stakeholders and deaf consumers on the quality of the interpreted work. Among the topics covered are professional attitudes and motivations, interpreting in specific contexts, and adaptation strategies. The contributors also address potential implications for relying on remote interpreting, discuss remote interpreter education, and offer recommendations for service providers.

Linguistic minorities are often severely disadvantaged in legal events, with consequences that could impact one's very liberty. Training for interpreters to provide full access in legal settings is paramount. In this volume, Jeremy L. Brunson has gathered deaf and hearing scholars and practitioners from both signed and spoken language interpreting communities in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Their contributions include research-driven, experience-driven, and theoretical discussions on how to teach and assess legal interpreting. The topics covered include teaming in a courtroom, introducing students to legal interpreting, being an expert witness, discourses used by deaf lawyers, designing assessment tools for legal settings, and working with deaf jurors. In addition, this volume interrogates the various ways power, privilege, and oppression appear in legal interpreting. Each chapter features discussion questions and prompts that interpreter educators can use in the classroom. While intended as a foundational text for use in courses, this body of work also provides insight into the current state of the legal interpreting field and will be a valuable resource for scholars, practitioners, and consumers.

Best known as the Green Books, the American Sign Language books provide teachers and students of American Sign Language (ASL) with the complete means for learning about the culture, community, and the native language of Deaf people. A group of 15 ASL teachers and linguists reviewed all five books to ensure that they were accurate and easy to comprehend. This volume of the American Sign Language series explains in depth the grammar and structure of ASL while also presenting a description of the Deaf community in the United States. Written for teachers with minimal training in linguistics, it includes many illustrations, examples, and dialogues that also focus on specific aspects of the Deaf community.

Better communication is right around the corner with Teach Your Baby to Sign. You may feel like you can't possibly be any closer with your young child, but the truth is, you can--through sign language. The gift of signing helps children communicate well before they have the verbal ability to do so. Whether you have a young child who hasn't started talking yet, or a child with special needs, signing can open the door to better understanding and connection. In this revised and updated edition of the original Teach Your Baby to Sign, you'll find more than 200 easy-to-learn signs--all beautifully illustrated!--that you and your child can use to enhance your communication and understand more fully what your little one wants and needs. Parenting expert Monica Beyer provides you with 30 new pages of content, including new signs, photographs, and illustrations, as well as an improved layout (popular signs and opposites, such as on/off, listed first in each chapter). You'll find it easy to navigate and begin signing right away. On top of that, you'll find tips and activities to keep you and your child motivated, so that sign language becomes a welcome part of your daily life! Better communication is right around the corner with Teach Your Baby to Sign.

In Reading Between the Signs, Anna Mindess provides a perspective on a culture that is not widely understood - American Deaf culture. With the collaboration of three distinguished Deaf consultants, Mindess explores the implications of cultural differences at the intersection of the Deaf and hearing worlds. Used in sign language interpreter training programs worldwide, Reading Between the Signs is a resource for students, working interpreters and other professionals. This important new edition retains practical techniques that enable interpreters to effectively communicate their clients' intent, while its timely discussion of the interpreter's role is broadened in a cultural context. NEW TO THIS EDITION: New chapter explores the changing landscape of the interpreting field and discusses the concepts of Deafhood and Deaf heart. This examination of using Deaf interpreters pays respect to the profession, details techniques and shows the benefits of collaboration.

In this intriguing book, renowned sociolinguistics experts explore the importance of discourse analysis, a process that examines patterns of language to understand how users build cooperative understanding in dialogues. It presents discourse analyses of sign languages native to Bali, Italy, England, and the United States. Studies of internal context review the use of space in ASL to discuss space, how space in BSL is used to "package" complex narrative tasks, how signers choose linguistic tools to structure storytelling, and how affect, emphasis, and comment are added in text telephone conversations. Inquiries into external contexts observe the integration of deaf people and sign language into language communities in Bali, and the language mixing that occurs between deaf parents and their hearing children. Both external and internal contexts are viewed together, first in an examination of applying internal ASL text styles to teaching written English to Deaf students and then in a consideration of the language choices of interpreters who must shift footing to manage the "interpreter's paradox." Storytelling and Conversation casts new light on discourse analysis, which will make it a welcome addition to the sociolinguistics canon.

"She's got no more business there than a pig has with a Bible." That's what her father said when Mary Herring announced that she would be moving to Washington, DC, in late1942. Recently graduated from the North Carolina School for Black Deaf and Blind Students, Mary had been invited to the nation's capital by a cousin to see a specialist about her hearing loss. Though nothing could be done about her deafness, Mary quickly proved her father wrong by passing the civil service examination with high marks. "Far from Home: Memories of World War II and Afterward," the second installment of her autobiography, describes her life from her move to Washington to the present.
Mary soon became a valued employee for the Navy, maintaining rosters for the many servicemen in war theaters worldwide. Her remarkable gift for detail depicts Washington in meticulous layers, a sleepy Southern town force-grown into a dynamic geopolitical hub. Life as a young woman amid the capital's Black middle class could be warm and fun, filled with visits from family and friends, and trips home to Iron Mine for tearful, joyous reunions. But the reality of the times was never far off. On many an idyllic afternoon, she and her friends found somber peace in Arlington Cemetery, next to the grave of the sole Unknown Soldier at that time. During an evening spent at the U.S.O., one hearing woman asked how people like her could dance, and Mary answered, "With our feet." She became a pen pal to several young servicemen, but did not want to know why some of them suddenly stopped writing.
Despite the close friends and good job that she had in Washington, the emotional toll caused Mary to return to her family home in IronMine, NC. There, she rejoined her family and resumed her country life. She married and raised four daughters, and recounts the joys and sorrows she experienced through the years, particularly the loss of her parents. Her blend of the gradual transformation of Southern rural life with momentous events such as Hurricane Hazel creates an extraordinary narrative history. The constant in "Far from Home" remains the steady confidence that Mary Herring Wright has in herself, making her new memoir a perfect companion to her first.

Written for parents, carers and professionals who have responsibilities for people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities, Listen to Me focuses on two crucial issues: - How to cope with the complex problems of someone with this level of disability, interpret their needs successfully, and maintain effective contact with all the professionals and organisations who deal with them. - How to enrich that person's experience and ensure that others value him or her as a distinct individual with a right to a meaningful life. Highly practical, and using examples from the author's experience with her own daughter, each chapter deals with communicating such rights and needs in particular situations, and includes references for further information and reading. The author explains how to prepare a Care Book which includes the essential personal information, not simply about medication and physical procedures but about the individual's interests, preferences and background. She explains how it can be used to communicate effectively with busy professionals.

The standard sign language book for more than 200,000 people presents more than 500 of the most current American Sign Language (ASL) signs in use today, including cross-references for multiple words expressed by a single sign. The Gallaudet Survival Guide to Signing also offers tips on ASL usage, plus the manual alphabet and manual numbers.

The second volume in the Studies in Interpretation series delves further into the intricacies of sign language interpreting in five distinctive chapters. In the first chapter, Lawrence Forestal investigates the shifting attitudes of Deaf leaders toward sign language interpreters. Forestal notes how older leaders think of interpreters as their friends in exchanges, whereas Deaf individuals who attended mainstream schools possessed different feelings about interpreting. Frank J. Harrington observes in his chapter on British Sign Language-English interpreters in higher education observes that they cannot be viewed in isolation since all participants and the environment have a real impact on the way events unfold. In Chapter Three, Maree Madden explores the prevalence of chronic occupational physical injury among Australian Sign Language interpreters due to the stress created by constant demand and the lack of recognition of their professional rights. Susan M. Mather assesses and identifies regulators used by teachers and interpreters in mainstreaming classrooms. Her study supports other findings of the success of ethnographic methods in providing insights into human interaction and intercultural communication within the mainstreaming setting. The fifth chapter views how interpreters convey innuendo, a complicated undertaking at best. Author Shaun Tray conducts a thorough examination of innuendo in American Sign Language, then points the way toward future research based upon ethnography, gender, and other key factors.

Signs Across America provides a fascinating and unique look at regional variations in American Sign Language (ASL). The authors contacted native signers in 25 states to find out their signs for 130 selected words. The results -- more that 1,200 signs -- are illustrated in this book. It is an invaluable reference for teachers of American Sign Language that explores the subtle differences in signs from different geographic areas.

This text provides interpreting students with a broad knowledge base that encompasses the latest research, addresses current trends and perspectives of the Deaf community, and promotes critical thinking and open dialogue about the working conditions, ethics, boundaries, and competencies needed by a highly qualified interpreter in various settings. This volume expands the resources available to aspiring interpreters, including Deaf interpreters, and incorporates the voices of renowned experts on topics relevant to today's practitioners. Each chapter provides students with objectives, keywords, and discussion questions. The chapters convey clear information about topics that include credentialing, disposition and aptitude for becoming an interpreter, interpreting for people who are DeafBlind, and working within specialty settings, such as legal and healthcare. A key resource for interpreter certification test preparation, this text follows the interpreter's ethical, practical, and professional development through a career of lifelong learning and service.

In Understanding International Sign, Lori A. Whynot examines International Sign (IS) to determine the extent it is comprehended by signers from different countries. She focuses exclusively on expository lecture IS used in conference settings and presents the first empirical research on its effectiveness for communicating rich information to diverse audience members. International Sign is regarded as a lingua franca that is employed by deaf people to communicate with other deaf people who do not share the same conventionalized local sign language. Contrary to widely-held belief, sign languages are not composed of a unified system of universal gestures rather, they are distinctly different, and most are mutually unintelligible from one another. The phenomenon of IS has emerged through increased global interaction during recent decades, driven by a rise in the number of international conferences and events and by new technologies that allow for enhanced global communication. IS is gaining acceptance for providing communicative access to conference audience members who do not have knowledge of the designated conference languages, and it is being recruited for use due to the prohibitive expense of providing interpreting services in numerous different sign languages. However, it is not known how well audience members understand IS, and it may actually limit equal access to the interpreted information. Whynot compares IS to native sign languages and analyzes the distribution of linguistic elements in the IS lexicon and their combined effect on comprehension. Her findings indicate that audiences with diverse sign languages understand much less of IS presentations than has been previously assumed. Whynot's research has crucial implications for expository IS usage, training, and interpreting and sheds light on the strengths and weaknesses inherent in cross-linguistic, signed contact settings.

At Home Among Strangers presents an engrossing portrait of the Deaf community as a complex, nationwide social network that offers unique kinship to deaf people across the country. Schein depicts in striking detail the history and culture of the Deaf community, its structural underpinnings, the intricacies of family life, issues of education and rehabilitation, economic factors, and interaction with the medical and legal professions. This book is a fascinating, provocative exploration of the Deaf community in the United States for scholars and lay people alike.

Beginning signers now can improve their recognition of the most commonly used signs with this easy-to-follow handbook based upon the revolutionary dictionary. The American Sign Language Handshape Starter illustrates 800 of the most frequently used signs, arranging them by the 40 standard handshapes used in American Sign Language (ASL). Carefully chosen for their common use, the signs also have been organized by day-to-day topics, including food, travel, family, sports, clothing, school terms, time, nature and animals, and many others from everyday conversation. The American Sign Language Handshape Starter begins with a confidence-building introduction to ASL use and structure, and tips on basic signing. It also provides a simple guide to finding signs that are either new or familiar to learn their meanings. With the Handshape Starter, new signers, their teachers, and their parents will find improvement in ASL to be faster and even more enjoyable.

One of many natural sign languages in use around the world, British Sign Language (BSL) operates as a fully-fledged semiotic system in the visual-spatial modality, through the simultaneous use of embodied articulators. Filling a gap in current research, this book investigates visual-spatial communications from a functional perspective. Presenting a description and analysis of BSL from the perspective of Hallidayan Systemic Functional Linguistics, Luke A. Rudge explores how BSL users make meaning from three different yet interrelated perspectives: - How exchanges of information are managed at a social level (the interpersonal metafunction) - How experience is encoded in the language (the experiential metafunction) - How communications are organised into coherent parts and wholes (the textual metafunction) Examining these perspectives both separately and together, Exploring British Sign Language via Systemic Functional Linguistics places them within the context of current observations in sign linguistics, providing a complementary viewpoint on how visual-spatial communications may be understood as social semiosis.