Do Signers Understand Regional Varieties of a Sign Language? A Lexical Recognition Experiment
|
|
- Mitchell Hamilton
- 7 years ago
- Views:
Transcription
1 Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education Advance Access published September 23, 2015 Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 2015, 1 11 doi: /deafed/env044 Empirical Manuscript empirical manuscript Do Signers Understand Regional Varieties of a Sign Language? A Lexical Recognition Experiment Rose Stamp* The University of Haifa *Correspondence should be sent to Sign Language Research Lab, Rabin Building, The University of Haifa Haifa, Israel ( rose_stamp@hotmail. com). Abstract The degree of mutual intelligibility of British Sign Language (BSL) regional varieties has been a subject of some debate. Recent research in which dyads of signers from contrasting regional backgrounds engaged in a conversational task showed no problems understanding one another. The present study investigated signers knowledge of different BSL regional varieties. Twenty-five participants from Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester, and Newcastle took part in a computerbased lexical recognition task in which they had to identify the meaning of 47 color signs from various regions in the United Kingdom. The results indicate that overall signers have a poor knowledge of regional signs for colors when signs are presented in isolation and without mouthing. Furthermore, signers with deaf parents performed better in the recognition task than signers with hearing parents and varieties from London and Birmingham were easiest to recognize. This article discusses how signers cope with regional differences and considers the features that facilitate in the recognition of regional varieties in BSL. A characteristic of British Sign Language (BSL) is its considerable regional variation, particularly at the lexical level (Skinner, 2007; Stamp et al., 2014; Woll, Allsop, & Sutton-Spence, 1991). In a recent corpus-based study, Stamp et al. (2014) found considerable variation in the signs for colors, countries, and numbers. They also found regional variation was in decline with younger signers using less regionally marked variants compared to older signers. This reduction in the use of regional variants was described by Stamp et al. (2014) as leveling. Leveling is thought to be the outcome of regular face-to-face interactions between speakers of differing linguistic repertoires leading to linguistic convergence, also known as speech accommodation (Giles & Powesland, 1997; Trudgill, 1986). One of the main causes for language change in British English is the need for accommodation (Trudgill, 1983a). To consider the relationship between accommodation and lexical change in BSL, Stamp, Schembri, Evans, and Cormier (2015) investigated whether dyads of signers from contrasting regional backgrounds showed evidence of lexical accommodation during a collaborative task. Observation of conversations revealed that signers had no problems understanding one another although few instances of lexical accommodation during the conversation suggested that lexical accommodation may not account for the lexical change found in BSL. Stamp et al. (2015) suggested that because BSL signers have a passive knowledge of other regional varieties there is little motivation to accommodate. However, no studies to date have empirically investigated signers knowledge of other BSL regional varieties. This study aimed to investigate to what degree signers are able to recognize the meaning of other BSL regional varieties. The following research questions will be addressed: (a) which groups of signers perform best at lexical recognition for color sign variants (e.g., younger, female signers)?; and (b) which regional varieties are easiest to recognize? This study is the first to explicitly investigate signers knowledge of lexical variation in BSL and the factors that affect it and therefore it makes tentative conclusions about the implications of this work for better understanding the mutual intelligibility of sign language regional varieties. Received: March 31, 2015; Revisions received: July 31, 2015; Accepted: August 1, 2015 The Author Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please journals.permissions@oup.com 1
2 2 Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 2015, Vol. 00, No. 00 Comprehension and Language Change One of the main theories on language change claims that when speakers from contrasting regional backgrounds interact, accommodation takes place and when frequently repeated this leads to long-term change (Trudgill, 1983a). The most widely described theory of accommodation is known as the Communication Accommodation Theory which claims that speakers converge to their interlocutor s linguistic behavior with the intention of achieving their social approval, maintaining positive social identities, and attaining communicational efficiency (Giles, Taylor, & Bourhis, 1973). Other theories also draw the link between communicational efficiency and accommodation. Some claim that accommodation is a process to ensure speakers maintain consistency thereby reducing collaborative effort (Clark & Murphy, 1982; Clark & Carlson, 1981; Clark & Wilkes-Gibbs, 1986; Garrod & Anderson, 1987) and others claim that accommodation serves as a form of coordination to minimize communicative effort (Barr & Keysar, 2002; Bortfeld & Brennan, 1997; Niederhoffer & Pennebaker, 2002). For example, speakers may establish their lexical choice on the basis of their past references to the same objects known as lexical entrainment and this has been shown to serve a functional purpose in facilitating communication (Garrod & Anderson, 1987). According to Allwood and Ahlsén (1986), accommodation is a strategic process for making oneself understood. In their language-learning studies, they found that an increase in lexical convergence helped in memory retention of the lexical item and maintained conversational fluency. Lexical repetitions were higher when there were difficulties in understanding, suggesting that accommodative behavior in the form of lexical repetitions may serve to facilitate communication. Drawing on this, one might hypothesize that if signers have difficulties recognizing signs from other regional backgrounds, they may use accommodation as a coping mechanism. This presupposes that signers have a passive, if not an active, knowledge of other regional varieties in BSL; however, this has not been empirically investigated as yet. Therefore, determining signers knowledge of BSL regional varieties is vital for truly understanding processes of accommodation and language change in BSL. This article considers signers recognition of BSL regional varieties and what this tells us about accommodation with particular reference to the attaining communicational efficiency explanation. Comprehension of Spoken Language Regional Varieties Trudgill claimed that native speakers of different English varieties can nearly always understand one another (Trudgill, 1983b, 22). Despite this, there are plenty of examples of misunderstandings. For example, research has shown that native English speakers show difficulty comprehending other regional British accents in noise (Adank, Evans, Stuart-Smith, & Scott, 2009) or without context (Trudgill, 1983b). In a study conducted by Trudgill (1983b), 26 British speakers were shown a series of sentences containing grammatical structures known to vary in English regional varieties and were asked to select the intended sentence meaning from multiple options. Nearly a quarter of participants failed to understand the meaning of the regional form without context. Trudgill (1983b) concluded that despite speakers interacting on numerous occasions with other regional varieties, in each interaction the speaker exploited the context rather than acquiring understanding of the feature usage. According to Trudgill (1983b), passive competence does not presuppose productive competence. Therefore, speakers may be aware of other regional varieties; however, they may not accommodate either because they choose not to, or because they do not possess the knowledge to do so. The next section will discuss the literature to date on comprehension of sign languages and regional varieties, with particular reference to studies of BSL. Comprehension of Sign Languages There has been minimal research on the comprehension of regional varieties in sign languages; however, investigation of intelligibility across different sign languages has proved fruitful in identifying a number of features that aid comprehension. Hiddinga and Crasborn (2011) described what they call a natural phenomenon in which deaf people are able to comprehend other deaf people who use a different sign language with relative ease. This has been discussed by several researchers across a number of sign languages (Allsop, 1993; Allsop, Woll & Brauti, 1995; McKee & Napier, 2002; Monteillard, 2001; Rosenstock, 2004) and has been thought to relate to the shared use of iconicity across sign languages, as well as the use of mouthings and context to disambiguate meanings (Hiddinga & Crasborn, 2011; Safar et al. 2015). One of these shared features, mouthings, has been found to aid comprehension across signers in different sign languages that share a common spoken language. Mouthings are the full or partial articulation of a corresponding spoken word without voice at the same time as the manual sign is produced by a signer (Boyes Braem & Sutton-Spence, 2001). In a recent study by Safar et al. (2015), the comprehension of Flemish Sign Language (VGT) by signers of French Belgium Sign Language (LSFB) and Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT) was investigated. Overall, LSFB signers performed best; however, NGT signers improved their comprehension score when mouthings were included. Given that the same mouthings are shared in NGT and VGT, the author suggested that mouthing plays an important role in comprehension. These studies, looking on comprehensibility across sign languages, take into account non-manual (e.g., mouthing, facial expressions, head movements) as well as manual features of a lexical sign. Despite the fact that signers may draw on these non-manual features to increase communicational efficiency, this study focuses only on lexical aspects of BSL regional varieties. However, the influences of non-manual features such as mouthing are considered in the Discussion section. Comprehension of BSL Regional Varieties There have been contradictory claims as to signer s comprehension abilities of BSL regional varieties in the last 30 years. Until the 1980s minimal interaction between varieties meant that mutual intelligibility was expected to be low. Jordan and Battison s (1976), in a study interviewing deaf signers from the United States and other nations, stated the following comment was made: A standard story, repeated by travelers and natives alike, holds that if you travel 50 miles in Britain you will encounter a different sign language that cannot be understood in the region you have just left. (p. 59.) This comment was somewhat supported by a report conducted by Kyle and Allsop (1982) in which 227 deaf people living in the County of Avon in the southwest of England were interviewed. The report claimed that
3 Stamp 3 around 40% of interviewees had never met a deaf person living further than 125 miles away and, in the period of a year, less than half had travelled to other parts of the country (more than 50 miles away). When asked about their knowledge of BSL varieties, those used in areas further north were reported as increasingly difficult to understand, with Scottish signers being the most difficult to understand. More recent studies suggest that most deaf people no longer experience difficulties understanding regional varieties to the same degree (Elton, 2010; Woll et al., 1991). Woll et al. (1991) used a collection of sign variants from a See Hear 1 dataset as part of a production and comprehension task. This dataset consisted of BSL signs taken from eight years ( ) of the BBC television program See Hear. First, signers were shown an English word corresponding to one of the signs in the See Hear collection and they were asked to produce their own sign variants for the concept. Secondly, signers were shown a random sample of sign variants from See Hear and they were asked the meanings of the signs and finally signers were involved in an interview. The results of the comprehension task revealed that older signers out-performed younger signers. Overall, most rated BSL regional varieties as relatively easy to understand with signers from London and Manchester performing significantly better in the comprehension task than signers from Scotland and Newcastle. The interview data revealed that signers rated Northern Irish to be the most difficult to understand (44%) and Scottish to be the second most difficult (12%). In Elton s (2010) study analyzing the change of signing style used by English/BSL interpreters since the 1980s, deaf signers were asked to watch BSL translations of the Queen s annual Christmas speech. The majority (i.e., 82%) reported to have no problems understanding regional signs used. It is unclear to what degree these translations included regional variants and where these regional signs originated, however. Anecdotal claims by the deaf community supported by recent investigations (Stamp et al., 2014) have shown that regional variation in BSL is in decline. This may have led to an improvement in the mutual intelligibility of BSL regional varieties. As discussed in the introduction, observation of 25 signers from Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle engaging in a collaborative spot-the-difference task with another signer from a contrasting regional background revealed no difficulties in communication between signers of contrasting regional varieties and few instances of lexical accommodation taking place (Stamp et al., 2015). Stamp et al. (2015) suggested that signers passive awareness of BSL regional varieties might be a discouraging factor for accommodation. However, no recent research has explicitly investigated mutual intelligibility of BSL regional varieties. In the present study, signers are shown a number of different BSL regional variants from across the United Kingdom. The aim of the study is to investigate to what degree signers recognize the meanings of other regional varieties, which sociolinguistic variables predict signers performance and which varieties are easier to recognize than others and for what reasons. An understanding of signers knowledge of other BSL regional varieties may point to factors that influence mutual intelligibility. Methods Participants and Sites A total of 25 participants took part in a lexical recognition task: six from Belfast, Glasgow, and Newcastle and seven from Manchester. These specific sites were selected because the data collected there exhibited the most regional variation for the chosen signs under investigation (i.e., signs for colors) and because these sites also showed minimal change towards non-local variants, with younger signers continuing to use a high proportion of traditional variants for their region, ensuring that participants were likely to use traditional regionally distinct signs (Stamp et al., 2014). Twelve were recruited for the first time for this study. Thirteen were recruited as former participants in the BSL Corpus Project ( ). The BSL Corpus is an online digital collection of video data that is openly accessible for researchers to analyze providing a large quota sample of language use from the British Deaf community (Schembri, Fenlon, Rentelis & Cormier, 2011; Schembri, Fenlon, Rentelis, Reynolds & Cormier, 2013). It consists of data collected from a total of 249 deaf participants living in eight sites across the United Kingdom: Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Manchester, and Newcastle. All participants in this study were deaf, British-born signers and had lived in their region for at least 10 years. Most had acquired BSL before the age of 7 years with three acquiring BSL between the ages of 8 12 years and one between the ages of years. All participants were naïve as to the exact purpose of the study and were informed that the researchers aimed to investigate BSL variation. After data collection, participants were fully debriefed about the objectives of the tasks. Table 1 presents the participants demographics. Lexical Recognition Task In this task, participants were shown a number of regional variants and asked to choose the color that best matched the meaning of the sign. Stimuli Of the semantic categories known to show considerable regional variation (e.g., colors, countries, numbers), color signs were selected because, generally, the meaning of the sign is not as transparent in its form compared to number and country signs (e.g., the sign for three usually involves extension of three digits). The color sign variants were chosen from the data elicited as part of the lexical elicitation task in the BSL Corpus Project as representing either the most frequent or the traditional variant used in each of the eight original collection sites (Stamp et al., 2014). Specifically, for this lexical elicitation task, participants were shown PowerPoint slides or flashcards for 102 concepts (e.g., colors, days of the week and numbers). For each target concept, participants were asked to produce the sign variant they use most on a daily basis. Stamp et al. (2014) analyzed the responses for 41 of the 102 concepts. In the present study, participants were shown 47 unique regional variants for the five color terms (brown, green, grey, purple, yellow). A deaf native BSL signer signed the stimuli on video. The stimuli were produced without mouthings to avoid signers using mouthings as a way to disambiguate the meanings of signs. In a previous study (Stamp et al., 2015) looking at accommodation in signers from different regional backgrounds, signers sometimes accompanied signs with the mouthing of the equivalent English word and this may have facilitated comprehension. Procedure The experimental trials were presented using E-Prime, version (Schneider, Eschman & Zuccolotto, 2002). Before each
4 4 Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 2015, Vol. 00, No. 00 Table 1. Number of Participants in Each Social Category Language background Social class School location Mobility Age Gender Ethnicity Younger Middle Older 60+ Female Male White Other Deaf Hearing Working class Middle class Local Non-local Mobile Non-mobile Sites Total Belfast Glasgow Manchester Newcastle ( 1 excluded) 2 4 Total ( 1) trial, participants were first shown a fixation point to draw their attention to the screen in preparation for the forthcoming sign. Then, participants were shown a BSL regional variant from one of the following colors: brown, green, grey, purple, and yellow. When the sign was completed, participants were shown eight different colored square blocks with the equivalent English word displayed on them (i.e., black, brown, green, grey, purple, red, white, and yellow) (see Figure 1). Participants were asked to select from the closed set of options the response they felt best matched the meaning of the BSL sign viewed on the preceding screen. Participants completed three practice trials to become accustomed to the task. In the practice trials, participants were shown two signs with which they were likely to be familiar (i.e., a variant produced over a number of regions in the BSL Corpus Project data) and one sign that was less commonly known (i.e., a variant that is unique to one region). At the end of the three practice trials, participants were offered the choice of continuing to the real task or repeating the practice trials. Participants were informed that all signs were examples of BSL regional variants and that they would see signs that may not be understood. They were asked to respond as quickly and accurately as possible. Participants were given a break after each block and were able to re-commence the task at their will. The position of the color responses on the screen was kept constant for each participant to avoid the chance of errors. Four separate layouts were created with different color positions and randomly distributed to participants in each region to avoid any position effect. This was a self-paced task in which participants completed three blocks each containing 47 trials (141 trials in total). Multiple blocks were included to give participants an average score over the three blocks to accurately represent their abilities. The same 47 trials were repeated in each block and randomized for each participant. Data Coding One of the aims of this study is to consider how lexical recognition ability correlates with participants social factors. The dependent variable was whether the participant correctly identified the meaning of the regional sign. The following variables were coded to reflect those also investigated by Stamp et al. (2015) using the same dataset: signers regional background (Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle), age (continuous variable), gender (female, male), social class (middle, working), language background 2 (deaf, hearing), mobility 3 (high, low), and school location (local, non-local). In addition, regional origin of the sign and block were included as variables. The regional origin of the sign variant was analyzed to determine which regions were better recognized than others (Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Manchester, and Newcastle). Block (1, 2, 3) was also included as a variable. Results One participant chose not to complete the lexical recognition task therefore only data from 24 participants could be analyzed. Overall accuracy scores on the lexical recognition task were low. On average, participants correctly identified the meaning for 38% (i.e., 1,029 tokens) of sign variants (range: 21 50%). Regional Accuracy Differences The total number of tokens for the lexical recognition task was 3,384 (47 trials 3 blocks 24 participants). A repeated measures
5 Stamp 5 Figure 1. Procedure for lexical recognition experiment starting with a fixation point, followed by the target sign and eight possible answers to choose from mm. in black and white. Actual stimuli were presented in color, see online version. Table 2. Multiple Logistic Regression Results for the Lexical Recognition Task Factor Group Factor Log odds % of correct responses Tokens Centred weight Region of sign* Birmingham London Newcastle Manchester Cardiff Belfast Bristol Glasgow Language background* Deaf Hearing , Gender Female , Male , Mobility Mobile , Non-mobile , School location Local , Non-local Block Three Two One Social class Middle , Working , Age (+1) (continuous) Region Belfast Manchester Newcastle Glasgow Note. Degrees of freedom = 11, mean = 0.38, intercept = 0.386, deviance = Random effects (participant) standard deviation = Random effects (lexical item) standard deviation = Application value: correct response. 2,706 tokens. Factor groups are significant at *p <.05. ANOVA with region as the between-subjects variable and the regional score as the within-subjects variable found that there was a significant sign region and region of residence interaction, F(28,140) = , p <.001. There was no main effect of region F(4,20) = 0.467, p =.759. All participants performed best identifying the meanings of signs from their own region (e.g., Belfast participants had higher scores for Belfast signs than other signers). In order to investigate which regional signs participants understood most, other than their own, 390 tokens where participants were viewing signs from their own region (e.g., signs associated with the Manchester region for Manchester signers) were removed. A further 288 tokens were removed as these signs were not associated with any particular region (e.g., single manual letter signs such as -Y- for yellow ). The data were organized with each token representing an individual trial. A total of 2,706 responses were analyzed. Table 2 presents the results for the lexical recognition task showing the log odds, number of tokens and the centred weight for each factor (with correct response as the application value). Gender, mobility, school location, block, social class, age, and participant s region were not found to be significant. An Rbrul analysis found two significant factors predict performance in the lexical recognition task: region of the sign (p <.001) and language background (p =.0413). In all Rbrul analyses, participant and lexical item were included as random effects to account for individual variation and variation that is subject to the lexical items under investigation. The meaning
6 6 Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 2015, Vol. 00, No. 00 of signs from Birmingham and London were found to be easier to recognize than signs from other regions (Factor weights, Birmingham = 0.796, London = 0.628, Newcastle = 0.48, Manchester = 0.476, Cardiff = 0.47, Belfast = 0.413, Bristol = 0.35, Glasgow = 0.349). Seven post hoc independent-samples t-tests were performed to see if the differences across these regions were significant. Using a Bonferroni correction, a critical p value of.007 was used. The results show that the difference in mean accuracy scores between Birmingham (M = 0.68, SD = 0.47) and London (M = 0.52, SD = 0.50) was significant (t(718) = 4.532, p <.001). The difference between London and Newcastle (M = 0.38, SD = 0.49) was also found to be significant (t(646) = 3.192, p =.001). The difference between Newcastle and Manchester (M = 0.36, SD = 0.48) (t(469) = 0.436, p =.663), Manchester and Cardiff (M = 0.34, SD = 0.47) (t(613) = 0.589, p =.556), Cardiff and Belfast (M = 0.24, SD = 0.44) (t(682) = 0.919, p =.358) and Bristol and Glasgow (M = 0.26, SD = 0.43) (t(829) = 0.666, p =.506) was not significant. After applying the Bonferroni correction, the comparison between Belfast and Bristol (M = 0.31, SD = 0.46) (t(754) = 2.010, p =.045) was not found to be significant. The second significant predictor was language background. Participants with deaf parents performed better at the lexical recognition task than participants with hearing parents (Factor weights, deaf = 0.544, hearing = 0.456). The results suggest that Birmingham color signs are the second easiest to recognize across all regions, after the person s own region (see Figure 2). Figure 2. The mean identification scores for the sign variants by regional origin mm. To investigate why Birmingham color signs appear to be easier to understand compared to other BSL regional varieties, an Rbrul analysis was run to show how each variant correlated with accuracy in order of performance (from easiest to most difficult to recognize). Figure 3 shows the variants that participants found easier to recognize and Table 3 shows the Rbrul results for the analysis. One pattern that emerged is that 6 of the 10 easiest variants to recognize also incorporated an element of BSL, ASL, or ISL (Irish Sign Language) 4 fingerspelling in the sign. For example, in BSL, there are some initialized sign variants 5 for the color grey. There are also examples, which incorporate the BSL letters -G- and -Y- (i.e., the first and last letters of the equivalent English word representing the lexical concept). Fingerspelling is a feature of many Western sign languages enabling signers to spell out words, such as names and places. In the example mentioned, a signer from any regional background can easily guess the meaning of the color sign as the fingerspelling of -G- narrows down the options to colors beginning with that letter (i.e., green or grey) and in some cases ending with -Y- (i.e., grey). Other examples include the sign for the color purple, which incorporates the first letter of the sign (e.g., p ) with a modification to the movement (e.g., flicking of fingers on dominant hand). As the BSL fingerspelling alphabet is commonly known by all BSL users, the meaning of variants that incorporate fingerspelling properties is easier to guess than those that do not. It has not been investigated to what degree BSL signers know ISL or ASL fingerspelling systems. In order to investigate this further, another Rbrul analysis was undertaken excluding all variants that incorporate elements of fingerspelling (i.e., 6 variants which totaled 345 tokens). An analysis excluding these variants revealed that the same two social factors predict signers performance on the lexical recognition task: region of the sign and language background (see Table 4). The pattern for language background did not change; participants with deaf parents performed better at the lexical recognition task than participants with hearing parents. The order showing the BSL regional variants which participants guessed correctly did change. After removing the six fingerspelling variants, London variants appear to be the easiest variants to recognize other than the signer s own regional variants. An independent-samples t-test was performed (using a Bonferonni correction of p =.007) to see if the differences across regions were significant. The results show that GREENb Belfast BROWN London YELLOW3 Newcastle PURPLEb Cardiff GREY7 Birmingham GREYb Birmingham GREY London GREEN Manchester PURPLE Birmingham YELLOW6 Glasgow Figure 3. Ten variants that were found to be easiest to recognize by participants mm.
7 Stamp 7 Table 3. Multiple Logistic Regression Showing the Variants in Order of Accuracy in the Lexical Recognition Task (Most Difficult to Recognize to Easiest to Recognize) Variant Log odds Tokens % of correct responses Centred weight grey >0.999 purple >0.999 grey purple yellow grey brown green grey grey purple brown green yellow brown purple purple brown green brown grey grey grey green purple green purple green grey yellow brown green brown green brown yellow purple grey grey grey green purple yellow the differences in mean accuracy scores between London and Birmingham (t(430) = 0.476, p =.635), Birmingham and Newcastle (t(286) = 0.486, p =.627), Newcastle and Manchester (t(469) = 0.436, p =.663), Manchester and Cardiff (t(613) = 0.589, p =.556), Cardiff and Belfast (t(682) = 0.919, p =.358) were not found to be significant. Finally, the difference in mean accuracy scores between Belfast and Bristol (t(754) = 2.010, p =.045) and Bristol and Glasgow was significant (t(772) = 2.925, p =.004). The means and standard deviations are presented in Table 5. This suggests that the meanings of color signs associated with London are easier to recognize by participants; however, there was no significant difference between London, Birmingham, Newcastle, Manchester, Cardiff, and Belfast. Participants performed significantly worse at recognizing Glasgow color signs compared to any other region (see Figure 4). 6 In summary, overall performance on the task was poor. Signers from deaf families performed better than signers from hearing families. The results suggest that signers find it easier to recognize signs that originate from London and most difficult to recognize signs that originate from Glasgow. Discussion This study aimed to investigate signer s knowledge of BSL regional varieties from across the United Kingdom. The research questions were: (a) which groups of signers perform best at lexical recognition for color sign variants (e.g., younger signers, females)?; and, (2) which regional varieties are easiest to recognize? Despite the apparent ease of communication observed by Stamp et al. (2015) during a conversational task, results in the present study indicate that signers found identification of the meanings of regional color signs very difficult without presence of mouthing or context. This was reflected in the results with the average participant correctly guessing the meanings of 38% (i.e., 1,029 tokens) of color sign variants. Variation According to Social Factors Two factors were found to influence participants performance on the recognition task: the region associated with the sign and the signer s language background. As expected, participants performed best at identifying the meanings of signs associated with their own region. Participants with deaf parents performed significantly better than those with hearing parents in the lexical recognition task, suggesting that native signers are more aware of other regional varieties in BSL than non-native signers. This complements previous findings which show that native signers favor the use of regional varieties more than non-native signers (Stamp et al., 2014). Regional Accuracy Differences In the present study, each sign variant was correlated with participants accuracy scores to investigate which sign variants were easiest to recognize. Knowledge of signs based on the sign origin was as follows starting with the highest recognition: Birmingham> London> Newcastle/Manchester/Cardiff/Belfast> Bristol/Glasgow. In spoken languages, the most intelligible dialect is often also the standard (Clopper & Bradlow, 2008). This may be because speakers are socially motivated to recognize and understand the standard or that the standard is often the most prestigious dialect (Casad, 1974). In this study, varieties originating in Birmingham and London, the second and first largest cities in England were found to be easier to recognize than any other variety. In BSL, there is no evidence to suggest that any single regional variety is considered to be more prestigious than any other. However, some varieties may be more intelligible because signers have frequent exposure to them via the media or widespread geographical use. This may be the case in BSL with signers being exposed to sign variants from Birmingham and London more than others. Upon further investigation of the Birmingham varieties, 6 of the 10 variants found to be easiest to recognize also incorporated an element of BSL, ASL, and ISL fingerspelling. As discussed, fingerspelling is a feature of signing enabling signers to spell out words, such as names and places. Therefore if fingerspelling is incorporated into the sign variant (e.g., yellow incorporating the letter -Y-) then signers, even those seeing the sign for the first time, can guess its meaning with relative ease.
8 8 Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 2015, Vol. 00, No. 00 Table 4. Follow up Multiple Logistic Regression Results for the Lexical Recognition Task Without Variants Incorporating Aspects of Fingerspelling Factor Group Factor Log odds % of correct responses Tokens Centred weight Region of sign* London Birmingham Newcastle Manchester Cardiff Belfast Bristol Glasgow Language background* Deaf Hearing , Mobility Mobile , Non-mobile Gender Female , Male , School location Local , Non-local Social class Middle Working , Age (+1) (continuous) Region Belfast Newcastle Manchester Glasgow Note. Degrees of freedom = 18, mean = 0.317, intercept = 0.912, deviance = 2, Random effects (participant) standard deviation = Application value: Correct response. 2,361 tokens. Factor groups are significant at *p <.05. The results here suggest that fingerspelling as a feature of some BSL regional varieties serves to improve intelligibility. After the variants incorporating fingerspelling were removed, London variants appear to be the easiest to recognize other than the signer s own regional variants. Given that London is the capital city of England, it is perhaps unsurprising that signers are more familiar with these varieties. This also complements Stamp et al. s (2014) finding in which London varieties were used more by younger signers above their own traditional regional varieties. Quite possibly the London varieties may be favored due to the high status of London, however, this requires further investigation. Another possible feature that might increase recognition of regional signs is iconicity. For example, a number of variants shown in Figure 4 may be considered iconic or partly iconic as folklore on the origin of BSL signs suggest that the variant green and yellow3 stem from their relationship to the signs for grass (or the concept of green fingers ) and the sign for sun which may themselves be highly iconic, although not all signers will necessarily make the connection with their iconic origin. Despite this, many researchers consider color signs to be relatively non-iconic (Vinson, Cormier, Denmark, Schembri & Vigliocco, 2008). In Vinson et al. s (2008) study, they collected normative data for 300 signs including an iconicity rating from 1 to 7 (with 7 rating indicating high iconicity). Only one variant, brown (traditional for London), from this present study was found in their database and was given a very low iconicity rating of 1.9. It is important to draw on iconicity ratings in future studies to better understand why signers recognize these particular varieties above others. In the present study, Bristol and Glasgow color signs were the most difficult variants to recognize. The Bristol finding is somewhat surprising given that previous studies have found Table 5. Means and Standard Deviations for Each Regional Origin of the Sign Region that younger signers are moving towards the numbering system associated with Bristol (Stamp et al., 2014). The finding in Glasgow supports Woll et al. s (1991) finding in which Glasgow signs were found to be difficult to recognize. One of the limitations of this study is that participants were recruited from only four regions. The sites of investigation were the four most northern of the eight original sites and were chosen for the reason that they differed most in their lexical variation from one another. However, it would be interesting to investigate southern regions (e.g., Cardiff and London) in order to see whether any differences exist and furthermore whether they are influenced by external factors such as social class, mobility and education. Implications Mean accuracy scores Standard deviations London Birmingham Newcastle Manchester Cardiff Belfast Bristol Glasgow As discussed in the introduction, knowledge of signers understanding of regional sign varieties may contribute to an
9 Stamp 9 Figure 4. The mean identification scores for the sign variants by regional origin mm. understanding of the processes of language change. Leveling, the reduction in use of regionally marked variants, was identified to be taking place in BSL (Stamp et al., 2014). Given that spoken language research attributes leveling to be the outcome of linguistic accommodation (Giles & Powesland, 1997; Trudgill, 1986), Stamp et al. (2015) investigated lexical accommodation in BSL to further understand BSL variation and change. They found minimal examples of accommodation suggesting that the language change found by Stamp et al. (2014) could not be attributed to regular contact between regional varieties. Drawing on the attaining communicational efficiency explanation for accommodation, one could suggest that the absence of accommodation is an indicator that communicational efficiency exists in BSL or that it is attained through other coping strategies. Two coping strategies for attaining efficient communication have been discussed in this study: fingerspelling and mouthing. In cases of misunderstandings during Stamp et al. s (2015) collaborative task, signers would often fingerspell to disambiguate the meaning of their regional sign. In addition, during the present study, varieties that incorporated fingerspelling were identified as the easier to identify in the recognition task because the meaning could be figured out through means of elimination. In Stamp et al. s (2015) collaborative task, signers also used mouthing as a coping strategy to overcome misunderstandings. In the present study, mouthing seems to be important in accuracy given that scores were low in the recognition task without mouthings. Mouthing accompanies many signs in BSL and can serve to disambiguate homonyms such as the signs for yellow and young (both can be produced as Y-Y) or to disambiguate the meaning of polysemic signs such as a generic color sign (e.g., open palm facing outwards from the body) which can mean purple, brown, etc. (Fenlon, Cormier & Schembri, 2015). In the act of mouthing, a sign variant is produced simultaneously with a borrowed element of spoken English, providing two avenues for expressing the meaning of the sign. This example of bimodal simultaneity is a unique feature in sign languages. It is likely that this enables the coexistence of several variants in BSL without the necessity for accommodation for functional purposes. of this study are consistent with previous research findings that mouthing and fingerspelling assist signers in recognizing BSL regional varieties. Mouthing, which may act as a way of disambiguating homonyms or polysemous signs, is unique to the signed modality. A study investigating mouthing and comprehension will help to fully understand its contribution. Should signers rely on mouthing and other disambiguating factors such as fingerspelling, context and iconicity to resolve misunderstandings across contrasting regions, one might predict the rate of lexical change may be slowed by eliminating the necessity to accommodate as a means of attaining communicational efficiency. This study thus contributes to the present literature by highlighting the differences in lexical variation and change processes between spoken languages and signed languages. Notes 1. See Hear is a magazine program aimed at the deaf community and presented or interpreted into BSL. 2. Language background represents the hearing status of the participants parents. If they have at least one deaf parent then they are considered to have a deaf language background as it is likely that they will have been exposed to sign language early in life compared to an individual with hearing parents. 3. Participants were considered to be high mobility individuals if they had lived in at least two different regions of the UK and low mobility individuals if they had remained in their home region for their entire lives. 4. A number of ISL signs have been found in the Glasgow data, which is thought to stem from their use by Irish nuns as a method of instruction in Catholic schools (e.g., St. Vincent s School). 5. Initialized signs (Brentari & Padden, 2001) in BSL incorporate the handshape used to represent the first letter of the equivalent English gloss (e.g., grey uses a handshape for -Gfrom the manual alphabet in BSL). 6. As is conventional in the sign language literature, glosses for signs are displayed in small capitals (e.g., the color yellow will be shown as yellow), with the superscripted number to the right of the gloss depicting a different lexical variant of the sign as outlined by Cormier, Fenlon, Johnston, Rentelis, Schembri, Rowley, Adam, and Woll in Cormier et al., The glossing used in this paper reflects the glossing system used in the BSL Corpus Project and the BSL lexical database arising from it. Funding British Sign Language Corpus Project, supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (Grant RES and postgraduate award, Stamp, 2013). Economic and Social Research Council of Great Britain grants RES and RES Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre. Conclusions The results from this study suggest that lexical recognition is relatively poor in BSL when participants are tested in an experimental setting without context or mouthing. However, previous studies have found that comprehension does not prove to be a problem within conversation between signers of contrasting regional backgrounds (Stamp et al., 2015). This disparity between experimental and conversational data is interesting. The results Acknowledgments The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The research for this paper took place at the Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre (DCAL), University College London (UCL) as part of my doctoral thesis. I gratefully acknowledge the following people: colleagues at UCL s Experimental Psychology department for their assistance with many of the statistical
10 10 Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 2015, Vol. 00, No. 00 analyses; Daniel Ezra Johnson for his continued support with the data analysis using RBrul; our confederate for her help with the data collection for this study. We are also grateful to all the fieldworkers who assisted with the data collection as part of the British Sign Language Corpus Project and especially grateful to the 249 deaf community members who agreed to take part in the project; without their participation, none of this research would have been possible. Finally, I am also immensely thankful for the anonymous reviews and the useful feedback from Kearsy Cormier, Adam Schembri, Gerardo Ortega, Howard Giles, and Bronwen Evans, which greatly improved the quality of this paper. Conflicts of Interest No conflicts of interest were reported. References Adank, P., Evans, B.G., Stuart-Smith, J., & Scott, S.K. (2009). Comprehension of familiar and unfamiliar native accents under adverse listening conditions. Journal Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 35, doi: / a Allsop, L. (1993). The International Sign project. In R. Fischer & T. Vollhaber (Eds.), Collage: works on International deaf history (pp ). Hamburg, Germany: Signum. Allsop, L., Woll, B., & Brauti, J. M. (1995). International Sign: The creation of International deaf community and sign language. In H. Bos and T. Schermer (Eds.), Sign language research 1994 (pp ). Hamburg, Germany: Signum Press. Allwood, J., & Ahlsén, E. (1986). Lexical convergence and language acquisition. In O. Dahl (Ed.), Papers from the Ninth Scandinavian Conference of Linguistics, Stockholm, Denmark: University of Stockholm, Department of Linguistics. Barr, D. J., & Keysar, B. (2002). Anchoring comprehension in linguistic precedents Journal of Memory and Language, 46, doi: /jmla Bortfeld, H., & Brennan, S. E. (1997). Use and acquisition of idiomatic expressions in referring by native and nonnative speakers. Discourse Processes, 23, doi: / Boyes Braem, P., & Sutton-Spence, R. (2001). The hands are the head of the mouth: The mouth as articulator in sign language (Vol. 39). Hamburg, Germany: Signum Press. Brentari, D. & Padden, C. (2001). Native and foreign vocabulary in American Sign Language: A lexicon with multiple origins. In D. Brentari (Ed.), Foreign vocabulary in sign languages: A crosslinguistic investigation of word formation, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Casad, E. H. (1974). Dialect intelligibility testing. Norman, OK: Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma. Clark, H. H., & Carlson, T. B. (1981). Context for comprehension. In J. Long & A. Baddeley (Eds.), Attention and performance IX (pp ). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Clark, H. H., & Murphy, G. L. (1982). Audience design in meaning and reference. In J. F. LeNy & W. Kintsch (Eds.), Language and Comprehension (pp ). Amsterdam, North-Holland. Clark, H. H., & Wilkes-Gibbs, D. (1986). Referring as a collaborative process. Cognition, 22, doi: / (86) Clopper, C. G., & Bradlow, A. R. (2008). Perception of dialect variation in noise: Intelligibility and classification. Language and Speech, 51, doi: / Cormier, K., Fenlon, J., Johnston, T., Rentelis, R., Schembri, A., Rowley, K., Adam, R., & Woll, B. (2012). From corpus to lexical database to online dictionary: Issues in annotation of the BSL Corpus and the development of BSL SignBank. Poster presented at the 5th Workshop on the representation and processing of sign languages: Interactions between corpus and lexicon, Istanbul, Turkey, 27 May Elton, F. (2010). Changing the way we sign: An analysis of the signing style used by translators in the Queen s Christmas speech since the 1980s. Birkbeck College, University of London, UK. Fenlon, J., Cormier, K., & Schembri, A. (2015). Building BSL Sign- Bank: The lemma dilemma revisited. International Journal of Lexicography. 28, doi: /ijl/ecv008 Garrod, S., & Anderson, A. (1987). Saying what you mean in dialogue: A study in conceptual and semantic co-ordination. Cognition, 27, doi: / (87) Giles, H., Taylor, D. M., & Bourhis, R. (1973). Towards a theory of interpersonal accommodation through language: Some Canadian data. Language in Society, 2, doi: / S Giles, H., & Powesland, P. F. (1997). Accommodation theory. In N. Coupland & A. Jaworski (Eds.), A sociolinguistics reader (pp ). Basingstoke, UK: Macmillian. Hiddinga, A., & Crasborn, O. (2011). Signed languages and globalization. Language in Society, 40, doi: / S Jordan, I. K., & Battison, R. (1976). A referential communication experiment with foreign sign languages. Sign Language Studies, 5, Kyle, J., & Allsop, L. (1982). Deaf people and the community. Bristol, UK: University of Bristol. McKee, R., & Napier, J. (2002). Interpreting into International Sign pidgin: An analysis. Sign Language & Linguistics, 5, doi: /sll mck Monteillard, N. (2001). La Langue des Signes Internationale. Acquisition et interactionen langue etrangere, 15, Retrieved from Niederhoffer, K. G., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2002). Linguistic style matching in social interaction. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 21, doi: / Rosenstock, R. (2004). An investigation of International Sign: Analysing structure and comprehension. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University dissertation. Safar, A., Meurant, L., Haesenne, T., Nauta, Y. E., De Weerdt, D., & Ormel, E. (2015). Mutual intelligibility among the sign languages of Belgium and the Netherlands. Linguistics, 53, doi: /ling Schembri, A., Fenlon, J., Rentelis, R., & Cormier, K. (2011). British Sign Language Corpus Project: A corpus of digital video data of British Sign Language (1st edn). Retrieved from Schembri, A., Fenlon, J., Rentelis, R., Reynolds, S., & Cormier, K. (2013). Building the British Sign Language Corpus. Language Documentation and Conservation, 7, Retrieved fromhttp://hdl.handle.net/10125/4592 Schneider, W., Eschman, A., & Zuccolotto, A. (2002). E-Prime reference guide. Pittsburgh, PA: Psychology Software Tools. Skinner, R. A. (2007). What counts? A typological and descriptive analysis of British Sign Language number variations. University of London, UK. Stamp, R., Schembri, A., Fenlon, J., Rentelis, R., Woll, B., & Cormier, K. (2014). Lexical variation and change in british sign language. Plos One, 9, e doi: /journal.pone
Sign Language Linguistics Course texts Overview Assessment Week 1: Introduction and history of sign language research
Sign Language Linguistics 27910/37910 Instructor: Jordan Fenlon (jfenlon@uchicago.edu) Office hours: Thursdays, 10:45-11:45 Winter quarter: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:00-10:20 The course introduces students
More informationKeywords academic writing phraseology dissertations online support international students
Phrasebank: a University-wide Online Writing Resource John Morley, Director of Academic Support Programmes, School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures, The University of Manchester Summary A salient
More informationA Comparison of Training & Scoring in Distributed & Regional Contexts Writing
A Comparison of Training & Scoring in Distributed & Regional Contexts Writing Edward W. Wolfe Staci Matthews Daisy Vickers Pearson July 2009 Abstract This study examined the influence of rater training
More information2 P age. www.deafeducation.vic.edu.au
Building Connections Between the Signed and Written Language of Signing Deaf Children Michelle Baker & Michelle Stark In research relating to writing and deaf students there is a larger body of work that
More informationDocumentary and corpus approaches to sign language research. (order of authors to be decided)
Schembri, Adam, Trevor Johnston, Jordan Fenlon & Kearsy Cormier. under review. Documentary and corpus approaches to sign language research. The Blackwell guide to research methods in sign language studies,
More information2. Incidence, prevalence and duration of breastfeeding
2. Incidence, prevalence and duration of breastfeeding Key Findings Mothers in the UK are breastfeeding their babies for longer with one in three mothers still breastfeeding at six months in 2010 compared
More informationAdventure Games as Deaf Education Tools: Action Research Results. Scott Whitney Stephen F. Austin State University. Gabriel A. Martin Lamar University
Adventure Games as Deaf Education Tools: Action Research Results Scott Whitney Stephen F. Austin State University Gabriel A. Martin Lamar University Abstract A dissertation funded by a Department of Education
More informationDr. Wei Wei Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Vietnam Campus January 2013
Research Summary: Can integrated skills tasks change students use of learning strategies and materials? A case study using PTE Academic integrated skills items Dr. Wei Wei Royal Melbourne Institute of
More informationThai Language Self Assessment
The following are can do statements in four skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Put a in front of each description that applies to your current Thai proficiency (.i.e. what you can do with
More informationAmerican Sign Language
American Sign Language On this page: What is American Sign Language? Is sign language the same in other countries? Where did ASL originate? How does ASL compare with spoken language? How do most children
More informationA discourse approach to teaching modal verbs of deduction. Michael Howard, London Metropolitan University. Background
A discourse approach to teaching modal verbs of deduction Michael Howard, London Metropolitan University Background Despite the current emphasis on Communicative Language Teaching, many recently published
More informationCOMPUTER TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING READING
Лю Пэн COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING READING Effective Elementary Reading Program Effective approach must contain the following five components: 1. Phonemic awareness instruction to help children learn
More informationEffects of Gender and Word Choice on Qualitative Inference During Reading
Effects of Gender and Word Choice on Qualitative Inference During Reading ROYA TAGHEHCHIAN TAMIKA MILES-PITTMAN SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY Research Problem Do Gender and Word Choice affect qualitative inference
More informationBilingual Education Assessment Urdu (034) NY-SG-FLD034-01
Bilingual Education Assessment Urdu (034) NY-SG-FLD034-01 The State Education Department does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, religion, creed, disability, marital status, veteran status, national
More informationTeaching Vocabulary to Young Learners (Linse, 2005, pp. 120-134)
Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners (Linse, 2005, pp. 120-134) Very young children learn vocabulary items related to the different concepts they are learning. When children learn numbers or colors in
More informationMultivariate Analysis of Variance. The general purpose of multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) is to determine
2 - Manova 4.3.05 25 Multivariate Analysis of Variance What Multivariate Analysis of Variance is The general purpose of multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) is to determine whether multiple levels
More informationWriting the Empirical Social Science Research Paper: A Guide for the Perplexed. Josh Pasek. University of Michigan.
Writing the Empirical Social Science Research Paper: A Guide for the Perplexed Josh Pasek University of Michigan January 24, 2012 Correspondence about this manuscript should be addressed to Josh Pasek,
More informationTracking translation process: The impact of experience and training
Tracking translation process: The impact of experience and training PINAR ARTAR Izmir University, Turkey Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Spain The translation process can be described through eye tracking.
More informationA Performance Comparison of Native and Non-native Speakers of English on an English Language Proficiency Test ...
technical report A Performance Comparison of Native and Non-native Speakers of English on an English Language Proficiency Test.......... Agnes Stephenson, Ph.D. Hong Jiao Nathan Wall This paper was presented
More informationTHE EQUIVALENCE AND ORDERING OF FRACTIONS IN PART- WHOLE AND QUOTIENT SITUATIONS
THE EQUIVALENCE AND ORDERING OF FRACTIONS IN PART- WHOLE AND QUOTIENT SITUATIONS Ema Mamede University of Minho Terezinha Nunes Oxford Brookes University Peter Bryant Oxford Brookes University This paper
More informationThe Effect of Flexible Learning Schedule on Online Learners Learning, Application, and Instructional Perception
1060 The Effect of Flexible Learning Schedule on Online Learners Learning, Application, and Instructional Perception Doo H. Lim University of Tennessee Learning style has been an important area of study
More informationFrom Gesture to Sign Language: Conventionalization of Classifier Constructions by Adult Hearing Learners of British Sign Language
Topics in Cognitive Science (2014) 1 20 Copyright 2014 Cognitive Science Society, Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN:1756-8757 print / 1756-8765 online DOI: 10.1111/tops.12118 From Gesture to Sign Language:
More informationIncreasing Teachers' Understanding of Dual Language (ASL/English) Use in the Classroom: Content and Exemplars Through Educational Technology
Increasing Teachers' Understanding of Dual Language (ASL/English) Use in the Classroom: Content and Exemplars Through Educational Technology Elizabeth A. DiGello, M.S. Jenny L. Singleton, Ph.D. University
More informationELPS TELPAS. Proficiency Level Descriptors
ELPS TELPAS Proficiency Level Descriptors Permission to copy the ELPS TELPAS Proficiency Level Descriptors is hereby extended to Texas school officials and their agents for their exclusive use in determining
More informationChapter 8. The Training of Trainers for Legal Interpreting and Translation Brooke Townsley
Chapter 8. The Training of Trainers for Legal Interpreting and Translation Brooke Townsley 8.1 Introduction The availability of competent trainers to deliver training for candidate legal interpreters and
More informationThe Role of Listening in Language Acquisition; the Challenges & Strategies in Teaching Listening
International Journal of Education and Information Studies. ISSN 2277-3169 Volume 4, Number 1 (2014), pp. 59-63 Research India Publications http://www.ripublication.com The Role of Listening in Language
More informationInformation for teachers about online TOEIC Listening and Reading practice tests from
oxford english testing.com Information for teachers about online TOEIC Listening and Reading practice tests from www.oxford english testing.com oxford english testing.com What do the online TOEIC Listening
More informationCity Research Online. Permanent City Research Online URL: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/1048/
Herman, R. & Roy, P. (2006). Evidence from the wider use of the BSL Receptive Skills Test. Deafness and Education International, 8(1), pp. 33-47. doi: 10.1002/dei.33 City Research Online Original citation:
More informationDiscourse Markers in English Writing
Discourse Markers in English Writing Li FENG Abstract Many devices, such as reference, substitution, ellipsis, and discourse marker, contribute to a discourse s cohesion and coherence. This paper focuses
More informationSUTTON TRUST BRIEFING NOTE: THE EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUNDS OF THE UK S TOP SOLICITORS, BARRISTERS AND JUDGES. June 2005
SUTTON TRUST BRIEFING NOTE: THE EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUNDS OF THE UK S TOP SOLICITORS, BARRISTERS AND JUDGES June 2005 Executive Summary To establish whether there has been any change in the educational characteristics
More informationUTILIZATION OF INTERPRETERS
1. INTRODUCTION UTILIZATION OF INTERPRETERS People with limited English proficiency (LEP) and people who are deaf or hard of hearing face many barriers to health and mental health care. When communication
More informationDifficulties that Arab Students Face in Learning English and the Importance of the Writing Skill Acquisition Key Words:
Difficulties that Arab Students Face in Learning English and the Importance of the Writing Skill Acquisition Key Words: Lexical field academic proficiency syntactic repertoire context lexical categories
More informationSurvey Research. Classifying surveys on the basis of their scope and their focus gives four categories:
Survey Research Types of Surveys Surveys are classified according to their focus and scope (census and sample surveys) or according to the time frame for data collection (longitudinal and cross-sectional
More informationEgg and sperm donation in the UK: 2012 2013
Egg and sperm donation in the UK: 2012 2013 Contents Introduction 2 Background to this report 2 Terms and acronyms used in this report 4 Methodology 5 How we gathered the data 5 Understanding the data
More informationModern foreign languages
Modern foreign languages Programme of study for key stage 3 and attainment targets (This is an extract from The National Curriculum 2007) Crown copyright 2007 Qualifications and Curriculum Authority 2007
More informationWhy Is This Topic So Important? Communication Styles: The Secret of Flexible Behavior. Considerations Regarding Communication
Styles: The Secret of Flexible Behavior Lisa O Connor, M.A. ASHA Certified Speech-Language Pathologist Why Is This Topic So Important? We spend a staggering amount of time communicating. We can all benefit
More informationAssessment Policy. 1 Introduction. 2 Background
Assessment Policy 1 Introduction This document has been written by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) to provide policy makers, researchers, teacher educators and practitioners with
More informationBBC Learning English Talk about English Academic Listening Part 1 - English for Academic Purposes: Introduction
BBC Learning English Academic Listening Part 1 - English for Academic Purposes: Introduction This programme was first broadcast in 2001. This is not an accurate word-for-word transcript of the programme.
More informationFOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AN INTERVIEW WITH NINA SPADA
SPADA, Nina. Foreign Language Teaching: an interview with Nina Spada. ReVEL, vol. 2, n. 2, 2004. ISSN 1678-8931 [www.revel.inf.br/eng]. FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AN INTERVIEW WITH NINA SPADA Nina Spada
More informationFeifei Ye, PhD Assistant Professor School of Education University of Pittsburgh feifeiye@pitt.edu
Feifei Ye, PhD Assistant Professor School of Education University of Pittsburgh feifeiye@pitt.edu Validity, reliability, and concordance of the Duolingo English Test Ye (2014), p. 1 Duolingo has developed
More informationLINDA LIM School of Information Technology Murdoch University Murdoch WA 6150 Australia
F. Sudweeks, H. Hrachovec and C. Ess (eds). Proceedings Cultural Attitudes Towards Communication and Technology 2010, Murdoch University, Australia, 124-134. IMPACTS OF CULTURE ON WEB USABILITY LINDA LIM
More informationItalian Language & Culture Courses for Foreigners. ITALY Language Training
Italian Language & Culture Courses for Foreigners ITALY 1 Good Practice Executive Summary Founded in the early 1920's with the aim of teaching Italian civilisation and artistic heritage to foreigners,
More informationANGLAIS LANGUE SECONDE
ANGLAIS LANGUE SECONDE ANG-5054-6 DEFINITION OF THE DOMAIN SEPTEMBRE 1995 ANGLAIS LANGUE SECONDE ANG-5054-6 DEFINITION OF THE DOMAIN SEPTEMBER 1995 Direction de la formation générale des adultes Service
More informationCambridge English: Advanced Speaking Sample test with examiner s comments
Speaking Sample test with examiner s comments This document will help you familiarise yourself with the Speaking test for Cambridge English: Advanced, also known as Certificate in Advanced English (CAE).
More informationThe Chinese Language and Language Planning in China. By Na Liu, Center for Applied Linguistics
The Chinese Language and Language Planning in China By Na Liu, Center for Applied Linguistics This brief introduces the Chinese language and its varieties and describes Chinese language planning initiatives
More informationCHARACTERISTICS FOR STUDENTS WITH: LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY (LEP)
CHARACTERISTICS FOR STUDENTS WITH: LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY (LEP) Research has shown that students acquire a second language in the same way that they acquire the first language. It is an exploratory
More informationChapter Seven. Multiple regression An introduction to multiple regression Performing a multiple regression on SPSS
Chapter Seven Multiple regression An introduction to multiple regression Performing a multiple regression on SPSS Section : An introduction to multiple regression WHAT IS MULTIPLE REGRESSION? Multiple
More informationRubrics for Assessing Student Writing, Listening, and Speaking High School
Rubrics for Assessing Student Writing, Listening, and Speaking High School Copyright by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce the material contained herein
More informationMixed 2 x 3 ANOVA. Notes
Mixed 2 x 3 ANOVA This section explains how to perform an ANOVA when one of the variables takes the form of repeated measures and the other variable is between-subjects that is, independent groups of participants
More informationInternational IPTV Consumer Readiness Study
International IPTV Consumer Readiness Study Methodology The Accenture International IPTV Study is based on structured telephone interviews using a standard questionnaire and quantitative analysis methods
More informationAssessment of children s educational achievements in early childhood education
Assessment of children s educational achievements in early childhood education purpose pedagogic and managerial of such assessments. This paper outlines the evaluation of a national pilot baseline assessment
More informationThe Effect of Peripheral Learning Applied in English Instruction on English Idioms Learning
http://www.eab.org.tr Available online at: http://www.eab.org.tr/public/ijer/3/2/bulent_alci.pdf Educational Research Association The International Journal of Educational Researchers 2012, 3 (3) : 19-34
More informationInternational Journal of Asian Social Science, 2013, 3(12): 2469-2476. International Journal of Asian Social Science
International Journal of Asian Social Science ISSN(e): 2224-4441/ISSN(p): 2226-5139 journal homepage: http://www.aessweb.com/journal-detail.php?id=5007 THE EFFECT OF USING GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD ON
More informationStrategies for Developing Listening Skills
Strategies for Developing Listening Skills Dr. Neena Sharma Asst. Professor of English (AS & H) Raj Kumar Goel Institute of Technology Ghaziabad (UP), India Email - neena15sharma@gmail.com dr_neenasharma@rediffmail.com
More informationA Guide to Cambridge English: Preliminary
Cambridge English: Preliminary, also known as the Preliminary English Test (PET), is part of a comprehensive range of exams developed by Cambridge English Language Assessment. Cambridge English exams have
More informationEffects of Different Response Types on Iranian EFL Test Takers Performance
Effects of Different Response Types on Iranian EFL Test Takers Performance Mohammad Hassan Chehrazad PhD Candidate, University of Tabriz chehrazad88@ms.tabrizu.ac.ir Parviz Ajideh Professor, University
More informationStudy Plan for Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics
Study Plan for Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics is awarded by the Faculty of Graduate Studies at Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) upon the fulfillment
More informationTechnical Report. Overview. Revisions in this Edition. Four-Level Assessment Process
Technical Report Overview The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Fourth Edition (CELF 4) is an individually administered test for determining if a student (ages 5 through 21 years) has a language
More informationAN INVESTIGATION OF THE DEMAND FACTORS FOR ONLINE ACCOUNTING COURSES
AN INVESTIGATION OF THE DEMAND FACTORS FOR ONLINE ACCOUNTING COURSES Otto Chang, Department of Accounting and Finance, California State University at San Bernardino 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino,
More informationAn Automated Test for Telepathy in Connection with Emails
Journal of Scientifi c Exploration, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 29 36, 2009 0892-3310/09 RESEARCH An Automated Test for Telepathy in Connection with Emails RUPERT SHELDRAKE AND LEONIDAS AVRAAMIDES Perrott-Warrick
More informationThe Office of Public Services Reform The Drivers of Satisfaction with Public Services
The Office of Public Services Reform The Drivers of Satisfaction with Public Services Research Study Conducted for the Office of Public Services Reform April - May 2004 Contents Introduction 1 Executive
More informationThe Coaching Panel. A review of coaches and coaching in 2014
The Coaching Panel A review of coaches and coaching in 2014 1 Headlines Coaches and coaching The core of the coaching workforce comes from the 35-55 age group but it is kept alive by a steady stream of
More informationModule 2: Conflict Management
Module 2: Conflict Management Conflict management, like effective communication skills, is another important element of social competency. This module promotes the use of several forms of conflict management
More informationHow to become a successful language learner
How to become a successful language learner By Alison Fenner English and German Co-ordinator, Institution Wide Language Programme Introduction Your success in learning a language depends on you! You may
More informationConflict Resolution in Remote Collaborative Problem Solving: A Comparison of Different Computer Mediated Communication Methods
Conflict Resolution in Remote Collaborative Problem Solving: A Comparison of Different Computer Mediated Communication Methods Wei Dong (wdong@illinois.edu) Wai-Tat Fu (wfu@illinoi.edu) Applied Cognitive
More informationThings to remember when transcribing speech
Notes and discussion Things to remember when transcribing speech David Crystal University of Reading Until the day comes when this journal is available in an audio or video format, we shall have to rely
More informationSwedish for Immigrants
Swedish for Immigrants Purpose of the education The aim of the Swedish for Immigrants (Sfi) language instruction program is to give adults who lack basic skills in Swedish opportunities to develop an ability
More informationThe. Languages Ladder. Steps to Success. The
The Languages Ladder Steps to Success The What is it? The development of a national recognition scheme for languages the Languages Ladder is one of three overarching aims of the National Languages Strategy.
More informationOKLAHOMA PRIORITY ACADEMIC STUDENT SKILLS FOR LANGUAGES, INTERMEDIATE LEVEL RANGE
Prentice Hall: Encuentros Maravillosos Gramática A Través De La Literatura 1998 (Foreign, Native American, and/or American Sign Language) Intermediate Level Range Students will exhibit these skills at
More informationSample Paper for Research Methods. Daren H. Kaiser. Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne
Running head: RESEARCH METHODS PAPER 1 Sample Paper for Research Methods Daren H. Kaiser Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne Running head: RESEARCH METHODS PAPER 2 Abstract First notice that
More informationHow to Learn Good Cue Orders: When Social Learning Benefits Simple Heuristics
How to Learn Good Cue Orders: When Social Learning Benefits Simple Heuristics Rocio Garcia-Retamero (rretamer@mpib-berlin.mpg.de) Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition, Max Plank Institute for Human
More informationHow To Understand Two Handed Signs In Ksl
The Handshape Parameter in Kenyan Sign Language Hope E. Morgan Rachel Mayberry U.C. SAN DIEGO TISLR 10, Purdue University, Indiana Sept. 30 Oct. 2, 2010 Goals Provide a description of the phonological
More informationMental Health Professionals Attitudes Towards People Who Are Deaf
Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology J. Community Appl. Soc. Psychol., 13: 314 319 (2003) Published online 8 June 2003 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/casp.725
More informationReading Instruction and Reading Achievement Among ELL Students
Research Into Practice READING Reading Instruction and Reading Achievement Among ELL Students Principles of ELL Reading Instruction Some very straightforward principles, directly supported by research,
More informationThe effects of beliefs about language learning and learning strategy use of junior high school EFL learners in remote districts
The effects of beliefs about language learning and learning strategy use of junior high school EFL learners in remote districts ABSTRACT Ching-yi Chang Leader University, Taiwan Ming-chang Shen Leader
More informationSignLEF: Sign Languages within the European Framework of Reference for Languages
SignLEF: Sign Languages within the European Framework of Reference for Languages Simone Greiner-Ogris, Franz Dotter Centre for Sign Language and Deaf Communication, Alpen Adria Universität Klagenfurt (Austria)
More informationWhat Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading to English Language Learners?
Jan/Feb 2007 What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading to English Language Learners? By Suzanne Irujo, ELL Outlook Contributing Writer As a classroom teacher, I was largely ignorant of, and definitely
More informationHow Mental Health Issues Cause Further Breakdown in Communication with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals Jaime A.B. Wilson, Ph.D.
How Mental Health Issues Cause Further Breakdown in Communication with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals Jaime A.B. Wilson, Ph.D. Licensed Clinical Psychologist Meeting the Deaf Client Deaf, HH, and
More informationPRACTICAL ASPECTS OF TRANSLATION: BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE. Andrea LIBEG, Petru Maior University, Tg Mureş, Romania.
PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF TRANSLATION: BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE Andrea LIBEG, Petru Maior University, Tg Mureş, Romania Abstract In the context of globalization the question of translation
More informationMySpace and Facebook: Identifying Dimensions of Uses and Gratifications for Friend Networking Sites
Individual Differences Research www.idr-journal.com 2010, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 27-33 ISSN: 1541-745X 2010 Individual Differences Association, Inc. MySpace and Facebook: Identifying Dimensions of Uses and
More informationScandinavian Dialect Syntax Transnational collaboration, data collection, and resource development
Scandinavian Dialect Syntax Transnational collaboration, data collection, and resource development Janne Bondi Johannessen, Signe Laake, Kristin Hagen, Øystein Alexander Vangsnes, Tor Anders Åfarli, Arne
More informationStigmatisation of people with mental illness
Stigmatisation of people with mental illness Report of the research carried out in July 1998 and July 2003 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Changing
More informationTransadaptation: Publishing Assessments in World Languages
assessment report. : Publishing Assessments in World Languages........ Sasha Zucker Margarita Miska Linda G. Alaniz Luis Guzmán September 2005 : Publishing Assessments in World Languages Introduction In
More informationLEARNING WITH SIGN AND LIPREADING : ONLINE MULTIMEDIA EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE
LEARNING WITH SIGN AND LIPREADING : ONLINE MULTIMEDIA EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE Charalampos Alatzias 1, Anatoli Makarona 2, Theofilos Tsanaktsidis 3 1 Informatics Teacher, MΕd, High School and Lyceum for the
More informationFunctional Auditory Performance Indicators (FAPI)
Functional Performance Indicators (FAPI) An Integrated Approach to Skill FAPI Overview The Functional (FAPI) assesses the functional auditory skills of children with hearing loss. It can be used by parents,
More informationThe Impact of Using Technology in Teaching English as a Second Language
English Language and Literature Studies; Vol. 3, No. 1; 2013 ISSN 1925-4768 E-ISSN 1925-4776 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education The Impact of Using Technology in Teaching English as
More informationEffects of Automated Transcription Delay on Non-native Speakers Comprehension in Real-time Computermediated
Effects of Automated Transcription Delay on Non-native Speakers Comprehension in Real-time Computermediated Communication Lin Yao 1, Ying-xin Pan 2, and Dan-ning Jiang 2 1 Institute of Psychology, Chinese
More informationCULTURALLY AFFIRMATIVE PRACTICE WITH DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING OLDER ADULTS
CULTURALLY AFFIRMATIVE PRACTICE WITH DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING OLDER ADULTS David M. Feldman, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Psychology Barry University 1 MODELS OF DEAFNESS Medical vs. Cultural Prelingual
More informationReading Specialist (151)
Purpose Reading Specialist (151) The purpose of the Reading Specialist test is to measure the requisite knowledge and skills that an entry-level educator in this field in Texas public schools must possess.
More informationFrench Language and Culture. Curriculum Framework 2011 2012
AP French Language and Culture Curriculum Framework 2011 2012 Contents (click on a topic to jump to that page) Introduction... 3 Structure of the Curriculum Framework...4 Learning Objectives and Achievement
More informationQuick Start Guide: Read & Write 11.0 Gold for PC
Quick Start Guide: Read & Write 11.0 Gold for PC Overview TextHelp's Read & Write Gold is a literacy support program designed to assist computer users with difficulty reading and/or writing. Read & Write
More informationEducational Attainment in the United States: 2015
Educational Attainment in the United States: 215 Population Characteristics Current Population Reports By Camille L. Ryan and Kurt Bauman March 216 P2-578 This report provides a portrait of educational
More informationSocial Media Study in European Police Forces: First Results on Usage and Acceptance
Social Media Study in European Police Forces: First Results on Usage and Acceptance P. Saskia Bayerl, Ph.D., Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands September 29 th, 2012 Table of Contents Main Findings...
More informationImproving Access and Quality of Health Care for Deaf Populations. A Collaborative Project of the Sinai Health System and. Advocate Health Care
Improving Access and Quality of Health Care for Deaf Populations A Collaborative Project of the Sinai Health System and Advocate Health Care July 1, 2002 December 31, 2012 LESSONS LEARNED Overarching Lesson:
More informationMode and Patient-mix Adjustment of the CAHPS Hospital Survey (HCAHPS)
Mode and Patient-mix Adjustment of the CAHPS Hospital Survey (HCAHPS) April 30, 2008 Abstract A randomized Mode Experiment of 27,229 discharges from 45 hospitals was used to develop adjustments for the
More informationComparative Analysis on the Armenian and Korean Languages
Comparative Analysis on the Armenian and Korean Languages Syuzanna Mejlumyan Yerevan State Linguistic University Abstract It has been five years since the Korean language has been taught at Yerevan State
More informationBA (Hons) Broadcast Journalism and BA (Hons) Journalism 2016
BA (Hons) Broadcast Journalism and BA (Hons) Journalism 2016 These degree courses share all modules except for the practical modules that follow either the Broadcast Journalism Training Council (BJTC)
More informationSection 2b: Observation/Feedback Approach
Section 2b: Observation/Feedback Approach Observation/Feedback is a collegial, professional development approach that encourages practitioners to analyze, critique, practice, reflect, and revise instructional
More informationNational Disability Authority Resource Allocation Feasibility Study Final Report January 2013
National Disability Authority Resource Allocation Feasibility Study January 2013 The National Disability Authority (NDA) has commissioned and funded this evaluation. Responsibility for the evaluation (including
More informationRegister Differences between Prefabs in Native and EFL English
Register Differences between Prefabs in Native and EFL English MARIA WIKTORSSON 1 Introduction In the later stages of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learning, and foreign language learning in general,
More information