Sign language and Braille Books

Book SynopsisA concise overview of key findings and ideas in sign language phonology and its contributions to related fields, including historical linguistics, morphology, prosody, language acquisition and language creation. Working on sign languages not only provides important new insights on familiar issues, but also poses a whole new set of questions about phonology, because of the use of the visual communication modality. This book lays out the properties needed to recognize a phonological system regardless of its modality. Written by a leading expert in sign language research, the book describes the current state of the field and addresses a range of issues that students and researchers will encounter in their work, as well as highlighting the significant impact that the study of sign languages has had on the field of phonology as a whole. It includes lists of further reading materials, and a full glossary, as well as helpful illustrations that demonstrate the important aspects of sign languagTrade Review'Each chapter can stand alone as a coherent piece of scholarship; overall the book is important not just for sign language phonology but for the notion of phonology - and language - broadly.' E. L. Battistella, ChoiceTable of Contents1. Introduction: sign language vs gesture, sign language vs speech; 2. Modality effects; 3. Iconcity; 4. Interfaces; 5. The emergence of phonology; 6. Sign language phonological processing; 7. Sign language acquisition; 8. Sign language phonological variation and change.

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Book SynopsisPresents primary data and typological comparisons across sign languages with respect to three semantic fields: kinship terms, colour terms and quantification. This title is based on a study of 32 sign languages from all over the world. It explores these topics in 10 sign languages, accompanied by an introductory part and an appendix.

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Book SynopsisThis book introduces a new topic to applied linguistics: the significance of the TESOL teacher’s background as a learner and user of additional languages. The development of the global TESOL profession as a largely English-only enterprise has led to the accepted view that, as long as the teacher has English proficiency, then her or his other languages are irrelevant. The book questions this view. Learners are in the process of becoming plurilingual, and this book argues that they are best served by a teacher who has experience of plurilingualism. The book proposes a new way of looking at teacher linguistic identity by examining in detail the rich language biographies of teachers: of growing up with two or more languages; of learning languages through schooling or as an adult, of migrating to another linguaculture, of living in a plurilingual family and many more. The book examines the history of language-in-education policy which has led to the development of the TESOL profession in Australia and elsewhere as a monolingual enterprise. It shows that teachers’ language backgrounds have been ignored in teacher selection, teacher training and ongoing professional development. The author draws on literature in teacher cognition, bilingualism studies, intercultural competence, bilingual lifewriting and linguistic identity to argue that languages play a key part in the development of teachers’ professional beliefs, identity, language awareness and language learning awareness. Drawing on three studies involving 115 teachers from Australia and seven other countries, the author demonstrates conclusively that large numbers of teachers do have plurilingual experiences; that these experiences are ignored in the profession, but that they have powerful effects on the formation of beliefs about language learning and teaching which underpin good practice. Those teachers who identify as monolingual almost invariably have some language learning experience, but it was low-level, short-lived and unsuccessful. How does the experience of successful or unsuccessful language learning and language use affect one’s identity, beliefs and practice as an English language teacher? What kinds of experience are most beneficial? These concepts and findings have implications for teacher language education, teacher professional development and the current calls for increased plurilingual practices in the TESOL classroom.

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Book SynopsisThe aim of this pioneering volume is to advance our understanding of written language learning in instructed SLA by offering a collection of empirical studies in which the contribution of diverse theoretical perspectives to our understanding of L2 writing development will be explored. As such, the book represents a further attempt to situate written language learning at the core of applied linguistics research, in general, and SLA research, in particular, hence attempting to redress the oral bias of theoretical and empirical work in these fields. It adds a further building block onto recent TESOL initiatives aimed at understanding "development" in second and foreign language learning. Continuity from one chapter to another is provided by adherence to a consistent chapter model. The volume will be of great interest to academics in the disciplines of second/foreign language acquisition (SLA) and second/foreign language (L2) writing.

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Book SynopsisSign languages are non-written languages. Given that the use of digital media and video recordings in documenting sign languages started only some 30 years ago, the life stories of Deaf elderly signers born in the 1930s-1940s have – except for a few scattered fragments in film – not been documented and are therefore under serious threat of being lost.The chapters compiled in this volume document important aspects of past and present experiences of elderly Deaf signers across Europe, as well as in Israel and the United States. Issues addressed include (i) historical events and how they were experienced by Deaf people, (ii) issues of identity and independence, (iii) aspects of language change, (iv) experiences of suppression and discrimination. The stories shared by elderly signers reveal intriguing, yet hidden, aspects of Deaf life. On the negative side, these include experiences of the Deaf in Nazi Germany and occupied countries and harsh practices in educational settings, to name a few. On the positive side, there are stories of resilience and vivid memories of school years and social and professional life.In this way, the volume contributes in a significant way to the preservation of the cultural and linguistic heritage of Deaf communities and sheds light on lesser known aspects against an otherwise familiar background. This publication has been made possible within the SIGN-HUB project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

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Book SynopsisThis English version of A Language in Space: The Story of Israeli Sign Language, which received the Bahat Award for most outstanding book for a general audience in its Hebrew edition, is an introduction to sign language using Israeli Sign Language (ISL) as a model. Authors Irit Meir and Wendy Sandler offer a glimpse into a number of fascinating descriptions of the ISL community to which linguists and other researchers may not have access. An underlying premise of the book is that language is a mental system with universal properties, and that language lives through people.A clear and engaging read, A Language in Space addresses relevant aspects of sign language, including the most abstract questions and matters related to society and community. Divided into three parts, the book covers: the linguistic structure of Israeli Sign Language; the language and its community; and a broad depiction of ISL and the contribution of sign language rTrade Review"A superb book from every point of view...The book is clear, extremely readable, and fascinating...from a perspective that is well developed, theoretically deep, and informed by the most up-to-date research in the field."—Yosef GrodzinskyMcGill University "This original and timely book will definitely be an important addition to LEA's growing list in signing and deaf studies."—Dan SlobinBerkeley "A superb book from every point of view...The book is clear, extremely readable, and fascinating...from a perspective that is well developed, theoretically deep, and informed by the most up-to-date research in the field."—Yosef GrodzinskyMcGill University "This original and timely book will definitely be an important addition to LEA's growing list in signing and deaf studies."—Dan SlobinBerkeley Table of ContentsContents: Israeli Sign Language: Language and People. The Basic Components of the Word in Sign Language. Vocabulary. Grammar in Space: The Pronominal System. Grammar in Space: Verb Agreement. Tenses and Aspects. Shapes, Locations, and Motions in Space: Classifier Constructions. Word Order. Negative and Interrogative Sentences. Beyond the Hands: Facial Expression as Intonation in ISL. The History of the Deaf Community in Israel. The Emergence and Development of ISL. Voices From the Community. Similarities and Differences Across Sign Languages. The Contribution of Sign Languages to Linguistic Research. Appendix A: List of Handshapes of Israeli Sign Language. Appendix B: Main Places of Articulation in Israeli Sign Language. Appendix C: Notational Conventions.

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Book SynopsisOne 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 observationsTrade ReviewA truly impressive contribution to an unfortunately neglected field of study, this volume provides insight into British Sign Language (BSL) from the perspective of functional linguistics. It represents the first major publication to offer a functional description of BSL within Systemic Functional Linguistics. Not only does it provide an important foundation for future work on BSL but also an opening on broader linguistic typological issues and extensions to existing linguistic theory. This is a very important volume for all interested in sign languages and perhaps even more so for anyone working with modes of expression very broadly, including embodied communication. -- Lise Fontaine, Reader in the School of English, Communication and Philosophy, University of Cardiff, UKAn important and timely analysis of signed languages, especially with respect to multi-channel simultaneity. The systemic functional grammar framework used in this volume offers a coherent alternative to formal approaches in sign linguistics and complements recent neo-Peircean approaches to the semiotics of multi-modality in all languages, signed or spoken. -- Trevor Johnston, Honorary Professor in the Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, Sydney, AustraliaTable of ContentsList of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations 1. Introducing British Sign Language: A Sociocultural and Linguistic Overview 2. Contextualising British Sign Language within a Systemic Functional Framework 3. Exploring the Interpersonal Metafunction 4. Exploring the Experiential Metafunction 5. Exploring the Textual Metafunction 6. Combining the Metafunctions: Analysing BSL from Three Perspectives 7. Looking Back and Looking Forward References Index

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Book SynopsisExplore Native American culture and learn Hand Talk, also known as Plains Indian Sign Language, Plains Sign Talk, and First Nation Sign Language. In Talking with Hands, professional Native American dancer, storyteller, and educator Mike Pahsetopah reveals the beauty of Plains Indian Sign Language, which was once used as a common language between the Indigenous peoples of the region now generally known as the Great Plains of North America. The language was used for trade, but also for storytelling and by the Deaf community, making it a very common and useful tool in society. Today, only a few native speakers remain. This beautifully designed book makes practicing Plains Indian Sign Language easy and engaging. Learn the proper positions and motions of this now-rare language with photos and descriptions throughout the pages. Follow along with diagrams to perfect your abilities. Learn how to use your hands to convey the meanings of over 200 common words. In this detailed guide, you will learn to sign words like: Hungry Camp Evening Angry Fire Owl Together Brave And more Honor and carry on the culture of the Plains peoples by learning the sign language they shared.Table of ContentsA Brief History of Hand Talk Personal Reflections on Hand Talk Basics Using One Finger Counting Up to One Hundred Time & Tenses Celestial Bodies Time of Day Seasons Years & Age Weather Animals Earth Family Directions Action Words Health Time to Eat Modern Life Descriptions Emotions Questions Basic Phrases Council Meetings References Photo Credits Index Acknowledgments About the Author

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Book SynopsisThis text explores American culture from the mid-19th century to 1920 through the lens of one episode: the campaign led by Alexander Graham Bell and other prominent Americans to suppress the use of sign language amongst deaf people.

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Book SynopsisAccompanied by a DVD, this collection of essays brings a view of the literary, social, and performative aspects of American Sign Language to a wide audience. It presents the work of a renowned and diverse group of deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing scholars who examine original ASL poetry, narrative, and drama.Trade Review"Signing the Body Poetic should receive a deafening ovation. It is the first major scholarly work to celebrate and theorize American Sign Language artistic expression ranging from poetry, to theater and film. A must for anyone interested in contemporary poetry, drama, or literary theory." - Lennard J. Davis, editor of The Disabilities Studies Reader "This collection is as unique as ASL, merging linguistics, nonverbal communication and performance in both the content of the chapters as well as in its form (text and DVD). Unlocking the performative dimension of ASL, it merges disciplines, communicative forms, and channels while demonstrating that our ability to communicate is not limited by the organs we use to do so but only by our ability to perform." - Michael L. Hecht, editor of Redefining Culture: Perspectives across the Disciplines"Table of ContentsContents of the DVD Foreword--William C. Stokoe Preface: Utopian Gestures--W.J.T. Mitchell Acknowledgments Users' Guide 1. Introduction H-Dirksen L. Bauman, Jennifer L. Nelson, Heidi M. Rose PART ONE: FRAMING ASL LITERATURE 2. Face-to-Face Tradition in the American Deaf Community: Dynamics of the Teller, the Tale, and the Audience--Ben Bahan 3. The Camera as Printing Press: How Film Has Influenced ASL Literature--Christopher B. Krentz 4. Deaf American Theater--Cynthia Peters PART TWO: THE EMBODIED TEXT: "WRITING" AND VISION IN ASL LITERATURE 5. Getting out of Line: Toward a Visual and Cinematic Poetics of ASL--H-Dirksen L. Bauman 6. Textual Bodies, Bodily Texts--Jennifer L. Nelson 7. The Poet in the Poem in the Performance: The Relation of Body, Self, and Text in ASL Literature--Heidi M. Rose 8. ASL Literature Comes of Age: Creative "Writing" in the Classroom--Liz Wolter PART THREE: THE POLITICAL TEXT: PERFORMANCE AND IDENTITY IN ASL LITERATURE 9. "If there are Greek epics, there should be Deaf epics": How Protest Became Poetry--Kristen C. Harmon 10. Visual Screaming: Willy Conley's Deaf Theater and Charlie Chaplin's Silent Cinema--Carol L. Robinson 11. Hearing Things: The Scandal of Speech in Deaf Performance--Michael Davidson Afterword Carol A. Padden Appendix A: Time Line of ASL Literature Development Appendix B: ASL Video References Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisThis text offers a unique approach to using American Sign Language (ASL) and English in a bilingual setting. Each of the 25 lessons involves sign language conversation using colloqualisms that are prevalent in informal conversations. It also includes practice tests and a glossed alphabetical index.

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Book SynopsisIn Deaf in the USSR, Claire L. Shaw asks what it meant to be deaf in a culture that was founded on a radically utopian, socialist view of human perfectibility. Shaw reveals how fundamental contradictions inherent in the Soviet revolutionary project were negotiatedboth individually and collectively by a vibrant and independent community of deaf people who engaged in complex ways with Soviet ideology.Deaf in the USSR engages with a wide range of sources from both deaf and hearing perspectivesarchival sources, films and literature, personal memoirs, and journalismto build a multilayered history of deafness. This book will appeal to scholars of Soviet history and disability studies as well as those in the international deaf community who are interested in their collective heritage. Deaf in the USSR will also enjoy a broad readership among those who are interested in deafness and disability as a key to more inclusive understandings of being human and of languaTrade ReviewA compelling study of the Soviet deaf community.... Deaf in the USSR deserves to be widely read and suggests ways for the experiences of other minority and marginalized Soviet communities to be re-examined. * Times Literary Supplement *A landmark in the history of disability and the Soviet welfare state. A stunning first book, it covers the entire Soviet experience from a thought-provoking perspective. * AUSTRIAN TIMES *Shaw traces how deaf individuals challenged prevailing notions about their abilities and legal competence while also participating in the underlying goal of the Soviet project to transform "backward" masses into productive and literate citizens.... An important scholarly contribution to the field of deaf history. * Choice *Shaw's approach is, first and foremost, historically rigorous. With this, the first definitive account of deaf political advocacy throughout the Soviet twentieth century, Shaw has proffered a fertile platform for further scholarship. * Slavic Review *An outstanding work. [Deaf in the USSR] will be of considerable interest to a number of different kinds of readers. For historians of the Soviet Union, it addresses a little-known but potentially quite important aspect of Soviet history. For those interested in the history of deafness and the deaf, it offers fascinating insights into the unique case of deafness in post-revolutionary Russia.... The volume is well-written, cogent, and thoroughly grounded in both historical and archival sources. It is a significant contribution to the literature on the history of deafness and Deaf identity, and we have much for which to be grateful to Shaw. * Sign Language Studies *This is an important book for not just historians of Russia and the Soviet Union, nor only scholars of deafness and disability, but for researchers in all of these fields and beyond. * Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences *One of the strengths of Deaf in the USSR is its identification of—indeed, emphasis on—tensions that remained unresolved throughout the Soviet era. It is a testimony to Shaw's analytical rigor that she can keep all these dialectical balls in the air without succumbing to incoherence. * American Historical Review *Deaf in the USSR succeeds best in offering a deaf-centered, unique overview of the development of political identity of deaf people in urban Russia under the Soviet system, and is a significant contribution to the fields of Deaf Studies and Soviet History. * The Russian Review *Claire Shaw's excellent monograph traces a history of deafness—attitudes toward deafness, experiences of deafness—across the Soviet century. It is, above all, a history of shifting discourses about the senses... This is a valuable corrective to oversimplified narratives of Soviet ideology. -- Emma Widdis * KRITIKA *

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Book SynopsisThis practical manual systematically presents the steps necessary to design a curriculum for teaching training interpreters. It is updated and revised to reflect the significant gains in recognition that deaf people and their native language - American Sign Language - have achieved in recent years.

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Book SynopsisFrom the authors of ?Baby?s First Signs? and ?More Baby?s first Signs? come two new brightly colored board books depicting the recognizable character with the hat signing all the primary and secondary colors and familiar animals and insects such as ?dog,? ?cat,? ?butterfly,? and ?squirrel.?

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