Transmission Of Sign Language Research Articles

Semantic Communications for Image-Based Sign Language Transmission

Semantic Communications for Image-Based Sign Language Transmission

Bio-Inspired Homogeneous Conductive Hydrogel with Flexibility and Adhesiveness for Information Transmission and Sign Language Recognition

The wearable electronic technique is increasingly becoming an effective approach to overcoming the communication obstacles between signers and non-signers. However, the efficacy of conducting hydrogels currently proposed as flexible sensor devices is hindered by their poor processability and matrix mismatch, which frequently results in adhesion failure at the combined interfaces and deterioration of mechanical and electrochemical performance. Herein, we propose a hydrogel composed of a rigid matrix in which the hydrophobic and aggregated polyaniline was homogeneously embedded, while quaternate-functionalized nucleobase moieties endowed the flexible network with adhesiveness. Accordingly, the resulting hydrogel with chitosan-graft-polyaniline (chi-g-PANI) copolymers exhibited a promising conductivity (4.8 S·m-1) because of the uniformly dispersed polyaniline components and a high strain strength (0.84 MPa) because of the chain entanglement of chitosan after soaking. In addition, the modified adenine molecules not only realized synchronization in improving the stretchability (up to 1303%) and exhibiting a skin-like elastic modulus (≈184 kPa), but also provided a durable interfacial contact with various materials. The hydrogel was further fabricated into a strain-monitoring sensor for information encryption and sign language transmission based on its sensing stability and strain sensitivity of up to 2.77. The developed wearable sign language interpreting system provides an innovative strategy to assist auditory or speech-impaired people in communicating with non-signers using visual-gestural patterns including body movements and facial expressions.

The Social and Epistemological Violence of Inclusive Education for Deaf Learners


 
 
 This paper begins by describing several recent human rights complaints brought by Canadian parents of deaf children who have not been able to access an education in sign language in provinces where a deaf school has been closed. The paper outlines some ways in which so-called inclusive educational systems perpetuate social and epistemological violence by depriving deaf children of direct instruction in sign language and access to a community of signing deaf peers. Inclusive educational systems have disrupted intergenerational sign language transmission and resulted in deaf children’s loss of identity. The paper calls for sign language policies and sign language-medium educational practices to ensure the viability of deaf futures.
 
 

An agent-based model of sign language persistence informed by real-world data

Abstract As evidence from sign languages is increasingly used to investigate the process of language emergence and evolution, it is important to understand the conditions that allow for sign languages to persist. We build on a mathematical model of sign language persistence (i.e. protection from loss) which takes into account the genetic transmission of deafness, the cultural transmission of sign language and marital patterns (Aoki & Feldman, 1991). We use agent-based modeling techniques and draw inspiration from the wealth of genetic and cultural data on the sign language Kata Kolok to move towards a less abstract model of sign language persistence. In a set of experiments we explore how sign language persistence is affected by language transmission types, the distribution of deaf alleles, population size and marital patterns. We highlight the value of using agent-based modeling for this type of research, which allows for the incorporation of real-world data into model development.

The effect of cultural transmission on shared sign language persistence

In this paper, we revisit a mathematical model of sign language persistence by Aoki and Feldman (Theor Popul Biol 39(3):358–372, 1991), which investigates the evolution of genes causing deafness, affected by an assortative mating parameter, and the cultural transmission of sign language. To assess their model, we reimplement it as an agent-based simulation to be able to easily represent structured relationships in a finite population. We study the persistence of shared sign languages, a categorization of sign languages, which are typically shared by deaf and hearing members of a small community with a high incidence of hereditary deafness (Nyst, 2012. Shared sign languages. Sign language: An international handbook, pp. 552–574). We observe how shared sign language persistence is affected by hearing signers, marriage patterns, and various modes of sign language transmission: vertical, horizontal, oblique, and grandparental transmission. In contrast to Aoki and Feldman’s (Theor Popul Biol 9(3):358–372, 1991) finding that modes of transmission other than vertical are negligible, in the agent-based model we find that adding modes of transmission helps to ensure shared sign language persistence. A better understanding of sign language persistence has relevance for processes of cultural evolution, (sign language) linguistics, and language endangerment.

Sign Languages (review)

Reviewed by: Sign Languages Miako Rankin (bio) Sign Languages, edited by Diane Brentari (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, 691 pp., ISBN 978-0-52-188370-2) The task is daunting: to survey sign language linguistic study to date, to create a work that will stand among its Cambridge Language Surveys series siblings as representative of not just the typological features but also the genetic relationships and sociolinguistic issues of signed languages around the globe, to introduce spoken language linguists to the field-broadening insights of the visual modality, to provide an introductory framework for students of deaf studies and sign language studies that is simultaneously enticing and relevant for those who have laid the linguistic groundwork in our field. A daunting task indeed. Having been assigned to the task, Sign Languages, edited by Diane Brentari, takes on its role with remarkable grace and poise. Though fifty years ago one could scarcely imagine the linguistic study of signed languages, a mere half century later the idea of a single-volume survey of sign language seems unequal to the task. So much ground has been broken, so many questions have been studied, so many approaches applied, and so many languages explored, yet we have only begun to scratch the surface. Sign Languages situates itself clearly and specifically at this moment in the development of our field. Rather than attempt to paint one single picture representing linguistic findings about signed languages the world over, Sign Languages pieces together chapters, resulting in a kaleidoscopic image. Findings and examples from more than forty sign languages are included in the volume, throwing light on both the myriad sign languages that exist and the remarkable dearth of knowledge about them and the people who use them in so many areas of the world. The volume is [End Page 141] populated with the work of more than fifty scholars at varying stages of their careers, writing individually and collectively to shape pieces of the image into unique sizes and shapes. Each chapter stands alone, and yet all work together, showing parallels across languages and history and approaches, while at the same time drawing our mind’s eye to the vivid contrasts. The three section divisions in the book work as primary colors by tying the disparate aspects of the image together. The first section describes the history and transmission of certain sign languages across generations, focusing primarily on areas for which there has been less documentation of the transmission process and/or where the process of transmission has been different from that found in the most widely studied cases. This purposeful choice to highlight languages and areas that are less well known carries throughout the book and serves as a welcome and all-too-often necessary reminder of the breadth of experience of sign language users. At the same time, the authors in the volume overtly recognize that their accounts of language use are by no means evenly weighted due to scarcity of information available and the difficulty in gaining access to the necessary foundational statistics, reliable language examples, and signing communities, as well as to the constraints of writing a single chapter and making the larger notions as generalizable as possible. All of the chapters in the transmission section follow a similar outline: first situating each sign language within the country’s spoken-language situational context and then tracing the sign-language situation in that country through official recognition, use in educational settings, relationship of the signing community to national society, and linguistic research, all the way to opinions on the future of each language. Chapter 2, titled “Transmission of Sign Languages in Northern Europe,” for example, focuses on Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands. The authors highlight the fact that the ways in which sign languages in these countries have been transmitted are different from those of other European and North American sign languages. Each chapter presents a parallel discussion, albeit about a different language or group of languages and from the unique position of that language. For example, chapter 6 is somewhat grandiosely titled “Transmission of Sign Languages in Africa,” though it focuses entirely on the situation of Ugandan Sign Language (USL). However, [End Page...

Signs from the void

This is a report on a pilot project commissioned by the BBC in conjunction with the author's final MA dissertation for Durham University. The purpose of the research was to investigate British Sign Language (BSL) production on television and its comprehension by the viewing audience. The data analysis could then be used for programme decisions relating to cultural and linguistic specifications. This is especially pertinent in view of the current Broadcasting Act in Great Britain, which stipulates 1% of sign language transmission on all digital and terrestrial television by 1999 and an increase to 5% by 2009.1 In the original research, 70 hours of signed data were recorded. Individual profiles were made for each signer on a sample tape as well as a thorough description of a respondent group.The research focused on a comprehension test.This involved three group categories reflecting two varieties of sign language users, a group whose BSL is most informed (influenced) by English, another whose BSL is dominant, and a hearing (non-signing) group used for comparison. All sample and test responses were analysed and profiled in view of signing production and psychosocial treatment of the language. The use of sign language on television was compared with its wider use among deaf people.This paper summarises and concludes the discussion and recommendations that may be directly referred to by programme makers and translators/interpreters.2

Cultural Transmission of a Sign Language When Deafness Is Caused by Recessive Alleles at Two Independent Loci

Two unlinked autosomal loci are assumed to affect the ability to hear in such a way that homozygosity for the recessive allele at either locus causes deafness. The five deaf genotypes are subject to the same negative selection due to a lower likelihood of marriage, but unmarried deaf persons remain socially active and participate in the cultural transmission of sign languages. Marriages are assortative for deafness or for hearing, and mutation occurs irreversibly from the dominant to recessive allele at each locus at the same rate. At mutation-selection balance, the fully polymorphic equilibrium is symmetrical. Based on this genetic model, we consider the relative importance of various forms of cultural transmission as they affect the persistence of sign languages. Horizontal transmission is shown to be effective when deaf children are able to interact with many peers. This observation is especially pertinent if assortative meeting of deaf children occurs, for example, at schools for the deaf. Oblique transmission can also be effective, but the literature suggests that this kind of transmission plays only a minor role. It is necessary, however, that some form of cultural transmission occur between generations. Thus, vertical transmission is a critical factor, despite the fact that parent-child transmission is often interrupted due to the recessive inheritance of deafness. In particular, the contribution of vertical transmission is enhanced by assortative mating for deafness.

Contour image sequence compression through motion analysis and hybrid coding method

This paper presents a motion analysis algorithm (MAA) and a hybrid coding method for contour image sequence compression. The contour image sequence consists of objects moving and rotating in a 3-D world with occlusion, shape, and size variations from frame to frame. The MAA separates the moving image sequence into several object-oriented subsequences (OOSs). In each OOS, the component is either stationary or moves smoothly, and the motion parameters can be easily estimated. The first and last frames of OOS are key frames, and the others are in-between frames. The key frames are unpredictable, and the entire frames need to be encoded. The in-between frames are compensable, and they are encoded by the motion parameter coding. The hybrid coder uses vectorgraph coding to remove spatial redundancy of the key frames and motion parameter coding to reduce the temporal redundancy of the OOSs. The motion parameters are encoded as combinations of 2-D translation, 2-D rotation, and scaling. There are many applications for contour image sequence compression. The cartoon image sequence (a sequence of line drawing sketches) and the high-frame-rate videophone for sign language transmission are good examples. Experiments show that our method encodes the contour image sequence at a very high compression ratio without losing intelligibility.

Recessive hereditary deafness, assortative mating, and persistence of a sign language

We model the cultural transmission of sign language when there is one-locus genetic variation for deafness and hearing. Our premises are that the deaf are more motivated to learn sign language than the hearing, and that a vertically transmitted sign language, unlike recessive hereditary deafness, cannot “jump a generation.” Conditions are obtained for persistence (i.e., protection from loss) of signers. These conditions are more easily satisfied the greater the fraction of the hearing who also learn sign language and as the frequency of the recessive gene for deafness increases. Persistence is also facilitated by assortative mating for deafness, but not by assortment for signing. With vertical transmission only, it is necessary that one signer parent be able to transmit sign language with greater than one-half the efficiency of two. Under the assumption that the hearing do not learn sign language, the following additional results are obtained. Persistence is more likely with dominant as opposed to recessive inheritance. When recessive hereditary and acquired deafness co-occur, increasing the frequency of the latter has opposite effects depending on the degree of assortment. Opportunities for the deaf to learn sign language outside the family seem not to affect the conditions for persistence.