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ERIC Number: EJ935238
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 36
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0302-1475
EISSN: N/A
HAPPEN CAN'T HEAR: An Analysis of Code-Blends in Hearing, Native Signers of American Sign Language
Bishop, Michele
Sign Language Studies, v11 n2 p205-240 Win 2011
Hearing native signers often learn sign language as their first language and acquire features that are characteristic of sign languages but are not present in equivalent ways in English (e.g., grammatical facial expressions and the structured use of space for setting up tokens and surrogates). Previous research has indicated that bimodal bilinguals draw heavily on American Sign Language (ASL) discourse structures even while predominantly speaking. This article analyzes the way in which bimodal bilinguals (hereafter referred to as children of deaf adults, or Codas) simultaneously draw on both ASL and English. Data presented herein indicate that Codas exploit the integration of two grammars, as well as extragrammatical features (e.g., eye gaze, use of space) that are crucial to meaning due to the presence of ASL in their spoken English discourse and its influence on that discourse. In this analysis, code-blends are classified according to van den Bogaerde and Baker's (2005) model. The goal of this article is to determine what kinds of code-blends are used in naturalistic discourse and to devise a means to categorize them. The data are classified according to the four categories created by van den Bogaerde and Baker (2005), as well as two additional classifications necessitated by the adult data in this research. These additional classifications are important in bimodal research because they take the first steps toward identifying the structural and semantic complexities involved in simultaneous signed and spoken discourse. A brief overview of society's historical view of ASL and a description of the cultural and linguistic nature of Codas are also provided. (Contains 2 figures, 4 tables and 5 notes.)
Gallaudet University Press. 800 Florida Avenue NE, Denison House, Washington, DC 20002-3695. Tel: 202-651-5488; Fax: 202-651-5489; Web site: http://gupress.gallaudet.edu/SLS.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A