Thursday, March 1, 2012

Questions for Lisa Sheffield

Lisa Sheffield, the Director of ECU's Interpreter Services Program for Deaf or Hard of Hearing Students, will be visiting our class on Wednesday, March 7th to talk to us about ASL.  In the comment box below this post, please any questions you have for her.

Here are some questions I have for her:
1. What got you interested in ASL?
2. What is the biggest misperception people have of ASL?
3. In the article by Emmorey, we read that ASL has regional dialects.  For example, the sign for "funny" and "butter" may or may not be made with the thumb extended, depending on the region you are from.  Do you know of any other examples of this kind?  How do you sign these two words?  In what other ways might someone who signs have an "accent"?
4. We watched an online video of the Pledge of Allegiance translated into ASL, and I noted that the word "republic" is translated as "country," and "allegiance" is translated as "support."  "Republic" is a more specific term than "country," and I wonder if this kind of substitution is common?

Thanks!

12 comments:

  1. If you had a child born deaf, would you consider the Cochlear impant? Why or why not?

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  2. I have heard of the Gallaudet University. Are there other colleges and Universities designed (or in the making) for deaf students?

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  3. How do you express sarcasm in ASL?

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  4. Can you teach us a joke in ASL?

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  5. How do you feel about how art forms such music effect the deaf community, because I have watched a video on the visual music campaign and it seems like ASL has a place in music, what are your thoughts?

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  6. Is there a difference in the way people sign when they are signing poetry, as in their movement/flow or body language, than signing for conversation?

    -Ashley Tucker

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  7. Karen Emmorey states, "Research with deaf adults who were not exposed to sign language until late in childhood or adulthood supports the critical period hypothesis for language acquisition." Have you dealt with both early and late ASL learners? If so, what were some differences you noticed in their use of the language?

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  8. Are there different dialects? More specifically, is there the sign for something and then a slang version of that sign?

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  9. The essay we read talked about differences in the use of certain sign language forms between people from the North and people from the South and even differences between different racial groups. Do you notice these differences? Can you talk more about them?

    Caitlin Giles

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  10. Are there shorthand signs within sign language, such as how there are in spoken language such as shortening words, etc?

    -Kaitlyn Hatton-

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  11. How important would you say it is use to facial expression while signing? Would you say that facial expression is an absolute necessity?
    - Melissa Keel

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  12. For students who are deaf and attend a university like East Central where their lectures are translated and signed to them, how hard is it for students to understand the content of the information being signed to them since our systems of grammar and syntax differ? Or do the interpreters signing do a code switch of their own and portray the information to students in a structure closer to that of their own?
    - Noelle Hurt

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