German Sign Research Articles

“Language means freedom to me” perspectives of Deaf and hard-of-hearing students on their experiences in the English as a foreign language classroom

IntroductionTeaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students is regarded as a major challenge.The aim of the study is to examine the perspectives of DHH students regarding their experiences in the EFL classroom.MethodsUtilizing a qualitative design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 former DHH students who learned English at German schools for the DHH.ResultsThe findings reveal various language combinations within the EFL classroom, which entirely depend on the teacher. Several critical aspects of the EFL classes were highlighted, including the insufficient foreign sign language competences of teachers, the juxtaposition of German Sign Language (DGS) signs and spoken English, and the lack of Deaf cultural content and awareness in the teaching. Additionally, the absence of interactive engagement in the EFL classroom was noted as a significant issue. Based on the DHH students’ EFL learning experiences, both English and American Sign Language (ASL) served as foreign languages for young DHH individuals, particularly in the context of international communication and social media engagement.DiscussionThis study underscores the importance of integrating ASL into EFL classrooms to better support DHH students’ language learning needs. The findings highlight the critical role of teacher training in ASL and the necessity for standardized approaches to EFL instruction. By aligning teaching practices with students’ lived experiences and incorporating sign language, educators can foster more inclusive, effective learning environments that not only enhance academic success but also affirm students’ identities and rights.

Polar response strategies across modalities: Evidence from German Sign Language (DGS)

Polar response strategies across modalities: Evidence from German Sign Language (DGS)

Assessing vocabulary knowledge in written and signed languages of immigrant DHH learners – examining convergent validity

ABSTRACT Language assessment is a central aspect not only of language education in the general population, but also amongst heterogeneous, low-incidence populations. One such population are immigrant deaf and hard-of-hearing learners (IDML) who are bimodal-multilingual and whose languages development often includes the spoken, written, and/or signed languages of the host country in addition to learners’ home language(s) (Cannon and Marx 2024) [“Scoping review of research methodologies across language studies with deaf and hard-of-hearing multilingual learners.” International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 62 (2): 1009–1037]. Language assessment with these learners is complicated due to a lack of expected norms for the population and a lack of appropriate instruments for signed languages in general (Pizzo and Chilvers 2019) [“Assessment of Language and Literacy in Children Who Are d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing.” Education Sciences 9 (3): 223]. This is a major issue for both research and pedagogy. In order to address this in the German context, a comparison of available assessment instruments focusing on vocabulary knowledge in written German and German Sign Language was carried out. The aim of this exploratory study was (1) to examine available language assessments, (2) to test them with a small sample representing the target population in order to determine their convergent validity, and (3) to provide recommendations for researchers and practitioners for their use. The results shed light on the potential for existing instruments to provide necessary and useful information for assessment in research and schools.

Automated Sign Language Vocabulary Assessment: Comparing Human and Machine Ratings and Studying Learner Perceptions

ABSTRACT Although automated spoken language assessment is rapidly growing, such systems have not been widely developed for signed languages. This study provides validity evidence for an automated web application that was developed to assess and give feedback on handshape and hand movement of L2 learners’ Swiss German Sign Language signs. The study shows good machine-internal and human-machine agreement through many-facet Rasch analysis. Learner perceptions examined through questionnaire responses indicate that the automated system occasionally generated ratings which impacted the quality of feedback at the level of individual signs for individual learners. Implications are discussed from a learning-oriented assessment perspective.

Phonetic differences between affirmative and feedback head nods in German Sign Language (DGS): A pose estimation study.

This study investigates head nods in natural dyadic German Sign Language (DGS) interaction, with the aim of finding whether head nods serving different functions vary in their phonetic characteristics. Earlier research on spoken and sign language interaction has revealed that head nods vary in the form of the movement. However, most claims about the phonetic properties of head nods have been based on manual annotation without reference to naturalistic text types and the head nods produced by the addressee have been largely ignored. There is a lack of detailed information about the phonetic properties of the addressee's head nods and their interaction with manual cues in DGS as well as in other sign languages, and the existence of a form-function relationship of head nods remains uncertain. We hypothesize that head nods functioning in the context of affirmation differ from those signaling feedback in their form and the co-occurrence with manual items. To test the hypothesis, we apply OpenPose, a computer vision toolkit, to extract head nod measurements from video recordings and examine head nods in terms of their duration, amplitude and velocity. We describe the basic phonetic properties of head nods in DGS and their interaction with manual items in naturalistic corpus data. Our results show that phonetic properties of affirmative nods differ from those of feedback nods. Feedback nods appear to be on average slower in production and smaller in amplitude than affirmation nods, and they are commonly produced without a co-occurring manual element. We attribute the variations in phonetic properties to the distinct roles these cues fulfill in turn-taking system. This research underlines the importance of non-manual cues in shaping the turn-taking system of sign languages, establishing the links between such research fields as sign language linguistics, conversational analysis, quantitative linguistics and computer vision.

Gloss Prior Guided Visual Feature Learning for Continuous Sign Language Recognition.

Continuous sign language recognition (CSLR) is to recognize the glosses in a sign language video. Enhancing the generalization ability of CSLR's visual feature extractor is a worthy area of investigation. In this paper, we model glosses as priors that help to learn more generalizable visual features. Specifically, the signer-invariant gloss feature is extracted by a pre-trained gloss BERT model. Then we design a gloss prior guidance network (GPGN). It contains a novel parallel densely-connected temporal feature extraction (PDC-TFE) module for multi-resolution visual feature extraction. The PDC-TFE captures the complex temporal patterns of the glosses. The pre-trained gloss feature guides the visual feature learning through a cross-modality matching loss. We propose to formulate the cross-modality feature matching into a regularized optimal transport problem, it can be efficiently solved by a variant of the Sinkhorn algorithm. The GPGN parameters are learned by optimizing a weighted sum of the cross-modality matching loss and CTC loss. The experiment results on German and Chinese sign language benchmarks demonstrate that the proposed GPGN achieves competitive performance. The ablation study verifies the effectiveness of several critical components of the GPGN. Furthermore, the proposed pre-trained gloss BERT model and cross-modality matching can be seamlessly integrated into other RGB-cue-based CSLR methods as plug-and-play formulations to enhance the generalization ability of the visual feature extractor.

Formand function in serial verb constructions – insights fromGerman Sign Language

German Sign Language (DGS) exhibits constructions which seem to meet the generaldefinition of serial verb constructions (SVCs). I demonstrate that the constructions inquestion have characteristics known to be shared by similar constructions in other spokenand signed languages, both in terms of form and in terms of function. I argue thatwithin the typological picture, the DGS data suggest three things. First, it is most likelythe case that very different structures can derive similar surface data; for example, verbphrases may be concatenated via complementation or adjunction. Relatedly, the factthat languages differ in the variability of verb order in SVCs (i.e. which verbs can appearwhere to render certain readings) is a side effect of these differences in concatenation.Finally, in certain cases, a degree of linear uniformity across languages is introducedby conventionalization due to temporal iconicity. This presupposes that the languagesin question already have the structures necessary to generate strings of verb phrases,a subset of which are perceived as iconic. Where temporal iconicity is not found, linearordering exhibits more typological variation, as the syntax of a given language maygenerate more than one order.

Thinking with the head, seeing with the eyes? Investigating the relationship between place of articulation (PoA) and two semantic domains in German Sign Language (DGS)

Iconicity, the (perceived) form-meaning relationship, is present on all linguistic levels insign languages. Looking at the phonological level, there is awell established relationshipbetween the (fore)head as place of articulation (PoA) and the semantic domain of cognitionfor multiple sign languages. In previous studies, this relationship has been suggestedfor German Sign Language (DGS) as well, but none of them looked at the quantitativedistribution of PoAs in signs within the semantic domain of cognition. In thisstudy, we not only investigate the quantitative distribution of PoAs in signs of the semanticdomain of cognition for DGS but also in the semantic domain of visual perception.Findings of this study are in line with previous research, suggesting a strong relationshipbetween the semantic domain of cognition and the associated PoA (fore)head. Forthe semantic domain of visual perception, signs are predominantly articulated near theupper half of the face but not always close to the expected PoA, namely the eyes in thenarrow sense.

Deaf and hard-of-hearing patients are unsatisfied with and avoid German health care: Results from an online survey in German Sign Language

BackgroundApproximately 235,000 deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) people live in Germany. Due to communication barriers, medical care for this group is difficult in many respects. Especially in the case of acute illnesses, the possibilities of communication, e.g., through sign language interpreters, are limited. This study investigates the satisfaction of DHH patients with medical care in Germany in unplanned medical consultations. The aim of this study is to provide insights into DHH patient's perception of medical care, to identify barriers and avoidance behaviours that stem from fears, miscommunication, and prior experiences.MethodsWe obtained data from adult DHH participants between February and April 2022 throughout Germany via an online survey in German Sign Language. The responses of N = 383 participants (65% female, M = 44 years, SD = 12.70 years) were included in statistical analyses. Outcomes were convictions of receiving help, satisfaction with healthcare provision, and avoiding healthcare visits; further variables were concerns during healthcare visits, incidences of miscommunication, and a communication score. We calculated t-tests, ANOVAs, correlations, and linear and logistic regression analyses.ResultsOur main findings show that (1) DHH patients were unsatisfied with provided healthcare (M = 3.88; SD = 2.34; range 0–10); (2) DHH patients reported many concerns primarily about communication and treatment aspects when visiting a doctor; and (3) 57% of participants deliberately avoided doctor visits even though they experienced symptoms. Factors such as concerns during doctor’s visits (B = -0.18; 95%CI: -0.34--0.02; p = .027) or miscommunication with medical staff (B = -0.19; 95%CI: -0.33–0.06; p = .006) were associated with satisfaction with medical care, while we found almost no associations with gender and location, and only few with age and education.ConclusionsOverall, our findings suggest that DHH patients are unsatisfied with provided healthcare, they deliberately avoid doctor visits, and they face various communication barriers. This study revealed several communication-related determinants of satisfaction with healthcare in DHH patients, such as incidences of miscommunication and the communication score. Communication-related barriers have high potential to be addressed in collaboration with the DHH community. To improve the medical care and the satisfaction with healthcare in DHH patients, training healthcare professionals, digital technologies, and other communication-enhancing interventions should be explored in future intervention studies.

Wh-doubling in German Sign Language

Abstract Wh-doubling is a widely attested phenomenon in sign languages. Several analyses are found in the literature assuming, for example, base-generation of one of the doubles or making (heavy) use of remnant movement. Using data from German Sign Language, this article discusses the possibility that the structure might be derived from a relative clause embedded under a wh-question which finally undergoes sluicing. It will be argued that such an account correctly predicts the distribution of the wh-phrases found in German Sign Language doubling constructions.

Depicting Translocating Motion in Sign Languages

Abstract: Visual manifestations of an object that moves from one place to another are common in sign languages. Here, we offer an overview of techniques for conveying motion of an entity based on an examination of storytelling and poetry in seven sign languages. The signer can use embodiment and/or classifiers to show translocating movement of an object, or they can adjust the dynamic properties of signs themselves, including the size of the signing space, rate of movement, trilled motion of manuals and nonmanuals, repetition, and adding a zigzag component to the movement path. Additionally, we found one technique in German Sign Language (DGS) that uses a manual sign to indicate great speed or movement covering a large distance.

Numeral Incorporation as Grammaticalization? A Corpus Study on German Sign Language (DGS)

Numeral incorporation describes the merging of a numeral sign with a lexical sign to create a single sign with a compositional meaning, e.g., “three weeks.” As a phenomenon of simultaneous morphology, numeral incorporation is unique to sign languages. While researchers disagree on the exact morphological structure of the construction, it has, thus far, mainly been described as a synchronic, phonological phenomenon. Using the DGS corpus, a language resource on German Sign Language, we explore the possibility of numeral incorporation resulting from a language change process, specifically a grammaticalization process. Our dataset comprises tokens belonging to nine different signs that may occur in numeral incorporations. We find a cline of three constructions in the corpus, which shows a progression from free morpheme to cliticized morpheme to bound morpheme (affix). A comparison of the usage frequency of the three constructions in different age groups reveals that signers use more incorporations the younger they are. Following the apparent time approach, these observations are taken as indicators of diachronic language change. We describe to what extent the properties of numeral incorporation fit with the grammaticalization hypothesis and conclude that while the emergence of numeral incorporation is an instance of language change and shows some aspects seen in grammaticalization, the gradual change fails to exhibit some crucial aspects of grammaticalization and, thus, should not be regarded as an example thereof.

Neurophysiological evidence for the first mention effect during pronominal reference resolution in German Sign Language

AbstractAnaphoric pronoun resolution in spoken language has been shown to be influenced by the first mention bias. While this bias has been well investigated in spoken languages, less is known about a similar bias in sign languages. In sign languages, pronominal pointing signs (index) are directed towards referential locations in the signing space typically associated with discourse referents. In German Sign Language (DGS), signers follow an ipsi-contralateral default pattern while tracking referents, i.e., the first referent is associated with the ipsilateral and the second referent with the contralateral area of the signing space. Hence, directing a pronoun to either the ipsi- or the contralateral side of the signing space refers to either the first or the second discourse referent. The present event-related potential study reanalyzes the data fromWienholz et al. (2018)and examines the first mention effect during pronoun resolution in ambiguous contexts in DGS. The original study presented participants with sentence sets containing two referents without overt localization in the first and a sentence-initial pronominalindexsign in the second sentence directed to either the ipsilateral or contralateral side of the signing space. Based on the direction of theindexsign, our analysis reveals an N400 for contralateralindexsigns suggesting increased processing costs triggered by a violation of the first mention effect. Thus, the current study provides first experimental evidence for a first mention effect in DGS and highlights the modality-independent nature of this effect.

Preprocessing for Keypoint-Based Sign Language Translation without Glosses

While machine translation for spoken language has advanced significantly, research on sign language translation (SLT) for deaf individuals remains limited. Obtaining annotations, such as gloss, can be expensive and time-consuming. To address these challenges, we propose a new sign language video-processing method for SLT without gloss annotations. Our approach leverages the signer's skeleton points to identify their movements and help build a robust model resilient to background noise. We also introduce a keypoint normalization process that preserves the signer's movements while accounting for variations in body length. Furthermore, we propose a stochastic frame selection technique to prioritize frames to minimize video information loss. Based on the attention-based model, our approach demonstrates effectiveness through quantitative experiments on various metrics using German and Korean sign language datasets without glosses.

How do signers mark conditionals in German Sign Language? Insights from a Sentence Reproduction Task on the use of nonmanual and manual markers

This paper presents the results of a Sentence Reproduction Task (SRT) investigating conditional sentences in German Sign Language (DGS). We found that participants mark conditional sentences in DGS by systematically using different non-manual markers on the antecedent and the consequent. In addition, these non-manual markers were frequently used in combination with one or two manual signs. However, the manual markers were omitted in the test sentences, i.e., the input stimuli the participants were asked to reproduce. The results of our experimental study are, on the one hand, consistent with descriptions of manual and non-manual strategies used to mark conditional sentences in different unrelated sign languages. On the other hand, our findings provide new insights on the multi-layered marking of conditional sentences in DGS.

Fantastic ‘at leasts’ and how to sign them

Scalar modifiers, such as the English at least, have been argued to have four different readings: a neutral, an epistemic, a concessive, and a qualifying reading. This paper investigates the expression of these four readings in German Sign Language against the background of the Bodily Mapping Hypothesis. This hypothesis states that there is a systematic mapping between the position of an operator in the syntactic structure and the height of the articulator expressing it: the higher in the structure an operator is located, the higher the body part used for its expression will be. It will be shown that the readings of ‘at least’ encoding CP-functions are expressed using upper face non-manual markings, while the neutral reading is expressed manually without any additional non-manuals—in line with the Bodily Mapping Hypothesis.

Challenges in rating signed production: A mixed-methods study of a Swiss German Sign Language Form-Recall Vocabulary Test

Challenges in rating signed production: A mixed-methods study of a Swiss German Sign Language Form-Recall Vocabulary Test

Challenges in rating signed production: A mixed-methods study of a Swiss German Sign Language form-recall vocabulary test

Sign languages present particular challenges to language assessors in relation to variation in signs, weakly defined citation forms, and a general lack of standard-setting work even in long-established measures of productive sign proficiency. The present article addresses and explores these issues via a mixed-methods study of a human-rated form-recall sign vocabulary test of 98 signs for beginning adult learners of Swiss German Sign Language (DSGS), using post-test qualitative rater interviews to inform interpretation of the results of quantitative analysis of the test ratings using many-facets Rasch measurement. Significant differences between two expert raters were observed on three signs. The follow-up interview revealed disagreement on the criterion of correctness, despite the raters’ involvement in the development of the base lexicon of signs. The findings highlight the challenges of using human ratings to assess the production not only of sign language vocabulary, but of minority languages generally, and underscore the need for greater effort expended on the standardization of sign language assessment.

Conditional clauses in German Sign Language (DGS) and Brazilian Sign Language (Libras)

Conditional clauses in German Sign Language (DGS) and Brazilian Sign Language (Libras)

Development of a Technology-Assisted Assessment for Sign Language Learning

The goal of a recently concluded project in Switzerland was to pioneer an assessment system for lexical signs of Swiss German Sign Language (Deutschschweizerische Gebärdensprache, DSGS) that relies on automatic sign language recognition. The assessment system gives adult L2 learners of DSGS feedback on the correctness of the manual parameters of signing (handshape, hand position, location, and movement) of isolated signs they produce. In its initial version, the system includes automatic feedback for a subset of a DSGS vocabulary size production test consisting of approximately 100 lexical items at CEFR level A1. The paper at hand reports on the process of selecting the items for the test, compiling training data for the SLR system, and linguistically analyzing errors in the resulting video recordings.