Digital Commons Network^™

Speech & Language Services: Examining The Experiences Of Deaf / Hard Of Hearing People, Milayna N. Barker

University Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (HoH) adults and parents of Deaf/HoH children related to speech and language services, and their recommendations for service providers. Historically, professionals have focused on the development of speech and aural/oral skills of Deaf and HoH people. As such, when working with families of newly-identified children with hearing loss, hearing professionals may be ill-equipped to provide culturally-responsive, fully inclusive information and education regarding communication options and opportunities.

Method: This study used a qualitative research design to examine participant experiences related to speech and language services …

Mapping Deaf America: Visualizing American Deaf Sociality Through Geographic Information Systems, Emily Nover

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

In the study of the US deaf community, a noticeable gap is evident in the absence of an accessible map that presents current data about the community. This project takes an American perspective, embracing the term “Deaf America” as a framework that highlights the unique social network, geographic nuances, and sensory experiences of the deaf community in the United States. These elements are crucial to understanding the extensive network of the deaf community in the US. However, there is a lack of quality visual representations of these elements. This project seeks to bridge this gap by collecting data and leveraging …

Exploring Student Engagement At Gallaudet: A Video Analysis Of Direct Asl Instruction And Asl Interpreter-Facilitated Instruction, Mara Land

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

This capstone study explores students' engagement levels in Gallaudet’s classrooms through a compilation of videos courtesy of Gallaudet’s Bilingual Evaluation, Testing, and Assessment Center (BETA Center). Students' engagement in videos of classes taught by a professor who uses ASL interpreters (indirect communication) and those of professors fluent in ASL (direct communication) are analyzed. The video analysis consists of two classes taught by professors fluent in ASL and one taught by a professor utilizing ASL interpreters. Student and professor surveys also contributed to the data collection. This research aims to analyze the differences between each classroom type and contribute to identifying …

Beyond The Hands: Exploring Intersectional Identities Of Black American Sign Language Users, Tatum Turner

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

There is a significant gap in research related to the impact of intersectionality on linguistic identity performance among individuals negotiating multiple marginalized identities. This gap is especially significant among deaf Black and African American individuals who use the American Sign Language (ASL) variety deemed Black American Sign Language (BASL) (Hairston & Smith, 1983). This research aims to identify and discuss the use of the eight distinguishing features of BASL (McCaskill et al. 2011) as indexes of intersectional identities.

My data consists of videos sourced from YouTube, each chosen according to the following criteria: must have at least one self-identifying Black …

The Impact Of The First Language Transfer On English Language Syntax For Arab Esl Students At Private Language Center In Mid-Size University Town, Mohammed A. S. Abdalhadi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the Impact of the First Language Transfer on English Language Syntax for Arab ESL Students at Private Language Center in Mid-Size University Town. The research population was 12 participants from Spring International Language Center through Intensive English Program and 7 participants from Adult Education center. The writing samples and interview were the main two instruments to analyze the data. I used constructive Analysis (CA), Error Analysis (EA), and coding to analyze the writing samples and the interview. The study focused on the syntax transfer between Arabic L1 and English L2, so Adjective/noun order, Subject/verb order, Number/numbered order, …

Engaging The Rwandan Deaf Community: Sociolinguistics And Education, Lillian Berggoetz

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

This capstone project focuses on language research among the deaf community in Rwanda, Africa. This study examines sign language in Rwanda, the language’s context, and considers one’s positionality as the researcher. This is a three-tiered project. The first tier is an analysis of research positionality and how to do ethical research. The second tier applies qualitative research methods to understand sociolinguistics by interviewing Rwandans in the deaf and signing community. The third tier is a linguistic analysis of colors in data previously collected in Rwanda by Dr. Cecily Whitworth. The ultimate goals for this project are to learn about positionality …

Tied Together, Eiko Nishida

Theses and Dissertations

The paper is about a site-specific installation that questions a viewer’s norms and perspectives, through the use of multilingual newspapers as a sculptural material.

The Semiotic Use Of Emojis In Marketing Communication, Naif Albarzan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the emergence of social media as the primary tool for communication in social and business settings, research on effectiveness of communication using of emojis is limited. This project seeks to bridge the gap in understanding the effectiveness of the use of emojis in marketing communication. In particular, the dissertation will focus on an interpretive exploration of the use of emojis in marketing communication as a semiotic that supports persuasion.

American Sign Language (Asl): Linguistically And Cognitively - Why Deaf People Should Learn Asl & Learn It Early, Helena Isabel Berczes

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis presents data supporting the value of including American Sign Language (ASL) in the education of Deaf people. Historically, Deaf education has not fully included or has excluded ASL in an effort to focus on English due to a belief that ASL hinders learning English. ASL must fit within the definition of language with unique linguistic features for its inclusion in language education. Plasticity of the brain lends itself to the ability for language processing networks to form based on language experience. Deaf people can fully access visual language versus auditory language. Therefore, acquiring ASL early in life, during …

A Picture Worth A Thousand Words: Factors Influencing Disability Accommodations, Alicia E. Martin

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Because not all disabilities look the same it is difficult to label a person with disabilities just by looking at them. Given that our knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions impact how we interpret our world and our willingness to act, people, including professors, may be biased toward providing accommodations for those with easily recognizable disabilities and biased against those with non-recognizable disabilities, and this may impact the disabled person’s ability to learn. This thesis aims to address whether professors’ disability-related attitudes, perceptions of accommodation reasonableness, and willingness to provide accommodations differ when the disability is recognizable (student is pictured in a …

Deaf Accessibility In The Christian Church, Madison Finley

Honors Projects

Around the globe, only two percent of Deaf people have had the opportunity to be introduced to the Gospel. Religious accessibility is limited for individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. This paper begins to investigate:

• How can Christian churches increase accessibility to religion, worship, and other programs for Deaf individuals?

My Honors Project activity is preparing research and materials for a physical guide booklet for Christian churches that do not currently offer any Deaf ministries or American Sign Language interpretation or that may be seeking to increase accessibility for Deaf individuals. The primary purpose of this project is to create …

How Hearing Parents With Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing Children Construct Deafness Through Their Early Intervention Experience, Bettie T. Petersen

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

This dissertation explores how hearing parents with deaf/hard of hearing children come to understand deafness. This mixed methods study used an online survey and multiple case studies (volunteers from survey). Participants were asked about early intervention experiences and beliefs about deafness. The survey had 74 respondents and five families participated in the interviews. Survey participants’ beliefs about deafness were primarily medical, focusing on the perceived barriers caused by deafness and the remediation of those barriers through spoken language options. A small number of respondents adopted a cultural perspective of deafness and focused on remediation of barriers through involvement in the …

The International Academy Of Language And Culture: The Global (Pre)K-12 Charter School Network, Dree-El Simmons

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The International Academy of Language and Culture (IALC) is a charter school based on the original concept of charter schools by Ray Budde and Albert Shanker, as an academic environment dedicated and designed to improving the educational outcomes for its students through innovative pedagogy. Committed to American (and global) education reform, the IALC incorporates elements from higher education into the early childhood and adolescent settings. We accomplish this by utilizing an interdisciplinary approach in our language and culture-based program.

The IALC is a multilingual, full-immersion program. Food Studies (including culinary arts), the Arts, the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Martial Arts …

Lived Experiences Of Mixed-Race Children Of Deaf Adults, Marissa Rivera

Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies and Communication Equity Thesis or Action Research Project

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative exploratory study was to examine the impact of Deaf culture upbringing on mixed-race children raised in the United States. The data was obtained through virtual semi structured focus groups with ten mixed-race children of Deaf adults (Codas) over the age of eighteen years old, and an anonymous survey with the phenomenological analysis of participants’ experiences growing up as a mixed-race child of a Deaf adult. Growing up mixed-race as a Coda revealed four overarching themes of lived experiences such as: intersectionality of a mixed-race Coda, parental culture transmission, hearing family members, and managing intersecting …

Exploring The Underlying Forces In Interpreter Education In The United States, Chris Mcgaha

Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies and Communication Equity Thesis or Action Research Project

In interpreter education programs across the United States, future practitioners are shaped and molded by many factors during their education journey, some explicit and some implicit. Those factors can include the formal curriculum, faculty and staff diversity, and interactions with mentors and peers. The underlying forces or hidden curriculum that often goes unseen can impact a student’s educational journey positively or negatively. The impact can vary depending on certain demographic variables of the individual students. The data was analyzed using a system thinking framework and validated that there are underlying forces influencing interpreter student development. The following research briefly examined …

Barriers To Student Success In Deaf/Hard-Of-Hearing Mainstream Programs, Sabine Castro

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

This capstone evaluates the barriers to quality education that exist in deaf/hard-of-hearing mainstream programs by evaluating three key factors. First, the presence of manually coded English systems (MCEs) in mainstream programs will be discussed along with the history that led up to their creation. Second, lEPs (Individualized Education Programs), 504 plans, and language policies enforced by school districts are treated as one factor. They will be discussed in the same section because of their overlapping natures as they are inextricably related to the classroom environment and acquiring the right accommodations in school. Lastly, the home language environment and the vital …

Advancing Towards A More Complete Sign Language Detection Application, Shane Angel

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

The goal of this capstone is to improve the experiences of Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals who use teleconferencing tools through the use of sign language detection software. Popular teleconferencing applications such as Zoom and Google Meet contain features that can automatically spotlight users when they are speaking, but there is currently no equivalent feature for those who used signed languages to communicate on these platforms. Such a feature would need to utilize a sign language detection program to spotlight individuals, but this technology is early in development and is not currently available for large-scale implementation. This capstone strives …

Exploring Teaming Dynamics In Video Remote Interpreting, Jana R. Mauldin

Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies and Communication Equity Thesis or Action Research Project

Collaborative work is an integral part of providing a successful interpretation in certain situations, and the practice of working in Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) settings has left interpreters without their usual strategies or approaches available to work as a team. This research study utilized an online questionnaire to explore strategies employed and challenges faced by interpreters working together in VRI. A descriptive survey revealed that interpreters alter their approach to teaming, juggle a multitude of technological demands, and have created inventive ways of connecting or using technology to their advantage. Findings also indicate the need for increased training in VRI, …

Interpreting Beyond The Binary: An Exploration Into The Experience Of American Sign Language Interpreters Beyond And Between Female/Male Binaries, Tristen Evah Hellewell

Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies and Communication Equity Thesis or Action Research Project

This study explores the experience of sign language interpreters who exist between and beyond female/male gender binaries. Limited research in the field of sign language interpreting to date centers the experiences of transgender and non-binary interpreters, prompting the need for inquiry into this population. Through a mixed-methods approach using surveys (N=31), interviews (n=4) and a focus group (n=4) participants were asked to describe experiences with colleagues, interpreter users, hiring bodies and the general interpreting field. Three themes emerged from the findings including (a) collegial relationships indicating both lack of support and instances of collegial solidarity; (b) personhood of interpreters pertaining …

Error Occurrences And Types Between Certified And Non-Certified Interpreters, Ariel Baeseman

Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies and Communication Equity Thesis or Action Research Project

Much of the standard interpreting practice is dependent on an interpreter’s certification level. As a result, many interpreters find themselves at assignments for which they are not qualified. This study aimed to identify what differences in error rates - if any - were present between interpreting samples from certified and non-certified interpreters of similar experience levels. In a sample of ten interpreters with less than five years of professional interpreting experience, split evenly between certified and non-certified, each provided an unrehearsed interpretation of the same stimulus to be analyzed. The sample was rated against a rubric measuring knowledge-lean interpreting skills …

Tell Me How You Really Feel: A Qualitative Look At The Trepidation Felt By American Sign Language Interpreters When Voicing Taboo And Strong Language, Devon E. Wilson

Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies and Communication Equity Thesis or Action Research Project

Interpreters are humans and, despite historical assumptions and beliefs, do not remain completely neutral when performing interpreting duties. At times, interpreters will feel emotions that surface as a reaction to source messages. These emotions can arise quickly with little warning, causing interpreters to navigate them in a matter of seconds and make decisions regarding how to best interpret the source message. This is especially true if the source message contains any form of taboo / strong language. Such messages may cause trepidation when voicing - working from American Sign Language into English - and word choices may affect the hearing …

The Presence Of Coping Education In American Sign Language Interpreter Education Programs As Perceived By Graduates, Anna N. Teitt

Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies and Communication Equity Thesis or Action Research Project

This study investigated whether coping strategies were part of the curriculum in various American Sign Language interpreter education programs (ASL IEPs). The researcher conducted a national survey and ten interviews with participants to assess their current coping strategies, where they had been learned, and whether their IEPs had prepared them to cope with the possibility of secondary traumatic stress (STS) and vicarious trauma (VT). The researcher utilized literature regarding risks of STS and VT in several settings for interpreters to position the gap of literature regarding coping strategies interpreters use. This study focused on graduates of IEPs because IEPs provide …

Health, Human Rights, And Structural Violence: Identifying Barriers To Healthcare Access Of Deaf American Sign Language Users In Rhode Island, Christine A. West

Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies and Communication Equity Thesis or Action Research Project

Deaf American Sign Language (ASL) users possess both human and legal rights to health. Yet, despite these rights, this linguistic minority group continues to experience challenges in accessing health care services. Using a structural violence framework, this study identifies the barriers to healthcare access of Deaf ASL users in one particular state - Rhode Island. More specifically, this study seeks to uncover the structural and social forces that constrain agency of Deaf ASL users in their attempts to access healthcare. Survey methodology is used to obtain both qualitative and quantitative data from 11 community stakeholder groups. Results show that Deaf …

Creation Of A Neural Network For The American Sign Language To Russian Translation App, John T. Simmons

Capstone Projects

1. A large population of people utilize American Sign Language for their primary method of communication.
2. No commercially available product is available for these people for when they need to communicate with speakers of a foreign language.
3. We must investigate methods to make communication between these two parties easier and more accessible.
4. By using a neural network to classify images of American Sign Language letters, we can build a service to make translation of American Sign Language into foreign languages possible.

Demonstratives In Nsélišcn ‘Montana Salish’, Aspen A. Decker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis presents a detailed analysis of the Nsélišcn ‘Montana Salish’ demonstrative system. I propose that there are three features encoded in the demonstratives that I examined in this thesis: (i) proximity of the speaker in relation to the referent, (ii) common ground between the speaker and addressee, and (iii) visibility of the referent. I further propose that the Nsélišcn demonstrative system distinguishes three degrees of proximity: proximal, medial, and distal. Nsélišcn is a member of the Southern Interior branch of the Salishan language family. The data analyzed in this thesis was collected from native Nsélišcn speakers.

Silent And Accessible Theatre, Nicole Line

Honors Projects

Silent and Deaf accessible theatre challenges the stereotypes many people have of theatre and introduces audiences to new perceptions of the artform. When it comes to theatre, one often thinks of long, multi-act plays with lots of spoken dialogue. While this is the most common style of theatrical performance, there is more to theatre than staged language. When deciding my project’s concept this past year, I brainstormed many different ways to include all areas of my studies here at BGSU including theatre, dance, and American Sign Language (ASL). I am very passionate about these aspects and wanted my project to …

The Iconicity And Non-Arbitrariness Of Body Locations In Four Unrelated Sign Languages, John Samson

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I show that universally, there is a strong tendency for signs located on the body to have an iconic or non-arbitrary motivation, especially in their original form. I analyze sign language dictionaries from four unrelated sign languages and establish an iconic or non-arbitrary link between the form of the signs and their meaning, and classify those links according to 8 categories of body location iconicity and 3 categories of non-arbitrariness. The strength of this tendency depends on the percentage of signs that are shown to have an iconic or non-arbitrary link. For the data analyzed here this …

Participant Reference In Colombian Sign Language Narrative, Martha Lois Gateley

Theses and Dissertations

Much of the research on discourse in sign languages thus far has been carried out on American Sign Language. With this thesis, I add to the current research by comparing what is known about participant reference in American Sign Language with Colombian Sign Language.

This thesis analyzes six separate stories totaling 72 minutes, signed by 5 different native signers of Colombian Sign Language. ELAN (a computer software for annotation) was used to mark all of the referring terms in the subject position and categorize the terms by type (nominal reference, pronominal reference, zero-anaphor, and classifier) and by function (introduction, reintroduction …

Exploring Tactile Art-Making With Deafblind Students And Their Families: An Opportunity For Creative Play, Alice Rodgers

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The impact of a deafblind diagnosis on an individual’s mental health and the well-being of the family involved can be profound. However, current research and available literature for the mental health treatment and therapy practices of deafblind persons and their families is limited (Kyzar et al., 2016; “WFDB Global Report 2018,” n.d.). This thesis used the Leeds Family Psychology and Therapy Service principles (Leeds FPTS) and the Expressive Therapies Continuum with established deafblind teaching strategies to facilitate an original arts-based community project entitled: “Things We Like.” This project provided an opportunity for deafblind students (ages three to 22) and their …

Untold Stories Of Asl Deprivation: A Collection Of Experiences, Lydia Kopp

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

Language deprivation is a serious issue in deaf education and in the deaf community. Language deprivation occurs when the child is not exposed to an accessible language within their formative years, which is from birth to five years old. In this Capstone project, real-life experiences of language deprivation specifically on the lack of access to ASL were explored by collected interviews from four adults that were converted into creative nonfiction stories in a biographical style. This project focuses on the effects of ASL deprivation, as opposed to English and any other language. The stories portrayed how different the participants’ experiences …