ERIC Number: EJ697605
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Aug
Pages: 16
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0093-934X
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Testing Comprehension Abilities in Users of British Sign Language Following Cva
Atkinson, J.; Marshall, J.; Woll, B.; Thacker, A.
Brain and Language, v94 n2 p233-248 Aug 2005
Recent imaging (e.g., MacSweeney et al., 2002) and lesion (Hickok, Love-Geffen, & Klima, 2002) studies suggest that sign language comprehension depends primarily on left hemisphere structures. However, this may not be true of all aspects of comprehension. For example, there is evidence that the processing of topographic space in sign may be vulnerable to right hemisphere damage (e.g., Hickok, Say, Bellugi, & Klima, 1996), and the influence of iconicity on comprehension has yet to be explored. In this study, comprehension testing was conducted with 15 signers with unilateral brain damage, and with elderly Deaf controls. Four tests were administered: a test of iconic and non-iconic noun comprehension, a test of verb and sentence comprehension, a test of locative sentence comprehension, and a test of classifier comprehension. All tests were administered in British Sign Language (BSL), a language that has only recently been explored with lesioned signers (see Atkinson, Marshall, Thacker, & Woll, 2004; Marshall, Atkinson, Thacker, Woll, & Smulevitch, 2004; Marshall, Atkinson, Woll, & Thacker, in press). People with left hemisphere damage were impaired relative to controls on all tests. Those with right hemisphere damage performed well in the first two tests, but were impaired on locative sentences and classifiers. Neither group showed any effect of iconicity. The results shed further light on the laterality of sign language comprehension.
Descriptors: Form Classes (Languages), Neurological Impairments, Comprehension, Testing, Sign Language, Sentences, Brain Hemisphere Functions
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Publication Type: Journal Articles
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