This study takes advantage of a novel methodology--the use of a single culturally-meaningful text written in English and presented to different audiences in ASL--to examine the ways in which Deaf native signers utilize contextualization strategies in order to match the perceived linguistic and informational needs of an audience. We demonstrate,…

Examines how Pierre Desloges--a deaf person who was interested in the aptness of "natural signs" to express complex concepts and who highlighted the community aspect of communication--described and categorized signs used by the Deaf community in Paris in 1779. Presents additional sources of information on communication of deaf people. (Author/VWL)

Focuses on communications between deaf persons over telephone lines via teletypewriters (TTY). Uses sociolinguistic methods to analyze the linguistic characteristics of telecommunications conversations to identify the basic, underlying dimensions of TTY conversations. (Author/VWL)

Discussed a social survey on communication among deaf people who had no formal schooling. Participants were deaf individuals who lived in the Okinawa Islands of Japan. Reveals many elderly deaf people had no formal education, no access to conventional sign languages during childhood, and no contact with a Deaf community. Despite this, most…

Discuses different approaches into what language (including nonverbal communication) is, and stresses that there is no great gulf between spoken language and nonverbal communication. Redirects attention to where one ought to look for language. (Author/VWL)

Explores the operational and conceptual meanings of the iconicity of manual signs and sign languages. Empirical studies related to the operational definition of iconicity in American Sign Language are described, and implications of parallels between iconicity and "stimulus meaningfulness" are discussed in relation to the scientific status of…

Compares the production of speech and sign: the approaches used in research, the cognitive processes involved, and the output timing mechanism. (AM)

The article elaborates on the assumption that since sign languages are received and initially processed by the visual system, then the rules for the formation of signs of a sign language would be constrained by the limits of the visual system. (Author/NCR)

The article gives an example of how, even though an individual's capacity to use or to learn a spoken language may be significantly impaired by brain damage, the ability to acquire a non-oral language system may remain intact. (Author/NCR)

Native signs used as basic kin terms in 20 sign languages from several sign language families are examined. (Author/NCR)

Deaf ethnicity, as the social phenomenon of deafness, is presented as the proper context in which to consider language learning, language teaching, and language planning in the education of the deaf. (Author/NCR)

Singing apprehension is examined as a nonverbal counterpart of talking apprehension and three research questions and hypotheses were tested on the topic. (Author/NCR)

Reports on an investigation into the gestural repertoire of a deaf child raised in an oral environment. (AM)

Traces the development of an approach to studying face-to-face interaction that proposes to expound the rules or procedures of interaction and to account for observed behavior in terms of how it functions as a communicational system. A selective literature review and recommendations for further study are included. (EJS)

References to the study of behavioral organization of face-to-face interaction are arrranged in alphabetical order by author. A subject classification of works in the bibliography is appended. (EJS)