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Editorial
No full textThis editorial outlines the problematics related to metalinguistic awareness (MLA) and bimodal bilingualism in deaf and hearing subjects, and describes a series of contributions that illustrate some major theoretical and methodological issues. Among these, the definitional criteria of MLA in signed as compared to spoken languages, the creation and use of assessment tools differently conceived in relation to the age of participants, the extent to which metalinguistic benefits associated to unimodal bilingualism can also be found in bimodal bilingualism, the developmental patterns we can find in bimodal bilingual children in each of their languages, signed and spoken, the way these children cope with difficulties in acquiring basic literacy skills in their spoken language
“Le parole per Raccontarmi”: una ricerca sull’apprendimento dell’italiano da parte di adolescenti figli di immigranti.
No full textMetasemantic abilities in spoken language in deaf and hearing bilinguals: an exploratory study
No full textThis study explored metasemantic awareness (MSA), as measured by a figurative language subtest of an Italian test of metalinguistic awareness (MLA), the TAM-3 (Pinto & Iliceto, 2007), in relation to different types of bilingualism, both unimodal and bimodal, in hearing and deaf adults. The research design allowed for multiple comparisons between groups with different linguistic status, ranging from monolingualism in a spoken language, to hearing unimodal bilingualism, hearing bimodal bilingualism, and deaf bimodal bilingualism. The influence of study qualification on metalinguistic performances was also explored by distinguishing, in each group, three levels ranging from High school (HS) to Master of Arts (MA) up to Doctorate (PhD). A total sample of 24 participants
was recruited (age range : 20-40 years), composed of 6 hearing monolinguals, 6 hearing unimodal bilinguals, 6 hearing bimodal bilinguals and 6 deaf bimodal bilinguals. A series of Student’s t tests for independent samples on the Linguistic (L) and Metalinguistic (ML) T scores of the figurative language subtest was performed. Results showed that differences were significant only in the ML scores, which measure the deepest level of MSA. While the hearing unimodal bilinguals obtained the highest performance, the monolinguals obtained the lowest. The hearing and the deaf bimodal bilinguals were positioned in the middle. A two factor ANOVA revealed that both factors, i.e. linguistic group and study qualification, affected ML performances. Hearing unimodal bilinguals and deaf bimodal bilinguals with a PhD achieved the highest levels. Results are discussed in light of the literature on the relationships between bilingualism and MLA
Non-word repetition in bilingual children: the role of language exposure, vocabulary scores and environmental factors
Full text linkAssessing language development in bilingual children is challenging in geographical areas where bilinguals have different native languages. Lexical development measures are often used as a starting point to study linguistic abilities in bilingual children. Non-word repetition (NWR) has been found to be very informative in detecting variation. The present study contributes to the broader research aim of documenting bilinguals’ language skills. In a sample of 19 Italian-speaking bilingual children with different native languages, correlations among performance on an Italian-like NWR and receptive vocabulary score (Italian PPVT-R), cumulative exposure, age of first exposure to Italian, current Italian exposure, maternal education, parental concerns and vocabulary in toddlerhood (MB-CDI) were calculated. NWR performances correlated with PPVT-R and parental concerns, but not with maternal education and language exposure measures. Neither NWR scores nor PPVT-R scores were related to Italian vocabulary size in toddlerhood (MB-CDI). We integrate our results with those of others and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of administering NWR to bilingual children, and more generally how to perform early bilingual language assessments
“Le parole per raccontarmi”. Una ricerca sull’apprendimento dell’italiano da parte di adolescenti figli di immigrati
No full text
Language Skills and Literacy of Deaf Children in the Era of Cochlear Implantation: Suggestions for Teaching through e-Learning Visual Environments
No full textVarious studies have highlighted that severe to profound deafness in children affects the acquisition and mastering of spoken language. Data collected on children with cochlear implants (CIs) have shown contrasting results and large individual variability in linguistic proficiency and in literacy, with particular weakness in mastering morphosyntactic aspects as well as in reading and writing. The chapter offers an overview of recent studies where the role of specific parameters (i.e. age at diagnosis, age at CI activation, family and school environment, and exposure to sign language) influencing language and academic outcomes were analysed; we then describe the Italian educational contexts in which deaf children can be enrolled and provide some examples of visually grounded multimedia environments developed in Italy to enhance deaf students’ literacy.Various studies have highlighted that severe to profound deafness in children affects the acquisition and mastering of spoken language. Data collected on children with cochlear implants (CIs) have shown contrasting results and large individual variability in linguistic proficiency and in literacy, with particular weakness in mastering morphosyntactic aspects as well as in reading and writing. The chapter offers an overview of recent studies where the role of specific parameters (i.e. age at diagnosis, age at CI activation, family and school environment, and exposure to sign language) influencing language and academic outcomes were analysed; we then describe the Italian educational contexts in which deaf children can be enrolled and provide some examples of visually grounded multimedia environments developed in Italy to enhance deaf students’ literacy
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
The representation of action in Italian Sign Language (LIS)
Full text linkThe present study investigates the types of verb and symbolic representational strategies used by 10 deaf signing adults and 13 deaf signing children who described in Italian Sign Language 45 video clips representing nine action types generally communicated by five general verbs in spoken Italian. General verbs, in which the same sign was produced to refer to several different physical action types, were rarely used by either group of participants. Both signing children and adults usually produced specific depicting predicates by incorporating, through a representational strategy, the object and/or the modality of the action into the sign. As for the different types of representational strategies, the adults used the hand-as-object strategy more frequently than the children, who, in turn, preferred to use the hand-as-hand strategy, suggesting that different degrees of cognitive complexity are involved in these two symbolic strategies. Addressing the symbolic iconic strategies underlying sign formation could provide new insight into the perceptual and cognitive processes of linguistic meaning construction. The findings reported here support two main assumptions of cognitive linguistics applied to sign languages: there is a strong continuity between gestures and language; lexical units and depicting constructions derive from the same iconic core mechanism of sign creation
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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