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' ‘ v 9.... WWW 13.. .c in... .3”. Wipwmpflufifi- aft .. I- z . I. . . . I ..O . . . ud iii ! .(11 . vb .Illvo.ucr?¢’.3 ...IJAI..4..‘.IIIll.Gv 1 I Q . I . .0: V -5174 It sf ‘I ..vc .0.\ r.._. -..,,.1I,.\‘.\‘ |1)flrll...U.>Q1$~.HrL‘ A. . v. v c - gs Infu.u I; III‘ rd; ._ . 1’ I .0 ..0|«‘4‘ . .. .. . J! u \.v . .50... lo I. . , Ii. ‘1: Smut“... «It: duh“. . . l...u.:\!.|..l.lh.. 3....) 9. . .1 . . . 1.... . .. . . uttéthunvlmgk.‘ ‘5. 5’4.“ It. 'N‘ 1“ {i‘l\ L. ‘ " ...-Iv. I!!!» . 3.. «‘1: . . l 76! 13.5. c I“ .IP.‘3. {5.0: 3 . l. I u Llfl'lfiv‘uutl‘. ti: . v. . .14: 0 . . up: .1 a . .l..IIL.P? fulllllllsn'ulnh’ .. 7H? .a..l.cn‘11. . rL. y I y This is to certify that the dissertation entitled A Pilot Description of Indigenous Signs Used by Deaf Persons in Jordan presented by Ziad S. Kabatilo has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Ph. D. degreein Counseling, Ed. Psychology and Special Education Major professor Date October 20, 1982 MS U is an Aflirmatin Action/Equal Opportunity Institution 0- 12771 \ mam Hm? "- “I” "i‘ i» ~53“ University L MSU LIBRARIES £29... ‘0 RETURNING MATERIALS: Place in book drop to remove this checkout from your record. FINES will be charged if book is returned after the date stamped below. A PILOT DESCRIPTION OF INDIGENOUS SIGNS USED BY DEAF PERSONS IN JORDAN BY Ziad Salah Kabatilo A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education 1982 J ABSTRACT A PILOT DESCRIPTION OF INDIGENOUS SIGNS USED BY DEAF PERSONS IN JORDAN BY Ziad Salah Kabatilo Use of Sign language, simultaneously with speech, has proved to enhance academic achievement and psychological de- velopment of hearing impaired students. However, Jordanian deaf children are taught orally and lack the opportunity of using standardized Sign language. At the time of this study, there had been no reference or known attempt to study Jordanian Sign Language (JSL). This pilot exploratory study appears to be the first attempt to record and describe indigenous JSL. There were two main goals for the study: 1) an im- mediate one - to describe the language of Signs used by a small sample of the deaf population in Jordan, and 2) a longer range one - to begin the development of a Sign lan- guage handbook of instructions to train future Jordanian teachers of deaf learners in the use of "Total Communica- tion". (Total Communication is the term used in the United Ziad Salah Kabatilo States to describe the simultaneous use of speech and Sign.) Two educated deaf subjects were selected to demonstrate the signs for the 28 Arabic alphabet characters, and 100 concepts. The concepts were derived from a Jordanian study of the vocabulary of school age children, just before they started school (Oweidat, 1977). Each of the concepts was presented to the subjects on a stimulus card with a written word and/or picture. The subjects were filmed while signing each alphabet character and concept. Line drawings of the filmed signs were made, and compared and contrasted within and between subjects. Signs, numbered 3-17 and 21-30, were used to examine intrasubject and intersubject reliability, respectively. It was found that subjects agreed on 18% of the alphabet characters, agreed with some variations on 14%, and dis- agreed on 68%. Subjects agreed on 26% of the signs for the 100 concepts, agreed with some variations on 22%, and dis- agreed on 52%. Intersubject reliability coefficient of the older with the younger subject was 80% while it was 90% for the younger with the older subject. Intrasubject re- liability coefficient for the older subject was 73% while it was 80% for the younger subject. The results suggest that the first (immediate) goal was achieved and that the second (longer-range) goal be postponed until after replication(s). Recommendations from the study include: 1) replicating the study with a larger sample, 2) conducting similar Ziad Salah Kabatilo studies in other Arab countries, 3) selecting older deaf subjects, more experienced in Sign, and 4) using a video- tape system to standardize instructions to film responses, as well as to record sign patterns of subjects. To Everyone who Defends His Opinion and Allows Others to Do So ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is with grateful acknowledgment and appreciation for their many contributions throughout various stages of my graduate work that I wish to thank the following people: Professor Vivian Stevenson, Coordinator of the Teacher Dr. Dr. Dr. Preparation Program for the Deaf, my advisor and Committee Chairman, for her patience and encourage- ment in assisting me throughout my work and also for the kindness and understanding she has shown. Gaston Blom, Professor and Research Associated for the University Center for International Rehabilita- tion (UCIR), my committee member, for his continued guidance and support since my arrival and through- out my studies at M.S.U. Ron Wolthuis, Associate Professor of Special Educa— tion, my committee member, for his ability to com- municate openly and honestly, his encouragement and his supportive ideas. Edwin Keller and Dr. George Gore, Professors of Special Education, my committee members, for their cooperation, assistance and positive comments. My parents and my family for a lifetime of love, patience Dr. Dr. and support, as well as financial assistance during my years in school and university. Farouq F. Elrousan, my close friend and now Associate Professor of Special Education, University of Jordan, for his assistance during my admission process as well as his encouragement in helping me become ac- customed to university life in the U.S. Said Tell, previously Dean of the College of Educa- tion, University of Jordan, and now Minister of Education; Dr. Abdelrahman Adas, Dean of the Col- lege of Education, University of Jordan; Yousef Qatami and Ribhi Elayyan, my friends; for their assistance during my Master's Degree program at the University of Jordan. iii The interpreters, Wafa Lahham, a regular teacher, and Haithem Haddad, a teacher in the Holy Land Insti- tute for the Deaf, for their help during the film- ing process. My colleagues, friends and Arab graduate students at M.S.U. for their assistance and opinions during various stages of my research. Dr. Robert Gates, Superintendent of Michigan School for the Deaf, for facilitating the line drawing process by the school artist. Mr. Art Flatt, the artist, who provided the creative input in the development of my signs, for his patience and kindness in providing the endurance necessary for the many drawings and revisions that were needed to accurately portray my signs. Beder Beano, an artist in the Royal Scientific Society in Amman, Jordan for his help in preparing the flash cards. Aggie Howes, Deputy Director of the Division of Deaf and Deafened, Michigan Department of Labor; and registered interpreter of American Sign Language, for taking the time to offer suggestions and op- inions concerning the quality of my sign inter- pretations. University Center for International Rehabilitation (UCIR) represented by Dr. Donald Galvin (previous director), and Dr. William Frey (present director), for its partial financial support during my doctoral work. Peri-Anne, the typist, for her cooperation in typing the many drafts of this dissertation. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter LIST OF TABLES. . . . . . . . . . . LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER I: THE PROBLEM . . . . . . Purpose of the Study. . . . . . Definition of Terms . . . . . . Organizations Related to the Study. Educational Facilities for the Deaf/ Hearing Impaired in Jordan. . . Goals of the Study. . . . . . . Objectives of the Study . . . . Assumptions . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE . Language and Speech . . . . . . Language and Signs. . . . . . . Culture and Signs . . . . . . . History of Total Communication. American Sign Language (ASL) and Other Sign Systems in the USA . Status of Sign Language in the Arab world 0 O O 0 O O O O O O O O 0 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES. Identification of Sample. . . . Page .viii . ix . 1 . 2 . 4 . 9 . 9 . 12 . 12 . 13 . 14 . 14 . l8 . 21 . 26 . 31 . 35 . 39 . 39 Chapter Description of Procedures . . . . . . . . . . Selection of Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS OF THE STUDY. . . . . . . . The Arabic Manual Alphabet in Jordan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Signs of the 100 Concepts . . . . . . . . The Reliability of the 100 Signs. . . . . . . CHAPTER V: SUMMARY, DISCUSSION AND RECOM- MENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH. . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Objectives of the Study . . . . . . . . . Review of Literature. . . . . . . . . . . Research Design and Methodology . . . . . Findings/Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . Limitations of the Study. . . . . . . . . . . Discussion of Results . . . . . . . . . . . Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . APPENDICES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . APPENDIX A: Example of Consent Form In EngliSh O O O O O O I O O O 0 APPENDIX B: Example of Agreement Form In English . . . . . . . . . . . APPENDIX C: UCRIHS APPROVAL. . . . . . . . . APPENDIX D: Example of Letter of Intent In EngliSh O O O O O I O O O O 0 APPENDIX F: List of 100 Concepts . . . . . . APPENDIX G: Line Drawings of Arabic Alphabet Signs Given by Both Subjects . . vi Page 40 45 50 51 57 61 68 68 68 69 7O 71 72 73 77 79 81 83 85 87 92 98 Chapter Page APPENDIX H: Line Drawings of 100 Signs Given by Both Subjects . . . . . . 114 LIST OF REFERENCES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page I Agreement on the Alphabet Signs Between the Two Subjects. . . . . . . . . 54 II Three Groups of Alphabet Characters, Each Expressed by the Same Sign . . . . . 54 III Eleven Pairs of Alphabet Characters, Each Pair Expressed by the Same Sign. . . 56 IV Agreement on Signs of the Alphabet and of Concepts Between the Two Subjects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 viii Figure LIST OF FIGURES Page The Arabic Alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Three Examples Illustrating Agreement, Agreement with Variation, and Disagreement Between the Two Sub- jects on the Signs for Selected Alphabet Characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Three Examples Illustrating Agreement, Agreement with Variation, and Disagree- ment Between the Two Subjects for Selected Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Two Signs Illustrating the Disagree- ment of the Older Subject with the Younger Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 One Sign Illustrating the Disagreement of the Younger Subject with the Older Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Four Signs Illustrating Intrasubject Reliability of the Older Subject's Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Three Signs Illustrating Intrasubject Reliability of the Younger Subject's Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 ix CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM According to the International Center on Deafness (Gallaudet College, Washington, D.C., 1982), "Deafness and loss of hearing among child— ren has come to be one of the best under- stood conditions among those which cause childhood disability, yet, as one moves through the developing world, it is one of the conditions about which the least is being done . . . children with hear- ing impairments are confronted by many of the factors which compound the problems of disability generally throughout the developing world; . . . extensive illiteracy and little availability of basic services for health, education, and social welfare. Included in this number are millions of illiterate deaf adults. Of the relatively small percentage of deaf peOple who have learned to read and write, many are at risk of losing their skills as a result of inadequate communication with the rest of the world." Deaf people are often illiterate in the language of their own culture, but they always develop their own sign language. The high positive correlation between illiteracy and the use of oral systems among deaf populations in the world leads to the belief that the use of sign language is a necessary factor in better educating deaf learners, there- by decreasing illiteracy among them (Meadow, 1966; Quigley & Frisina, 1961; Stevenson, 1964; Stuckless & Birch, 1966; Vernon & Koh, 1970). Currently, Sign Language as a way of communication is not used in the education of Jordanian deaf children, nor have Jordanian Signs been studied or recorded in the litera- ture. Purpose of the Study There are three major purposes for this study: 1. To investigate the Sign Language of deaf/hearing impaired citizens of Jordan — The results of this Survey will add information to any other efforts to study Arabic Sign language, and will foster the development of a system- atic Arabic Sign language for both communication and edu- cational purposes. 2. To contribute to the international literature about the language of signs - Many organizations and soci- eties have conducted activities to promote better education and life style for the deaf community. The World Federa- tion of the Deaf has compiled an International Dictionary of Signs (1975) to facilitate communication between the deaf pe0ple in the world. Studies are continuing on this important project, named Gestuno. This current survey of Jordanian signs contributes information about Arabic Sign language systems not yet described in any known literature. 3. To improve the educational opportunity of deaf/ hearing impaired learners of Jordan - The Holy Land Insti- tute for the Deaf estimates (1980) that there are about 3,000 deaf children between the ages of 0 and 15 years in the East Bank of Jordan. Concern for handicapped children generally, and deaf children particularly, has been grow- ing rapidly in the last few years in Jordan. The Holy Land Institute for the Deaf estimates that there were about 400 deaf learners being served in five institutes in the East Bank of Jordan in 1980. Although the Oral System is being used in these institutes for instructional purposes, the students are permitted to sign between themselves out- side the classroom. There is no systematic sign system being used in the educational programs of any of these schools. The use of signs in the educational program for the deaf in the U.S.A. was found to improve the psychological, social, and linguistic status of deaf children (Meadow, 1966; Quigley & Frisina, 1961; Stevenson, 1964; Stuckless & Birch, 1966; Vernon & Koh, 1970). Since the use of Sign Language has proven to benefit the deaf learner in the U.S.A., it may also be useful in Jordan. Hence, a system- atic language of signs for instruction needs to be developed, in order to provide deaf learners in Jordan an opportunity for improved literacy. This study takes a first step toward investigating Sign Language in Jordan and it is anticipated that these findings can form the basis for an Arabic Sign language manual. This could become a necessary part of a teacher's preparation program in Jordan for the use of "total com- munication" (the simultaneous use of speech and sign) with the hearing impaired and communicatively handicapped. Definition of Terms Deaf The Conference of Executives of American Schools for the Deaf (1974) adopted the following definition: A deaf person is one whose hearing is disabled to an extent [usually 70 dB ISO (International Standards Organization) or greater] that precludes the understanding of speech through the ear alone, with or without the use of a hear- ing aid (Moores, 1978). Decibel (dB) This is a unit of relative loudness of sound. Zero decibel (0 dB) designates the point at which peOple with normal hearing can detect the faintest sound. Each suc- ceeding number of decibels indicates a certain degree of hearing loss (Hallahan & Kauffman, 1978). Hard of Hearing The Conference of Executives of American Schools for the Deaf (1974) adopted the following definition: A hard- of—hearing person is one whose hearing is disabled to an extent (usually 35 to 69 dB ISO) that makes difficult, but does not preclude, the understanding of speech through the ear alone, with or without a hearing aid (Moores, 1978). Hearing Impaired The term is used particularly in the field of special education. It denotes any learner, deaf or hard-of—hearing, who is in need of special services because of hearing loss. These services may range from preferential seating and Speech therapy in a regular classroom to a special program designed exclusively for deaf children (Katz, Mathis, and Merrill, 1978). Deafness The Conference of Executives of American Schools for the Deaf (1974) adopted the following definition: Deafness refers to the condition of individuals whose hearing is disabled to an extent that precludes the understanding of speech or other sounds calibrated for frequency and inten- sity (Moores, 1978). Prelingual Deafness This term describes the condition of persons whose deafness was present at birth or occurred at an age prior to the development of speech and language (Moores, 1978). Postlinqual Deafness This term describes the condition of persons whose deafness occurred at an age following the spontaneous ac- quisition of speech and language (Moores, 1978). Language Language is any system of words or symbols, and the rules for putting them together, to form a method of com- munication among a group of individuals (Kelly & Vergason, 1978). Speech Speech is the behavior of forming and sequencing the sounds of oral language (Hallahan & Kauffman, 1978). SiqnyLanguage Sign language is any form of communication by the use of gestures (Kelly & Vergason, 1978). American Sign Language American Sign Language is a complete and separate (gestural) language system used in the United States and Canada which does not ordinarily follow English Syntax (Katz, Mathis & Merrill, 1978) and is considered the third most used language in the United States (Wilbur, 1979). Signed English Signed English is the use of signs and fingerspelling to represent the exact word order of English grammar (Katz, Mathis & Merrill, 1978). Oralism (Oral System) Oralism is a method of instruction for the deaf in which the chief means of communication is lipreading and talking (Travis, 1971). Speech Reading For the last decade, the term speech reading has re— placed the term lipreading, because one does not just read the lips, but reads eyes, facial expressions, gestures, and postures as well. It is a skill taught as a supple— ment to amplification, or in the case of an individual who is not a good candidate for a hearing aid (Filter, 1977). Cued4§peech A method of communication in which four positions of the hand (side of the face, the throat, the chin and a corner of the mouth) are used to indicate vowel sounds (Cornett, 1971). Manual Alphabet It is a Spelling-out of the alphabet by various finger positions on one hand (Hallahan & Kauffman, 1978) and is also called "fingerspelling". Rochester Method The Rochester Method is a communication system developed and used in instruction at the Rochester School for the Deaf in Rochester, New York. Developed in the nineteenth cen- tury by the school's first superintendent, the method com- bines an emphasis on fingerspelling with a strong support- ing program in speech and lipreading. The method emphasizes the learning and use of English, either spoken, Spelled on the fingers, or written. The language of signs is not used (Katz, Mathis & Merrill, 1978). Total Communication Total Communication is a system of expressive and receptive language in which manual signs and fingerspelling are combined with speech, speech reading, and listening, in the way deemed most beneficial to communication for each hearing impaired individual (Kelly & Vergason, 1978). The term has been used more often since 1960, replacing the previous terms "Combined System" and "Simultaneous Method" (Pahz, 1978). French Sign Language This is the first systematic sign language, established by Abbé de l'Eppé in 1776 in France. Later it had great influence on American Sign Language and other sign systems in different countries (Wilbur, 1979). Organizations Related to the Study World Federation of the Deaf WFD is an international organization maintaining of- ficial relations with UNESCO and other international agencies. It was constituted in 1951 in Rome. Its basic aim is to promote the social growth and rehabilitation of the deaf population and prevent the spreading of diseases causing deafness (World Federation of the Deaf, 1975). Educational Facilities for the Deaf/Hearing Impaired in Jordan Work for the deaf/hearing impaired in Jordan has shown 10 steady growth in the last few years. Several schools and institutes have been established to educate deaf children of Jordan. Most of these schools and institutes have been established by the private sector; some are administered by the government or by both. The Oral System is being used in these schools for instructional purposes. These schools and institutes which are located in the East Bank of Jordan are: The Holnyand Institute for the Deaf The Institute was established in the town of Salt in 1964. The program is a coeducational one with a capacity for 75 students. Most of them are boarders. There are two years of preschool (Nursery and Kindergarten) and six years of elementary and one year of preparatory school. The prevocational and professional vocational program con- sists of two years of training. El Amal Institute for the Deaf This Institute was established in El-Qeismeh/Amman in 1969. The approximate number of students is 128, of which 34 are boarders. The Institute has 12 coeducational classes covering first to 5th primary. There are 12 teachers, a director and domestic staff, totalling 23. A new program of pre-vocational training has been implemented recently. 11 The Vocational Training Centre The Centre was established in the town of Ruseifeh in 1973. It provides vocational training in the fields of carpentry, metalwork, tailoring and cane and bamboo work. The trainees are between 16 and 45 years of age with dif- ferent handicapping conditions, including visually im- paired, mentally retarded, physically disabled and hearing impaired. Al-Raja Kindergarten School for the Deaf This school was established in Amman in 1973. It is a coeducational day school with 46 students in five classes; the program serves kindergarten and primary level pupils. Five teachers, one director, one social worker and domestic staff are employed. El Amal Institute for the Deaf The Institute, established in 1977 in the city of Irbid, serves a total capacity of 40 students. A small boarding section has been established. There are five classes serving kindergarten and first and second pri- mary levels. The staff consists of five teachers, a dir- ector, and domestic staff. 12 The Queen Alia School for the Deaf This school was established in 1979 in the town of Ruseifah. Its total capacity is 80 students with board- ing facilities for 30 students. Both day and boarding facilities are coeducational. The school has five kinder- garten classes. There are five teachers, a director and domestic staff. A team of three Italian experts recently started an in-service teacher training program there. Goals of the Study The long—term goals of this study are: 1. To describe the language of signs used by the deaf population in Jordan; 2. To develop a sign language handbook of instruc- tions to train Jordanian teachers of deaf learners in the use of Total Communication; and 3. To provide Jordanian deaf children the opportunity for education through the use of a systematic sign language. Objectives of the Study The study is designed to accomplish the following ob- jectives: It 13 To survey and record on 8 mm film the signs for the Arabic alphabet as given by the same subjects; To survey and record on 8 mm film the signs for selected concepts, as given by two Jordanian deaf subjects; describe the apparent cultural or common sense origin of each sign; To obtain a simple example of the sign usage in a phrase or sentence indicating the most accurate meaning ofeach of the 100 selected concepts; and To develop a diagram and word description of each sign. Assumptions is assumed that: The signes used by the deaf population in Jordan, as in any society, is the natural communicative language for them. Such signs are affected, to a great extent, by the cultural elements of that society. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Any review of literature pertaining to the education of deaf children will focus primarily on the acquisition of language and speech. Selected studies of the effect of deafness on language and speech acquisition are reviewed for purposes related to this pilot description. Since the Sign languages used by deaf persons have been accepted as one of the languages of the culture where they exist, selected studies on signs as they relate to language and culture are also reviewed. The use of Sign language, as a part of the Total Com- munication (T.C.) philosophy in the educational systems of the United States, has spread widely and proven to benefit deaf learners. Some history of the development of T.C. is reviewed. Sign systems as currently used in the United States and the status of Sign language in the Arab World is described. Language and Speech Language consists of a set of symbols used systemati- cally by a group of people for purposes of communication 14 15 between them. Speech is the process of articulating words and sentences. Through oral language the normal hearing person communicates with others and acquires knowledge and education. Bloom and Lahey (1978) discuss the following definition of language: "A language is a code whereby ideas about the world are represented through a conventional system of arbitrary signals for communication." As Bloom and Lahey explain, the first element of the defi— nition of a language and/or code, could be a picture, a map, a graph, a word, a sentence, or other such device. The second element of language represents ideas about the world. This means that knowing just the sounds in any word is literally meaningless unless one also knows the concept which the word represents. The third element of the definition of language is a system. This refers to the regular and usual ways in which sounds combine to form words and words combine to form sentences to describe concepts. The fourth element of a language is a conven- tion, which means that people speaking a language agree among themselves that certain forms correspond with certain content and can be used in specific ways. The last ele- ment of the definition of language is its use for communi- cation. People need to use language in order to maintain contact with others, gain information, give information, l6 and accomplish goals. The difference between normal hearing children and deaf children is that normal hearing children acquire their language gradually by building linkages between the phonemes (sounds) that they are hearing and certain concepts. The strings of these phonemes that they are building in time will constitute their normal acquisition of language. This normal process does not occur for prelingually deaf child- ren, because their hearing is blocked. Speech is the process of articulating words and senten- ces. Cornett and Heneger (1971) explain that: "Speech is 'talking', but when we use the term speech production, we are referring to the ac- tual formation of the speech sounds and their patterns . . . the way sounds are put together (rhythm, syllabication, emphasis, intonation). Every word is composed of a sound or a combina- tion of sounds. These are not clearly indicated by the way we spell words; for instance, there are twenty-two ways to spell the sound of the word "I". Discovering the individual sounds that one is producing is a fascinating new experience for many parents of hearing-impaired children. (Who would think that in the word "of" we do not ordinarily form the sounds usually associated with "o" and "f", but some- thing logically written "uv"?) According to Cornett and Heneger (1971), Alexander Graham Bell wrote in a letter on November 8, 1885, the basic problem in developing good speech in the deaf is not so much that of teaching them to make the speech sounds, but that l7 ". . . the necessary preliminary to good speech is that the pupil should have a definite conception of how we pronounce our words . . . that he should have in his mind a definite model which he attempts to copy." Hearing children acquire normal speech production through their hearing in a long term process of "trial and error" of their speech production. Deaf children do not have normal hearing. They do not get feedback enough to go through a fruitful process of "trial and error" and, thus, do not acquire normal speech production. Cornett and Heneger (1971) state: "Speech does not come easily to a deaf child. After much work and unusual con- centration as a young child, he may be continually frustrated by the attempts of hearing persons to understand him. They will ask him to repeat, repeat, and then finally give up and ask him to point, write, or draw a picture." Consequently, deaf children will demonstrate varied degrees of delayed vocabulary, depending on the amount of hearing loss and other variables. The findings of Lewis and Wilcox (1978) showed that hard-of—hearing subjects employed a primitive sentence dictionary while normal hearing subjects used a more sophisticated word diction- ary. Ishisawa and his colleagues in Japan (1979) ex- amined the vocabularies of 2-6 year—old deaf children by 100 picture cards. One of their conclusions was that the slighter the hearing loss, the higher was the percentage 18 of correct naming. The investigator contacted Gallaudet College in Wash- ington, D.C., educators from the University of Jordan, and some teachers and principals of Jordanian deaf schools. All indicated that there are no studies of Sign language or acquisition of language in deaf children in Jordan. Several studies in the United States have shown that deaf children who have been taught to sign at an early age have demonstrated greater language and vocabulary develOpment. Quigley and Frisina (1961) showed that deaf children communicating manually with their deaf parents were superior in fingerspelling and vocabulary. Also, Vernon and Koh (1970) indicated that similar children showed an average of 1.44 years superior on academic achievement and superior in reading, vocabulary, and written language. Language and Signs For most deaf persons, especially the prelingually deaf, the process of acquiring language through speech is very difficult since the primary means, hearing, is blocked. Thus, unless deaf children are provided with an appropriate set of symbols (sign language), the process of acquiring language is very difficult for them to master. Recently, the trend toward considering the signs of deaf 19 people as language has been growing strongly. The works of Stokoe (1965, 1978, 1980) and Bellugi (1972, 1978) have brought attention to such a trend. Signs are as sounds and can be used for the purpose of communication, but in- stead of being based on signals produced by the voice and perceived by the ear, they are based on signals produced by the hands and perceived by the eye. Bellugi and Klima (1979) state: "When regarded as a global whole, a sign may display some iconic aspects, revealing its origins in mimicking or depicting some action, shape, or movement of what it or- iginally represented. But however iconic a sign may be, at another level it is a form within a constrained body of forms (the signs of ASL) that can be decomposed into a small set of distinguishing elements. The for- mational components of signs represent specific spatial dimensions; configura- tions of the hands; locations; movement shapes, directions, and qualities; spatial relations and interactions between the hands. A simultaneous combination of a limited set of values from each dimension which can combine only in certain restrict- ed ways creates a multitude of possible sign forms. Signs exhibit an overall multidimensional organization, not as successive contrastively distinct events through time, but in terms of spatial parameters that coexist within a unit of time. Sign language makes use of the dimensions of the spatial mode, which spoken languages lack, in creating visible shapes moving in space which reveal their mimetic origins yet are systematically and formationally constrained." Levine (1960) explained the difficulty that deaf child- ren encounter when faced with the Spoken language: 20 "Meaning comes with language, above all with verbal language, and verbal language for the deaf comes through special education. But to learn language the way a child born deaf must learn it is as taxing an achievement as known to man . . . the mistaken conclu- sion is that deafness is a speech problem, and this is followed by the even more mistaken assmption that a hearing aid and speech les- sons will soon put everything right . . . Not until he is offered highly specialized instruc- tions does the child born deaf learn that there are such things as words . . . Learning lan- guage naturally is not a matter of reasoning, logic, or instinct. It is a matter of hear- ing . . . it is not a matter of accumulating vocabulary, oral expression, manual expres- sion, grammatical principles, spelling, or even facts. It is a matter of learning how to use all of these to become one of the company of mankind." The idea of using visual motor signs as a way of com- municating was described in the classic literature. In her comprehensive review of the classical world literature on deafness, Bender (1981) states: "One of these frequently referred to by later authors was a treatise called (of the Art of Signs), by Giovanni Bonifacio, in 1616. The writer was not interested particularly in the deaf but remarked, at one point, on the extent to which they developed visible language by making signs with their hands." Seigel (1969) wrote: "As early as 1662, Dr. Wallis, the Oxford mathematician and one of the first suc- cessful teachers of the deaf, set forth his methods for educating the deaf . . . Wallis was one of the first educators of the deaf who prOposed that ideas might be trans- mitted by signs as well as by sounds." 21 Culture and Signs Different sign language systems have been studied throughout the world. Vasishta, Woodward and DeSantis (1978) found that Indian sign language has not been used in the education of deaf students in India. Vasishta, Woodward and Wilson (1978) also demonstrated the following findings about Indian Sign language: "1) Varieties of Indian signing are not directly related to European Sign language, 2) varieties of Indian signing constitute one language, 3) there is systematic varia- tion in and between regions in India, and 4) the amount of differences in signing would allow communication among cities without any major problems in language standardization and planning that are faced by the oral language communities (in In- dia)." Stokoe (1965) performed preliminary structural analysis of American Sign Language phonology. He states: "Language sounds, phones, are rigorously classified into phonemes . . . The nature of sign language is not very different from that of spoken language structure, once account is taken of the vocal-visual difference. Sign language uses, not sounds, but visible distinct elemental units . . . Analogous with the phonemes is the Sign language chereme (CARE-eem, the first syllable from a Homeric Greek word mean- ing "handy")." There have been few studies on the phonology of the sign system. Stokoe showed that sign phonemes could be clas- sified into three major groups: Tab (tabula), place on 22 the body where signs are made; dez (designator), handshape used in making signs; and sig (signation), the movement used in making signs. His efforts resulted in a diction- ary of American Sign Language based on tab, dez, and sig symbols representing the sign and referred to as "cheremes". Although the individual handshapes of Indian Sign Lan- guage are unique, its phonology is highly systematic, Since it follows the universal system of handshapes (Vasishta, Woodward, and DeSantis, 1978). According to Wilbur (1979) American Sign Language (ASL) was not invented or started in France, but developed naturally over time. ASL absorbed French signs when they were introduced in 1817, much the way English absorbed many French words after the Norman Conquest in 1066. Wil- bur states: "As a natural language, ASL has considerable variation, it is affected by factors such as geography, age and education of the signer, and formality of the situation in which the conversation is taking place. Interaction between deaf and hearing people is greatly affected by the hearing person's general unfamiliarity with ASL and the degree of familiarity with English possessed by the deaf person." Sign language can be either context-dependent or context-independent. Context-dependent language is interpretable only with hints from the physical and social context of the environment. Context-independent language has its own systematic arbitrary and internally defined 23 units. Washabaugh (1980) studied the sign language of the deaf population on Providence Island, Colombia, South Ameri- ca. He found that factors like the social and geographi- cal isolation of the island and the very small size of the island population and of the deaf community contributed to the finding that Providence Island Sign Language (PSL) utterances tend to be context-dependent. Klima and Bellugi (1979) compared American sign lan- guage with Chinese Sign language, and found that signs indeed exhibit formational constraints specific to the language. They stated that: "Sign languages are constrained not merely by motor limitations on handshapes, locations and movements, nor by general visual limitations, but also in ways that are far less predictable. Certain handshapes, locations, and movements occur in one sign language and not another. Two divergent Sign languages may use the same parameter values (like a pinching handshape) and yet have different restrictions on how these values can combine in the signs of the two languages. Some parametric values (like the closed fist) are common to the two lan- guages and yet Show detailed but consistent differences from one language to the other . . . degree of closure, for instance." This statement supports the fact that Sign language systems in different countries can be similar in some aspects and different in others. The organization of each system is not related to the speech mode comparison; therefore, Speech mode comparison techniques cannot be applied ef- ficiently to the analysis of Sign languages. Sign 24 language is produced by the hand and perceived by the eye. Because of its early development, French Sign language has been studied and described in the literature.more fre- quently than the sign language of other cultures. French Sign Language has shown systematic regional, social, and historical variations. Signers from Toulouse use fewer two-handed facial signs than Signers from Paris. Males use newer hand forms than females (Lane, Grosjean, 1980). The issue of cross-cultural communication between signers of different countries has been mixed with facts and myths. Battison and Jordan (1980) examined that issue through personal interviews, direct observations, examina- tion of language dictionaries, and personal reports of travelers and immigrants. They concluded that: "Sign languages are not understood by signers who are not familiar with them . . . Certainly not as easily understood as some stories would have us believe . . . deaf signers can and do communicate despite not sharing the same sign language." The previous review of selected studies indicate that sign languages differ within the cultures, ages, and regions within the same culture. Such differences highlight the need for the improvement of a Sign System to enhance more opportunities for Jordanian deaf children. Such a study is important, since no other culture's signs can be im- posed on the Jordanian culture. However, concept signs 25 from other cultures can be studied, modified, then adapted for Jordanian use when needed. Oweidat (1977) conducted a study to ascertain the vo- cabulary list of normal hearing school age children just before they enter first year of elementary education in the rural areas of Jordan. The study resulted in a list of 4,746 different words from a sample of 242 child- ren. First-born children averaged higher than the rest of the children, with a mean of 895 words; the mean vocabulary of children other than first-born was 685 words. Children from the upper class recorded more words than those from lower classes. Those of Arab origin used more words than those of non-Arab origin in this sample. According to Oweidat: "The result of data analysis indicated that it is possible to obtain a total of 177,896 cur- rent words with a mean of 735 words per child. This total number of current words consisted of 4746 different words, out of which were 3850 nouns constituting 81.1% of all the words, 839 verbs constituting 17.6%, and 57 articles constituting 1.3%. It was also possible to make a count of the number of colloquial and standard Arabic words. The number of stan- dard Arabic words was 4166, out of which 3338 were nouns, 798 were verbs, and 30 were articles, the percentage of standard Arabic words was 87.8% and that of the colloquial 12.2%. The results showed that 81.5% of the words used by children referred to concrete objects, while 14.5% of the words could be classified as abstract. Among the concrete words there were 3272 nouns (85%) and 988 verbs (93.3% of all verbs). The results of analysis showed that the children who attended kindergarten used more words than those who did not attend kindergarten. The average 26 number of words recorded for kindergarten children was 1144, that for non-kindergarten children was 706, with a difference of 436." Though the frequency count was not a variable of interest in Oweidat's study, this was an obtainable by- product and was used as the source for the 100 basic con- cepts used in this study. The use of signs has Spread internationally in an attempt to increase its use and to enhance the situation of the deaf human being. Organizations such as the World Federation for the Deaf (WFD) Sponsor many activities to promote such goals. WFD has compiled an International Dictionary of signs (1975). This dictionary (Gestuno) is intended to facilitate communication between deaf people in the world. Studies are continuing to enhance and enlarge this important project. History of Total Communication Before the 19605 there were two main methods of edu- cating deaf children - Oralism and Combined System. Oralism aims to develop oral Speech, written language and mental abilities, by using techniques of speech training, speech reading (lipreading), auditory training, reading, and writing. The Alexander Graham Bell (AGB) Association for the Deaf is the strongest supporter and advocate for Oralism. A position paper of the American Organization 27 for the Education of Hearing Impaired (one of AGB Sections) submitted on May 1, 1975, concludes that: ". . . all hearing impaired children should have the Opportunity to learn to speak and understand spoken language . . . that spoken expressive language and academic achievement relative to normal children are the criteria by which the hearing impaired child is to be judged in society." The fact of the matter is that the deaf child (espec- ially the prelingually deaf) never learns to Speak well enough to be easily understood by the average hearing person. Wright states (1969): ". . . while so much time has been spent teaching them (more or less vainly) to articulate that they may have less command of language, and be less well educated gen- erally, than if they had been taught by the silent or combined methods." The fear is that those orally educated deaf might finish their education without real attachment to any societal group. They feel as outsiders in both the deaf and hearing communities. The Combined System is a method of instruction that in- cludes every procedure which can be of service to any sub- class of the deaf. This notion has been described in the early literature when the American Annals of the Deaf (Janaury, 1914), noted: "Speech and speech-reading are regarded as very important, but mental development and 28 the acquisition of language are regarded as still more important. It is believed that in some cases mental development and acquisi- tion of language can be best promoted by Manual or Manual Alphabet methods." Educators' recognition of the importance of Total Com- munication in the education of deaf children has been spread widely. Suppes indicates (1974): "Until recently, the oral position was probably the dominant one, but in the last few years there has been an increas- ing interest in and respect for what has been achieved by manual methods beginning with the very young child." Filter states (1977): "It seems reasonable that if the child cannot learn verbal language, he should be taught to communicate either through the total or manual method." Furth explains (1973): "In short time the young deaf child ac- quires this method (total communication) of communicating by spontaneous imitation. During the conversation periods the child focuses primarily on what interests him. The school atmosphere is not centered on language but on the child's communicative interests; language per se is considered too narrow an educational goal." In Jordan, most of the school time is consumed in teach- ing the deaf children how to speak the language with little result in terms of developing satisfactory communication with the hearing world. At some point in the middle 29 school the Jordanian educational program for deaf learners is geared toward vocational training. At that time, speech training and academic subjects are not useful any more, as the demands of vocational training require a real com— prehension and understanding of speech and conventional language. Furth (1973) notes: nonselective schools could no longer continue for all pupils the pure oral education that had been maintained for the preceding five to seven years." " . by the time of the middle division the The term Total Communication emerged in the U.S. in the 19603. Mindel states (1974): "Total communication is defined here as the use of all available educative techniques for enhancing the exchange and acquisition of lin- guistic information. Included chiefly, are manual communication (Sign language), finger- spelling, speech training and lipreading." Total Communication differs from the Combined System in that the Combined System has been implemented historically when the deaf student fails in an oral program, while Total Communication starts at the beginning of the deaf child's life. A paper prepared by Santa Ana Unified School District and given at the Convention of American Instructors of the Deaf at Little Rock, Arkansas, June 30, 1971 (Santa Ana Unified School District, 1971), concluded: 30 "There are 10 teachers on the staff in the program for the Hearing Impaired at the James Madison School. All of the teachers were trained to teach via the oral method. Most of the teachers have taught in oral programs around the country. Several of the teachers had strong Speech backgrounds from various universities. The teachers made the state- ments below about the Total Approach (total communication) as compared to the oral method alone: 1. It is more effective for teaching the abstract. 2. It is more effective for teaching vo- cabulary and language. 3. It promotes more communication between adults and children in greater depth. 4. It is more effective for teaching new concepts. 5. It cuts down on repetition. 6. It produces more positive attitude from the parents. It gives them something tangible to work with where they can see good results immediately. 7. The Total Approach is also more effective for holding the attention and interest of the children. 8. It appears to be more effective in es- tablishing teacher—pupil rapport and developing a cohesive class. 9. It allows for a broader and more detailed curriculum development. 10. It is more effective for encouraging feed- back and participation from the children. 11. It is more effective for encouraging inter- action and communication among the children. 12. It permits the deaf child to follow more closely the academic curriculum of his hearing peers. 13. It gives more support to the current theory of progressive inclusion by affording some Opportunity for integration of the deaf child with the hearing world. 14. It helps children follow events surrounding them with understanding. 31 15. It decreases a completely "teacher oriented" atmosphere and lets the children "lead" each other." American Sign Language (ASL) and Other Sign Systems in the USA The term "systems" is used here to designate those manual methods that have been developed for educational purposes but are not currently used as the mother tongue by large groups of deaf people (Wilbur, 1979). The first systematic set of signs for deaf persons was established by Abbé de l'Eppé in France in 1776. Bender (1981) states: "As his work progressed, the Abbé became convinced that the signs the deaf made with their hands in trying to communicate with each other were the basis of a mother tongue for them, in much the same way that one's native language is for a hearing person." American Sign Language was derived from the French Sign Language when Thomas Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc brought the latter to the United States in 1817. French Sign Lan- guage has also influenced other Sign systems in the world. Stokoe (1972) states: "French Sign Language has influenced sign language systems in other countries as well, namely: Latvin, Irish, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Swiss, Austrian, Russian, and eventually Australian." 32 Later on, American Sign Language had an influential role in other Sign systems. Wilbur (1979) states: "American Sign Language has been carried to Africa and India in recent years, where it will probably interact with the native Sign language." Sign Language is now viewed by the supporters of Total Communication as a legitimate language and a system of communication which revolves around the child and best fits his/her learning potential. The other Sign Systems in the USA are: Paget-Gorman Systematic Sign (PGSS) The first English-based system developed by Sir Richard Paget in 1951 in England with the intention that the system be discarded by the child when he no longer needed it for communication. The system is based on pantomimic signs which include 21 standard hand positions and 39 basic Signs used in different combinations (Paget, 1971). Seeing Essential English (SEE I) The first system in the United States was developed by David Anthony, who was interested in producing a sim- plified system to use with deaf children. The system has much in common with ASL and uses some fingerspelling (Anthony, 1966). 33 Signing Exact English (SEE II) This English-based system was developed by Gustason, Pfetzing and Zawolkow in 1972. The system is a variation of the Seeing Essential English (SEE I) system. Its manual includes 2100 words and 70 affixes with 7 contractions (Gustason, Pfetzing, and Zawolkow, 1972). Manual English The system was developed by the Total Communication Program at the Washington State School for the Deaf in order to provide a system that would parallel English sufficiently well that it could be used in conjunction with normal speech (Wilbur, 1979). Signed English The system was developed at Gallaudet College by Born- stein and his colleagues in 1973. It consists of a 2500- word vocabulary; 1700 are from ASL and those remaining are either invented or borrowed from other systems (Born- Stein, 1973). Perkins Sign Language Dictionary The Dictionary is based on 11 sources compiled by the Department for Deaf-Blind Children of the Perkins School for the Blind in Massachusetts. It includes Signs 34 from several systems such as SEE I, SEE II, Signed English, ASL, etc. The main goals of the Dictionary are teaching expressiveness, language for learning and thinking, and communication skills for better relationships with others (Robbins et a1., 1975). Fingerspelling Fingerspelling (dactylology) consists primarily of 26 distinct handshapes which correspond directly to the 26 letters of the alphabet. Fingerspelling has no separate syntax, morphology, phonology, or semantics, but instead is entirely dependent on the linguistic structure of the language it is representing (Wilbur, 1979). Rochester Method The Rochester Method is a form of the Combined System in which Simultaneous speech and fingerspelling are used, but without the use of Sign Language (Scouten, 1967). Cued Speech Cued Speech is a method of communication for use with and by the aurally-handicapped, in which eight configurations and four positions of one (either) hand are used to supple- ment the visible manifestations of natural speech. The four positions of the hand (side of the face, the throat, 35 the chin and a corner of the mouth) are used to group the vowel sounds (Cornett, 1971). Status of Sign Language in the Arab World Sign language systems still appear to be in their in- fancy in some of the Arab world countries and, even, un- broached in most of these countries. However, the geo- graphical area known as the Middle East has been recognized as the location of the earliest civilizations. Deafness, too, has been known as a human condition from earliest times. One can conclude that the use of Sign among deaf members of Arabic cultures has also existed for centuries, though it has not been studied and described in the litera- ture. Toubbeh, Soliman and Yates (1976) state: "The degree of commitment to oralism is exem- plified by the fact that there is not a uni- form system of manual communication in the Arab world, although a limited system of in- digenous signs has developed among the deaf in certain groups." Some results regarding the manual alphabet and manual signs in some of the Arab world countries were mentioned in the final report of the Arab Federation for the Organs of the Deaf (A.F.O.D.) Conference held in 1980 (AFOD- Final Report of Conference, 1980). The report concludes that there are manual alphabet systems in the Arab countries, 36 but most of the institutions and schools of the deaf in these countries do not use them in their educational pro- grams. Another conclusion is that manual signs and ges- tures are used socially/informally in all the institutions of the deaf. These signs are many and are affected by the local melieu. Finally, deaf institutions in the Arab countries are very dependent on lipreading. In nearly half of these institutions, signs are used as an auxiliary means to the main purpose, lipreading, but there is no intent to teach these signs. The remaining institutions do not encourage using signs, and even prohibit the use of signing. One may assume that this is true, mainly because of a lack of knowledge and information about sign language systems on the part of professional educators. The two main related suggestions of A.F.O.D. Conference held in 1980 were: 1) studying and researching the exist- ing Arabic manual alphabet systems to make them consistent with the Arabic spoken language, and 2) studying and re- searching the language of signs and the existing Arabic signs to standardize one Arabic sign language system to be used in the Arab world countries. In Tunisia the oral system is used as an approach to teaching deaf children. Toubbeh, Soliman and Yates state that: "The oral-aural approach is used while children are in school, except during play when auditory aids are removed. 37 There is no manual communication system available at this time, and adoption of such means is not contemplated be- cause of a strong commitment to oralism." Egypt probably has taken the first step among the Arab world countries toward studying and establishing a sign system to be used in the schools of Egyptian deaf child- ren. The Arab Federation for the Organs of the Deaf has published a final report of an earlier Arab Conference of the Organ in 1974 (AFOD, Final Report of Conference, 1974). In that report, Mahrous states that: "Studying the signs that are used in Egypt has shown that there are some similarities to some extent between these Signs and other signs used in the Western world like Britain, of course there are differences due to the culture and melieu differences." There were no formal studies of the sign language system in Egypt until 1976. Tobbeh, Soliman and Yates state: "Agreements have been reached between the Rehabilitation Services Administration, Office of Human Development, Department of Health, Education and Welfare of the United States and the Department of Social Re- habilitation of Egypt to initiate three major, long-term research projects. The most significant one is an investigation of the relative merits and effectiveness of aural versus manual communication systems. The objectives of this research project will include (1) identification, through survey, of sign vocabulary used by the deaf in Egypt; (2) construction of a standard Sign vo- cabulary based upon the results of the survey; (3) comparison of the effectiveness of aural-oral home training and sign manual training in development of language; and 38 (4) identification of an optimal approach at language training procedures for educa- tion of the deaf in Egypt." Hopefully, this study may stimulate a similar project for Jordan, with at least these same four objectives. All the previous studies conclude that the current thinking in the field of deaf education supports the use of Total Communication in the education of deaf children. Jordanian deaf children should be provided with this op- portunity by introducing Jordanian Sign Language to the educational system, as a part of a Total Communication philosophy. To do so, studies should explore as much as possible about the manual signs used now by Jordanian deaf persons. This study takes the first step toward that goal. Jordanian programs for deaf children should be impacted; the first step might logically begin with the preparation of teachers of the deaf. A manual of Jordanian signs for basic concepts appears to be a necessary first step toward that end. CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES Developing a sign system for the education of Jordanian deaf students must begin with an investigation of the exist- ing signs used by deaf persons in Jordan. Identification of Sample A sample of two educated deaf Jordanian persons who meet Special Education requirements and are certified as educationally and medically deaf was selected for this study. The first subject is a l4-year-old male student at the upper elementary level in the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf in Salt, Jordan. The Institute was chosen for its reputation as one of the well-established institutions for teaching Jordanian deaf children. The emphasis in the educational program is on speech development, speech correction, and speech reading. However, the Institute believes that the Signs which are being used informally between the deaf students prove to be a great reinforcer of communication, and function together with speech and 39 40 speech reading. The subject was chosen because, according to the school principal and staff, he was the student con- sidered to be experienced with signing. The second subject is a 22-year-old male who graduated from a vocational school for the deaf in Kuwait. He works as a typesetter, and lives with his mother and four sisters who communicate with him through sign. This subject was chosen because he was known to the investigator as an educated and active deaf person with good signing experi- ence. Each subject signed two forms, a consent form in which the subject verified his understanding of the nature of the study, and an agreement form in which the subject agreed to participate in the study (See Appendices A and B, respectively). These older and otherwise unimpaired subjects were selected because they demonstrated the ability to read the written word, know commonly used Jordanian signs, and have more extensive experience with sign usage. Description of Procedures In order to carry out the procedures, the following equipment was used: - An 8 mm movie camera for filming the subjects while they were signing each concept (word). 41 - One hundred 8%" x 11" stimulus cards. Each of these cards contained a written word and/or a pic- ture representing the target concept. The cards were used to elicit the Sign for the specific con- cept from the subject. The pictures served as supplementary visual aids to the written words to give the subject more direct and clear under- standing of the concept he was asked to Sign. - Twenty-eight 8%" x 11" stimulus cards, each of which displayed a different letter of the Arabic alphabet. These cards were used to elicit the signs of the Arabic alphabet. The following procedures were implemented to collect the data. Application was made to the University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (UCRIHS) for approval of the study procedures (see Appendix C). The UCRIHS requirements were met by: - A letter of intent explaining the nature of the study, and assuring that the obtained information will remain confidential, was sent to the Subjects (see Appendix D). - Two forms were Signed by the subjects, a consent form in which the subjects verify their under- standing oftfluanature of the study, and an agree— ment form in which the subjects agreed to 42 participate in the study (see Appendices A and B, respectively). The stimulus cards were prepared in the Royal Scientific Society in Amman, Jordan, with the help of its calligrapher who is involved in preparing Jordanian primary grade read- ing texts. The type of calligraphy used for writing the cards was the same as that used in Jordanian primary read- ing texts. Some stimulus cards for abstract concepts had written words without pictures: "God", "thing", "yes", "with", "good morning", "for", "all", "or", "hey", "and", "when", "noon", "the", and "no". Real materials were attached to the cards for the concepts: "tea", "iron", "piaster", and "rice". It was realistic to demonstrate real materials for such concepts, since it was easy to obtain them. Number concepts were represented on the cards by the written word and the number symbol. These numbers were "one through "ten". Plural concepts consisted of two or more pictures of the same objects. The subjects were instructed by the interpreter to include such indication in their signing. A three minute 8 mm film of some American signs (signed by two Special Education students) was made at Michigan State University. The film served as a rehearsal and experimental step to accustom the investigator to the 43 filming process. However, the film was also shown to the Jordanian subjects to instruct them in what they were expected to do. In Jordan, an appointment was set up with each subject and his interpreter. The interpreter for the older subject was one of his sisters, has a B.A. degree, works as a teacher, and was the most communicative family member with the subject. The interpreter for the younger subject was one of his teachers, who was recommended by the school principal. The brief 8 mm film of American signs was demonstrated; the procedures were discussed with both subjects and the interpreters, to make sure that they were fully aware of their part during the filming. All of their questions were answered at that time. To obtain the best filming environment, some conditions were listed and given to the principal of the school of the younger subject and to the sister (interpreter) of the older subject (see Ap- pendix E). Appointments were made for filming the signs on another occasion. On the filming date, each subject was told again that he would see 100 flash cards, each of which showed a written word and a picture, and that these would be pre- sented one at a time. Each time he saw a card he should make the apprOpriate Sign that represented that written word/picture. He was also asked to give (through the 44 interpreter) a simple sentence* or example for each sign. This was done to verify the subjects‘ understanding of the concepts they were signing and to improve sign validity. On several occasions where confusion occurred, the inter- preter helped in clarification. Each sign, including using it in a phrase or sentence, took approximately two minutes. After signing 10 signs (approximately 20 minutes) a ten minute break was taken. Sessions were conducted for about 2% hours every day for a total of two days for each subject, totalling five hours. To obtain intrasubject reliability, each subject was asked to Sign again the concepts numbered (3-17), ten days later. These signs were also filmed. Intersubject reliability was obtained two days after the original filming by having the subjects Sign to each other the concepts numbered 21-30. While one of the sub- jects turned his face to the wall, the other was asked to Sign each of these concepts, one at a time; just before he signed it, the first subject (receiver) was asked to look at him (sender) and identify the concept by indicating the matching card from the total of 30 cards. Each subject served as sender and receiver. These signs were not filmed, but observational notes were taken. *The translation of these sentences into English was agreed upon by the investigator and two Arab students working with the University Center for International Rehabilita- tion at Michigan State University. Agreement was reached by discussing the most appropriate translation for each sentence. 45 Line drawings of each filmed Sign for the alphabet and 100 concepts were made by the art teacher at Michigan School for the Deaf, Flint, Michigan, USA. An American Sign Language interpreter was asked to give her opinion and suggestions of these line drawings. An artist, a graduate of Michigan State University in graphic design, was also asked to give an opinion concerning the accuracy of representation between the line drawings and the filmed signs. Both consultants (interpreter and artist) agreed that the final graphic representations were of high quality, and consistent with the filmed representation. Selection of Concepts To select the 100 words (concepts) that were used to elicit their matching signs from the subjects, a Jordanian study to ascertain the language of school age children before the first year of elementary education was used. The study indicated that a list of 4,746 different words were obtained from a sample of 242 children (Oweidat, 1977). The 100 most frequently used words from this list were selected for presentation to the two deaf subjects. The translation of these 100 words into English and the retranslation to Arabic were agreed upon by the in- vestigator, the director of the Jordanian study (Oweidat), 46 and a group of four Arab graduate students.* Two of the graduate students were asked to translate the list to English, and the other two to reword the list to Arabic. This procedure resulted in 90% agreement; slightly different translations for 10% of the words did not significantly change the meaning of those concepts. The 100 Jordanian words were cross-referenced with both the Semantic Frequency List of the Thorndike Teacher's Word Book of 20,000 Words** (Eaton, 1940), and The Spon- taneous Speaking Vocabularly of Children in Primarinrades (Murphy, 1957). While this cross-reference is not a variable of interest in this study, it is a matter of cul- tural interest and may have significance for future com- parative studies. Though the last two studies are rela- tively old, it was interesting to notice the high fre- quency of the most 100 used concepts in a relatively old Western world study and more recent study in a rural area of the Middle East. In selecting the 100 most frequently used Jordanian words some minor modifications were made: * Students who work in the University Center for Inter- national Rehabilitation (UCIR) at Michigan State Uni- versity. ** The 20,000 words had been taken from a count of 9,565,000 in 279 sources. 47 l. The word "morning" was omitted as a single concept because the phrase "Good Morning" was already included in the 100 words. 2. Both formal and informal references to the same concept were assimilated into one formal word since the intention of this study is to concentrate on the concept rather than the specific utterances of the concept (Eng- lish example: father/daddy/dad/pappa are assimilated into father). 3. Different words that were found to express the same concept were assimilated into one word (English ex- ample: doctor/physician; house/home). 4. Concepts that appeared in both singular and plural forms were recorded as just singular or plural according to which occurred most frequently in the Jordanian study (English example: chair/chairs). 5. Concepts that might appear in both masculine and feminine form in the Arabic language were assimilated into either masculine or feminine according to which occurred most frequently in the Jordanian list (English example: the word "meat" in Arabic can be expressed in both genders). 6. The concepts "once" and "one" were assimilated into "one". 7. The word "eye" was omitted because the Arabic translation indicates more than one concept for such a word, i.e., it could be "eye" or "fountain". It was not 48 clear which concept was intended in the Jordanian study. 8. The word "watch" was omitted because the Arabic translation of the word has multiple meanings. 9. The frequencies of the different grammatical forms of the same concepts were assimilated to the simplest form, since the intention of this study is focused on the concept rather than the grammatical differences between forms that express the same concept, i.e., "sitting" and "sit" have been recorded as "sit". 10. The letter "L" in the Arabic language has a gram— matical indication as a prefix. Despite the fact that this prefix has high frequency in the Jordanian study, it was omitted since this study does not explore the gram- matical dimension of the Jordanian signs. The final list is shown in Appendix F. It consists of four columns; the first one includes the words 1-100, the other three columns consist of the frequency of each word according to the Jordanian study, Thorndike's and Murphy's, respectively. The "1" after a word in Thorn- dike's column, indicates that it occurs among the first thousand words in the source list; "2" among the second thousand, etc. The letters "a" and "b" after the figures indicate, respectively, the first and the second five hundred of that thousand. The following three words are examples from that list: 49 The Frequency in The Jordanian Study Thorndike's Murphy's The Word in Descending Order Frequency_ Frequengy 7. The 10,789 la 6,451 9. Men 1,537 1a 477 100. Shirt 239 2b 126 The word "The" was the first word in the list order, re- peated 10,789 times in the Jordanian study, occurred with- in the first five hundred of the first one thousand words of Thorndike's list, and repeated 6,451 times in Murphy's list. "Men? was the ninth word in the list order, re- peated 1,537 times in the Jordanian study, occurred within the first five hundred of the first thousand words of Thorndike's list, and repeated 477 times in Murphy's list. Finally, "shirt" was the 100th word in the list order, repeated 239 times in the Jordanian study, occurred within the second five hundred of the second thousand words of Thorndike's list, and repeated 126 times in Murphy's list. CHAPTER IV FINDINGS OF THE STUDY This chapter is divided into three parts - the sub- jects' signs of the Arabic alphabet and their descriptions, the subjects' signs of the 100 target concepts, and a dis- cussion of the inter- and intrasubject reliability of the signs. Six 8 mm movie films were used. The first recorded some American sign language to be shown to the subjects, as described in Chapter III. The second and third films were used to record the signs of the older subject, the fourth and fifth films were used to record the signs of the younger subject. Ten days later, the last film was used to record the signs of the alphabet and the signs 3-17 from each subject to obtain the intrasubject re- liability. Tracing paper (83" x 10%") was used to line draw each Sign from the film. Each Sign was drawn in a 5%" x 5%" square. These squares were reduced to the size shown in Appendices G and H. 50 51 The Arabic Manual Alphabet in Jordan The Arabic alphabet consists of 28 letters. These letters and their English pronounciation are demonstrated in the chart on Page 53 (Figure l). The Merriam-Webster pronounciation Symbols of Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary were used when they were needed for the closest English pronounciation of vowels. A dot below the letter (as in ha) indicates it is aspirated. The Arabic alphabet is read from right to left. It was observed that the signs for the Arabic alpha- bet characters were accompanied by voice. The deaf sub- jects appeared to be trying to use spoken language to say the alphabet. Since some alphabet Signs were found to be similar to each other, the simultaneous voicing, if intelligible, becomes an important factor in distinguish- ing between these alphabet characters. Unlike the Arabic alphabet signs in Jordan, the American set of manual Signs for the English alphabet characters tend to shape graphic representations. These representa- tions might appear in one-half shapes (as the American manual alphabet) or in two-hand shapes as the British manual alphabet. In this small sample (N=2), both subjects' signs for each alphabet character were compared. The three aspects of Sign language cheremes, tab (place of sign), dez (hand shape), and sig (motion of Sign) were employed to establish III. S IIIII .5. EIHHI o. III a I , IIIDU Bea: Se... 2: 53 three degrees of similarity. When both subjects' signs for any given character were found to be the same in all three aSpectS, the signs were considered to be in complete agreement. If paired signs were found to have two aspects in common (same tab and Sig or dez and tab or Sig and dez) . . ., they were considered to be in agreement with some variation. The rest of the pairs of signs that were found to have less than two aspects in common, were considered to be in complete disagreement. Judgment regarding degree of similarity was rendered by two hearing adult raters familiar with the study of Sign. The alphabet signs of both subjects were recorded as they appear in Appendix G. As demonstrated in Table I, the subjects agreed on 18% of the signs, agreed with some variations on 14% and disagreed on 68%. Three examples (on page 56) demonstrate the complete agreement, agreement with variation, and disagreement, respectively (Figure 2). The letter on the top left Side of the drawing indicates the initial of the subject's first name, the word on the bottom left side of the drawing is the English pronounciation of the alphabet character. As indicated in Table II, each of three groups of letters of the alphabet was found to have the same sign. It was also found that each subject gave the same Sign for various letters of the alphabet. As demonstrated in Table III, six pairs of letters (12 of 28) were expressed 54 Table I. Agreement on the Alphabet Signs Between the Two Subjects. Degree of Percentage of Content of Agreement Agreement Agreement/Disagreement Complete 18% (5 of "alif", "teh", "theh", Agreementl 28 letters) "gaf" and "noon" Agreement with 14% (4 of "beh", "jeem", "sheen", some variation 28 letters) and "heh" Complete 68% (19 of "ha", "kha", "dal", Disagreement 28 letters "thal", "ra", "zan", nggénu’ "59d", "déd", "téh" ’ "2.11011" ' n 551'!" "ghan" ' "fehn ' "kaf" ' u lam" ' umeemu ’ "WOW" ’ and "yeh" Table II. Three Groups of Alphabet Characters (7 of 28 Letters), Each Expressed by the Same Sign. "ha" of the younger subject. "heh" of the older subject. "kha" of the younger subject. "ghan" of the younger subject. "jeem" of the older subject. "gaf" of the younger subject. "kaf" of the older subject. 55 Figure 2. Three Examples Demonstrating the Agreement, Agreement with Variation, and Disagreement Between the Two Subjects on the Signs for Selected Alphabet Characters. The Older Subject's The The Younger Subject's Signs Alphabet Signs .. j s I I!" am 56 Table III. Eleven Pairs of Alphabet Characters (22 of 28 Letters), Each Pair Expressed by the Same Sign. The Subject Pairs of Letters The Older Subject "teh"-"theh", "dal"-"Ehal", "Sédu-"déd", "t6h"’"£§9h", "aahn_ughahn' "gafu_ukafu. The Younger Subject "alif"-"aan", "teh"-"theh", "khau_ngh§nn’ "Egaln‘nfeh", "téhn-"Elléh" . by only six signs by the older subject, and five pairs (10 of 28 letters) of letters were expressed by only five signs by the younger subject. No standardized forms of signs emerge in this sample. The description of signs, used by each subject, of the Arabic alphabet characters appears to indicate a possible effect of the Oral System in teaching Jordanian deaf child- ren. The discrepancy between the subjects' Signs might reflect the different teachers' procedures used to teach speech to Jordanian deaf children. It seems that each teacher creates his own method of teaching by hand move— ments to represent the movements of articulators. Evi- dently, in Jordan, it is the only available way to teach 57 the name of the alphabet characters. At least, this appears to be the case in this limited sample. One might conclude that the Arabic manual alphabet in Jordan is a slow and unpractical process for forming words or phrases. The Signs of the 100 Concepts This study differs from those of advanced Sign lan- guages in that it offers the first systematic description of the actual signs that are used in Jordan. Each subject was asked to sign 100 concepts and to use the given sign in a phrase or sentence, one at a time. These phrases and sentences assured that the subjects under- stood what they were signing. In a few cases, interpre- ters helped to clarify any confusion. The following brief description will be helpful in understanding and interpreting the line drawings of the signs for the 100 selected basic concepts. Each drawn sign has a number and a letter. The number on the t0p left side matches the number of the word from the vocabulary list; the letter relates to the first initial of the name of each subject. This process facilitated ordering and studying the signs throughout the research. As an example, 18 means the first sign of Sahel (the younger subject's name), ZS means his second sign, etc. 8N means the eighth sign of Nabil (the older subject's 58 name), lON means his tenth sign, etc. The bottom left side of the square contains the English word for the con- cept. After the line drawing was completed, a reducing pro- cess was used to obtain a suitable size for printing purposes. Whenever there is more than one sig (motion), dez (hand- shape), or tab (place of sign) for the sign, arrows are used for better understanding. The numbers (if used) around the sign indicate the order of the movements. As an example, 1 means the first movement; 2 the second move- ment, etc. Some signs consist of dotted (broken) lines and solid lines; the solid lines of the drawing indicate the last movement of the sign. In order that the reader better understand the sign drawing, the following procedure is suggested: first examine the picture; then read the complete entry (word description, the origin of the sign, and the usage example given by the subject); and finally note that the front view presents a mirror image. Whenever a plural concept was presented, both subjects added the "many" sign. As an example, both subjects signed "children" by signing "child" then "many"; and "cars", by signing "car" then "many". Even though the tab for the "many" sign sometimes differed in the various plural concepts, the dez and sig of the sign remained the same. 59 The line drawings of the signs for the 100 concepts, as elicited from both subjects are recorded in Appendix H. The three aspects of Sign language cheremes (sig, tab, and dez) used to determine the degree of similarity between the two subjects' signs for the alphabet characters, are used in Appendix H in the same manner for each subject's signs for the 100 concepts. It was found that both subjects agreed completely upon 26% of the signs, showed some degree of similarity in 22% of the signs, and disagreed upon the remaining 52% of the signs. Table IV demonstrates the degree of subjects' agree- ments on the signs of the alphabet and the concepts. Table IV. Agreement on Signs of the Alphabet and of Con- cepts Between the Two Subjects. Degree of Percentage of Agreement Agreement Alphabet Concepts Agreement 18% (5 of 26% (26 of 28 letters) 100 concepts) Agreement with 14% (4 of 22% (22 of some variation 28 letters 100 concepts) Disagreement 68% (19 of 52% (52 of 28 letters) 100 concepts) The following three examples in Figure 3 illustrate the agreement, agreement with variation, and disagreement. Figure 3. 60 Three Examples Illustrating Agreement, Agree- ment with Variation, and Disagreement Between the Two Subjects on Signs for Selected Concepts. Older Subject's Signs The Concept a u lmmn am §%§§§ES;;%§;§F\< \\\:\\ \. I ‘$§7\ \‘i‘x \ \> “mm: ‘3 MIR No (not) Airplane Mother Younger Subject's Signs 3S HI '/ [rd/a? .I NBC N3) ) 37S AIM MOYHE R 61 The agreement on signs for concepts is higher than the agreement on signs for alphabet characters. This discrepancy probably occurs because there is no systematic sign system taught to deaf children in Jordan. They develop their own signs for purposes of communication. Obviously, concept signs are more necessary and functional for basic communication than the signs for alphabet characters. The Reliability of the 100 Signs Both intersubject and intrasubject reliability were measured. Intersubject reliability was measured two days after the original filming by asking the subjects to sign to each other 10 concepts (numbers 21-30). While one of the subjects (receiver) was asked to turn his face to the wall, the other subject (sender) was asked to give the sign for each of these ten concepts one at a time; just before signing, the first subject (receiver) was asked to look at the other subject (sender) and determine the concept of the sign by selecting a matching flash card from a total of 30 flash cards. Intrasubject reliability was obtained ten days after the original filming by asking each subject to give again the sign for the 15 concepts (numbers 3-17). When the intersubject reliability was examined, it was found that the older subject understood 80% (8 of 10) of the younger subject's concept signs. The two signs not understood are indicated in Figure 4. 62 Figure 4. Two Signs Illustrating the Disagreement of the Older Subject with the Younger Subject (Inter- subject Reliability : 80%). 275 The older subject did not recognize the related flash card and thought that the sign meant just "hello". wmmmmm an The older subject pointed to the "water" flash card. In The younger subject understood 90% (9 of 10) signs given by the older subject. The one sign not understood is shown in Figure 5. 63 Figure 5. One Sign Illustrating the Disagreement of the Younger Subject with the Older Subject (Inter- subject Reliability = 90%). The younger subject did not recognize this sign. 5., IITH When intrasubject reliability was examined, it was found that the older subject gave the same signs for 73% of the concepts (11 of 15 signs). It can be noticed from examining the remaining four signs in Figure 6 that the variations and changes occurring after ten days were not markedly different from the initial signs. It was found that the younger subject gave the same signs for 80% of the concepts (12 of 15 signs). The varia- tions within the remaining 3 signs were found to be minor, as shown in Figure 7. 64 Figure 6. Four Signs Illustrating Intrasubject Reliability of the Older Subject's Signs. The Original Filming The Concept Ten Days Later ON Adding the left hand. YES Using the index finger. \ \ ‘o‘n . 3‘ O " I “n d \.. l/ \‘ “N Z ‘ \ 5.”- . \ ‘. ) ‘(Q‘:“/}/“Pm ’-“ Q - ‘ \~‘ ' \ \\-. l {éqal ' ‘\ Ii . I‘ V q I, 17M FATI'ER 65 FATHER Eliminating the ex- tended hand and add- ing the "many" sign. FATI'ER Adding the first motion of 9N "MEN" sign by twisting the right side of the mustache. 66 Figure 7. Three Signs Illustrating Intrasubject Reliability of the Younger Subject's Signs. The Original Filming The Concept Ten Days Later 75 5 ‘(::f\ 4 /1 CHILDREN gfl \ § a: i; 3,"; :- 1;? €527: {.4}, §‘ cmmsw' '5 The hand is moved from right to left. 1% HAND m MID Touching the left forearm with the right hand. 67 )6 HEAD HEAD Moving the right palm down on the face. Even though there is little agreement on the tab, dez and sig of the signs in Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, illustrating inter- and intrasubject reliability, one can observe that there is agreement on the general function of these signs, and they appear to be relatively stable. CHAPTER V SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH Summary Objectives of the Study The study was designed to accomplish the following ob- jectives: 1. To survey and record on 8 mm films the signs for 100 commonly used concepts (words) from a sample of two Jordanian deaf subjects, To survey and record on 8 mm films the signs for the 28 Arabic alphabet characters from the same subjects in the same manner as mentioned above, To offer explanations for the cultural or common sense origin or basis of the sign for each concept, To obtain a usage sample for each concept sign to indicate usual meaning in a phrase or sentence, To develOp a diagram and word description of each sign, To measure similarities and differences between subjects' signs for each alphabet character and for 68 69 each concept, and 7. To measure the reliability of sign language as used by two Jordanian deaf subjects. Review of Literature Six main dimensions of sign language use were examined through a literature review. The first concerns the definitions of "Language" and "Speech" and the impact of hearing disability on the language and speech of the hearing impaired child. The second examines the relationship between "Language" and "Signs" as a legitimate language for deaf persons. Thirdly, the relationship between "Culture" and "Signs" indicates that Sign Language differs from culture to cul- ture and takes its own developmental course in each culture. Fourthly, the status of Sign Language in the Arab World countries was examined. Even though there is some aware- ness of the usefulness of studying and implementing the system of Signs to teach deaf children, there is still no implemented or standardized Sign Language system in the Arab World countries. However, the Arab Federation for the Organs of the Deaf (A.F.O.D.) is nurturing and foster- ing efforts to study and develop an Arab Sign Language system. The fifth issue deals with the history and development of American Sign Language (ASL) and other Sign systems 70 that are being used in the United States. Finally, the controversial issue of teaching deaf children by oralism versus Total Communication was discussed. Recent thinking by researchers and educators points out that the use of the Total Communication approach proves to benefit the deaf child more than using just the Oral approach. Research Design and Methodology The following steps were followed in order to accomplish the objectives of the study: 1. One hundred most commonly used concepts (words) were chosen from a Jordanian study of the vo- cabulary of the beginning elementary school age children. 2. Each of these concepts were presented on a flash card by a written word and a picture. Also, 28 flash cards of the Arabic alphabet were prepared. The flash cards were used to elicit the signs of the alphabet and concepts from two deaf Jordanian subjects. 3. The subjects were filmed while they were signing for each concept and each Arabic letter of the alphabet. 4. Line drawings of the filmed signs for each sub- ject were constructed and comparisons were made 71 of the drawing between the two subjects to de- termine the degree of similarity. 5. Signs 3-17 and 21-30 were used to examine the intrasubject and intersubject reliabilities, respectively. Findings/Results Line drawings of the filmed signs formed the main body of data for the findings. Examining these line drawings led to the following findings: 1. Of the 28 Arabic alphabet characters, both sub- jects agreed upon 18% of the signs; 14% of the alphabet signs were found to have some degree of similarity; 68% of the alphabet characters were different. The signing of the Arabic alphabet by these sub- jects was accompanied by voice. This finding ap- pears to reflect the oral background of teaching Jordanian deaf children. Of the 100 concepts, both subjects agreed upon 26% of the signs; 22% of the 100 concepts' signs were found to have some degree of similarity; 52% of the 100 concepts were different. Intersubject reliability on the 100 concepts was found to be 80% when the older subject responded 72 to signs of the younger subject; 90% when the younger subject responded to signs of the older subject. 5. Intrasubject reliability was found to be 73% with the older subject and 80% with the younger sub- ject. Limitations of the Study The high percentage of variation between the signs for the alphabet characters and concepts by the two sub- jects decreases the certainty level of the most widely acceptable sign for any given concept. Hence, before at- tempting to develop a standardized sign manual for educa- tional use, a replication of the study will be necessary. Such replication should consider the following: - A larger sample (approximately N=15) to increase reliability for any given sign should be attempted. - Focus on adult deaf subjects (between 20-30 years of age) who have had longer experience with sign usage and more contact with the deaf population. - Conduct similar studies in other Arab countries. Since hearing peOple in the Arab countries com- municate in one Spoken language, Arabic, it would be helpful to establish one standardized Arabic Sign System (ASS) for the use of all Arab deaf learners. 73 - Signs Should be collected on videotape. It is more practical and more efficient to use the videotape camera, allowing the researcher to examine the recorded Signs immediately at any point, or replay the tape easily. Discussion of Results The findings of the study Showed that: signs as a way of communication are used informally among Jordanian deaf population; Jordanian signs can be studied, charac- terized, and improved to be used in the Jordanian educa- tional system for teaching deaf children; and finally, these signs are affected by the cultural elements of the Jordanian society. Three elements of invalidity were noticed in the signs of the 28 Arabic alphabet characters given by the two subjects. These elements are: the high level of disagree- ment, the overlap of the subjects' Signs for several alpha- bet characters and lack of validity in the signs of the same subject. First, the subjects agreed on only 18% (5 of 28) of the Signs. The agreement included the Signs of the letters "alif", "teh", "theh", "95f", and "noon"; both subjects agreed with some variations upon 14% (4 of 28) of the signs, these Signs included the letters "beh", "jeem", "Sheen", 74 and "heh". They disagreed upon the remaining 68% (19 of 28) of the Signs. Second, both subjects gave the same Sign for different letters (7 of 28). For example, "ha" of the younger sub— ject and "heh" of the older subject were found to have the same Sign. Third, each individual subject gave the same Sign for different letters. The older subject gave Six Signs for six pairs of letters, and the younger subject gave five Signs for five pairs of letters. For example, the older subject gave the same Sign for the letters "teh" and "theh" and gave another Sign for both letters "dal" and "thal". The overlap of Jordanian manual alphabet along with the fact that the subjects were trying to vocalize each letter they were Signing, make such vocalizing (if in- telligible) a necessary factor to distinguish between the Signs. Such a finding suggests that the educational programs of Jordanian deaf students may be affected by: The Oral approach, lack of a standardized manual alphabet, and/or arbitrary teacher methods of teaching the sounds of the alphabet characters. At the present time, one might con~ clude that the Arabic manual alphabet in Jordan is a Slow and impractical process for forming words or phrases. Differences and similarities were also noticed in both subjects' Signs for the 100 concepts. They agreed upon 26% of the Signs, Showed some degree of Similarity for 22% of the Signs, and disagreed upon 52% of the Signs. For example, while both subjects agreed completely upon Sign 84 "plates", they gave slightly different signs for concept 87 "airplane", and gave completely different Signs for concept 9O "door". The variation observed in this study in JSL lexicon for concepts may be influenced by four factors: The small sample of the study (N=2), the difference in chronological age of the subjects, the difference in geographic region and culture (unlike the younger subject, the older subject was brought up in an urban area), and the difference in the educational level of the subjects. Similar variations have been noticed in advanced Sign systems like ASL. In America, Southerners tend to use older forms more often than Northerners (Woodward, Erting & Oliver, 1976); more highly educated Signers tend to use more borrowing from English in their ASL (Lane & Grosjean, 1980): in the South, Blacks tend to use older forms more often than whites of the same age (Woodward & Erting, 1975). The cultural influence in JSL was noticed through many of the subjects' Signs (3N, 9N, l7N, 23N, 27N, 29N, 42N, 43N). Examining the origins of these Signs supports the assumption that JSL, as other Sign languages, is a context- dependent language in which there is great evidence of Arabic cultural influence. 76 The reliability of the selected concept signs indicates that there is sufficiently high consistency to standardize a Jordanian Sign language. Intrasubject and intersubject differences between the Signs were not found to be major ones, in that they were related to the same general function despite the disagreement on the Sign specificity. Intersubject reliability measure indicated that the older subject understood 8 of 10 of the younger subject's Signs and that the younger subject understood 9 of 10 of the older subject's signs. On the other hand, intrasubject reliability measure indicated that the older subject was consistent in 11 of 15 signs and that the younger subject was consistent in 12 of 15 Signs. These inconsistent Signs did not have enough variation to be considered as completely different from each other. The collected Signs were determined to be colloquial in that many of them are common mimes and gestures that are used in everyday life by almost everyone in Jordan. (Signs like 3N, 3S, 4N, 48, SN, 5S, 7N, 7S, 9N, 9S, . . . are good examples of such Signs.) It was also found that naivete (simple as possible) is a common characteristic of many of the collected signs. This evidence of naivete was suggested in the very Short Sign, as 278, or very long as 27N and 49N. It was also evidenced in the expression of different concepts with just one Sign (like 98, 178 and 59S, or 28N and 31N). 77 Further studies on JSL in Jordan are needed before any efforts to modify and refine the language for use in schools for the deaf or the communicatively handicapped. Later on, different features of JSL phonology can be examined; handshape complexity and structure, place on the body where signs are made, and motions of the signs can be studied. Careful observation of conversations between Jordanian deaf persons can also reveal the structure of JSL syntax. One can conclude that signs as a way of communication among the deaf population do exist in Jordan, have their own structure, and can be explored, studied, fostered and developed. Recommendations Sign language, like Spoken language, is a growing, living language. This study of some Jordanian Signs is a preliminary survey and, hopefully, a stimulus for further studies and research. Based on this survey, the following recommendations are offered for future research: Recommendation 1. Sign language can become an im- portant part of the educational system of deaf children in Jordan; Jordanian deaf children should not be deprived of the opportunity to learn through Signing as well as through oral skills. 78 Recommendation 2. More surveys and studies on larger samples of deaf persons throughout the Arab world should be conducted to standardize the Jordanian Sign language. Recommendation 3. Standardization of Jordanian Sign language must proceed only after surveys are made of Jordanian deaf subgroups from different regions, so as to generalize the findings. Recommendation 4. The future studies Should consider the Sign systems that exist in other Arab countries Since all the Arab world countries have many common cultural characteristics, including one Spoken language. Recommendation 5. Educated adult deaf persons Should be strongly considered as the subjects for future studies. Recommendation 6. A manual Arabic alphabet needs to be developed in more practical ways for functional use. Recommendation 7. The use of the videotape system would be more efficient in filming the Signs to be studied. Recommendation 8. A film or videotape should be prepared to assure standardization of survey techniques and instruc- tions to subjects. APPENDICES 79 APPENDIX A EXAMPLE OF CONSENT FORM IN ENGLISH 80 APPENDIX A Example of Consent Form in English "The purpose, objectives and methods of this study liave been explained to me. My questions have been fully annd satisfactorily answered. I freely consent to parti- <::ipate with the freedom to discontinue at any time without :1:- \ \‘1 o i‘ ‘- \~—" \ \ -->' \\~: I.” SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 5N. ORIGIN: Same as 5N. EXAMPLE: I took the pencil FROM Ali.* *Note: Ali is one of the subject's classmates. Older Subject's Signs 118 Concept IN SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the left hand in front of the body with palm facing down. Move the right hand toward left in a crosswise manner under the left hand with palm facing down. ORIGIN: Putting something INTO something else. EXAMPLE: The clothes are IN the closet. OIILDIEN CHILDREN SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the right palm (facing down) to the level of the waist. Move it from left to right in stages. Then add the "many" Sign. ORIGIN: Tapping the CHILDREN heads. EXAMPLE: The CHILDREN play in the street. Younger Subject's Signs A * IN SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move the right index finger (point- ing down) straight down- ward. ORIGIN: Pointing INSIDE. EXAMPLE: My books are IN my desk. . £3 ., CHILDREN SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move the right hand from left to right in stages with palm facing left, then add the "many" Sign. ORIGIN: Showing the small stature of children. EXAMPLE: There are many CHILDREN in this school. 119 Older Subject's Signs Concept YES SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move the right hand (palm facing down) downward in a firm manner while nodding the head slightly forward. ORIGIN: The movement of the hand and head express and indicate acceptance. EXAMPLE: When you understand what is said by someone you say YES. Younger Subject's Signs YES SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right index finger with palm facing in. ORIGIN: A motion used by hearing children to tell the teacher that they know the answer to his/her question and they are asking for his/her per- mission to answer the question. EXAMPLE: We say YES in the classroom. 120 Older Subject's Signs Concept m K \ (L2?“s Q§n\9‘ a \ .\“ d \ ’ \‘ \ “. s {‘1‘ ‘.?‘\ Z) ‘\ \ $ /~‘ 5’ \s‘ (kt: flySPL- \s‘.- . I {Eel ‘\ .l ’N MI I MEN mu SIGN DESCRIPTION: Twist the right hand downward in a circle motion while ho the (pre lding the right Side of sumed) moustach with the thumb and index finger. Then move the hand toward right (Slightly up) while tapping the fingers of the "many" Sign. ORIGIN: EXAMPLE: house.* MEN around have moustaches. The MEN are building this *The subject pointed out to a new house ne arby. Younger Subject's Signs Lo...— _ --___ SIGN DESCRIPTION: Twist the right hand downward in a circle motion while hold- ing the right side of the (presumed) moustach with the thumb and index finger. Then add the "many" Sign. ORIGIN: The MAN has mous- tach. EXAMPLE: When I get older I will be a MAN. 121 Older Subject's Signs Concept Younger Subject's Signs 10:4 105 -..—. _..—. f f a: at SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same right index finger with palm facing as lON. inward' ORIGIN: Same as lON. ORIGIN: One finger represents the numeral ONE. EXAMPLE: We have ONE car. EXAMPLE: I have ONE piaster in my pocket. 11?! If \\ '\"I‘ I /79 HOUSE K \ we - 'WE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Tap the Side SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same (the thumb side) of the left as llN. fist With the right palm sev- ORIGIN: Same as llN. eral times. ' ' * ORIGIN, Knocking the door of EXAMPLE. HOUSES llke those. the house. *The subject pointed out EXAMPLE: We live in a HOUSE. some houses nearby. 122 Older Subject's Signs Concept 1a GOD \/I SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right index finger high with palm facing out. ORIGIN: GOD iS up. EXAMPLE: We pray to GOD. *Notice the difference between 88, 10N, lOS, 12N, 128. cm HAND SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold the right hand with the left hand with palms facing up. ORIGIN: Showing the HAND. EXAMPLE: This is my HAND. Younger Subject's Signs 12S \/’,\ I I I J 6CD SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 12N. ORIGIN: Same as 12N. EXAMPLE: GOD is good. 13S IWD SIGN DESCRIPTION: Set the left fingers on the inside right forearm. ORIGIN: Showing the HAND. EXAMPLE: I use my HANDS to lift things. 123 Older Subject's Signs Concept 1“ /::%? fi§§zl C’ CARS /' “11 KS- sf; WE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move both hands up and down, alternately, in a circle motion as if driving a car, then add the "many" Sign. ORIGIN: Natural motion of driv- ing a CAR. EXAMPLE: I can drive a CAR. 1.. K THIS THIS SIGN DESCRIPTION: Point right index finger forward with other fingers bent. ORIGIN: Pointing to a specific object. EXAMPLE: THIS is our house. Younger Subject's Signs 14$ SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 14N. ORIGIN: Same as 14N. EXAMPLE: We have one CAR in the school. Es (,wit THIS SIGN DESCRIPTION:* Same as 15N. ORIGIN: Same as 15N. EXAMPLE: THIS is your camera.** *Notice the similarity with 18 "THE" Sign. **The subject pointed to the research camera. Older Subject's Signs Concept ‘m ‘;5;; HEAD /-\\ mm SIGN DESCRIPTION: Tap the head with the right palm. ORIGIN: Showing the HEAD. EXAMPLE: This is my HEAD. 17H FATHER FATIER SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the side (forefinger side) of the right flat hand under the chin with palm facing down. Move the other side (little-finger Side) Of the hand slightly up and down several times. ORIGIN: The FATHER has beard. EXAMPLE: My FATHER is deceased. Younger Subject's Signs I65 HEAD SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the right palm on the head and the back of the left hand under the chin. ORIGIN: Showing the HEAD. EXAMPLE: It is easier to clean the HEAD when the hair is Short. 17$ FAT FER SIGN DESCRIPTION: Twist the right hand downward in a circle motion while holding the right side Of the (pre- sumed) mustache with the thumb and index finger. ORIGIN: FATHER has a moustach. EXAMPLE: My FATHER visits me on the weekend. Older Subject's Signs 1m MIR 125 Concept HAIR SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold some HAIR with the right fingers. ORIGIN: Showing the HAIR. EXAMPLE: Your HAIR is black. 19:: SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move the right hand (palm facing left) from right to left while curling the fingers then place the palm on the abdomen. HAVE ORIGIN: Getting something and HAVING it. EXAMPLE: We HAVE a car. Younger Subject's Signs 18$ MIR SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 18N. ORIGIN: Same as 18N. EXAMPLE: We get a HAIR out every two weeks. SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place both palms over the chest. ORIGIN: Natural motion of owning (HAVING). EXAMPLE: I HAVE two shoes. I95 HAVE Older Subject's Signs Concept ml I-IEII SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the 126 HUSH right index finger against the mouth, palm facing left. ORIGIN: Motion of asking someone to keep quiet. EXAMPLE: People Should be quiet when they go to visit someone in the hospital. Younger Supject's Signs 20S SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 20N. ORIGIN: Same as 20N. EXAMPLE: When we make noise the teacher says HUSH. Older Subject's Signs Concept 21M TEE 127 TREE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Set the right elbow on the back of the left hand, place the right hand on the nose and draw it forward (while opening the fingers) as if smelling. Then move the right hand right and left several times. ORIGIN: TREE smells and its branches move right and left. EXAMPLE: This is a TREE.* *The subject pointed to a tree in the house yard. Younger Subject's Signs 21$ TEE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right hand (fingers separated) and twist it in a circle motion several times. ORIGIN: The movements of the TREE branches. EXAMPLE: We have many TREES in the school. 128 Older Subject's Signs Concept an THREE tmn SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right thumb, index and middle fingers with palm facing in. ORIGIN: The three fingers repre- sent the numeral THREE. EXAMPLE: There are THREE rooms in our house. 23H GIRL an SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold the lobe of the right ear with the right thumb and index finger. Then move the hand down to the abdomen level with palm facing down. ORIGIN: The person who puts on earrings and has small stature is a GIRL. EXAMPLE: My Sister is a GIRL. Younger Subject's Signs 225 THREE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right middle, ring, and little fingers with palm facing out. ORIGIN: The three fingers represent the numeral THREE. EXAMPLE: We are THREE.* *The subject pointed to me, the interpreter and himself. GIII. ' SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right palm across the right cheek. Draw it down, then up in a half circle motion. ORIGIN: Showing the hair of the GIRL. EXAMPLE: There are GIRLS in the school. 129 Older Sugject's Signs Concept / 2m /’ / // / / . f/\ / ; LEG 'I I / 5 {T .(I i M ' I I I i t. g SIGN DESCRIPTION: Tap the out- side of the right leg with the right palm several times. ORIGIN: Showing the LEG. EXAMPLE: I have two LEGS. 25H HORSE Q. \@I SS;:\ m SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the separation of the right index and middle fingers on the side of the left hand (forefinger side) with left palm facing right. Move both hands up and down as if riding a horse. ORIGIN: The motion shows a HORSE riding. EXAMPLE: I can ride a HORSE. Younger Subject's Signs MW (If SIGN DESCRIPTION: Lift your right leg slightly up, then tap it from outside with the right palm several times. ORIGIN: Showing the LEG. EXAMPLE: We use our LEGS to walk. 25$ SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 25N. ORIGIN: Same as 25N. EXAMPLE: HORSES are big. 130 Older Subject's Signs Concept Younger Subject's Signs an 2s WITH Egg WITH llTII SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as SIGN DESCRIPTION: Bring the subject's Sign of the both fists against each Arabic letters "meem" and other in front of the body. aan reSpeCtlvely° ORIGIN: A hand WITH ORIGIN: "ma" in Arabic means another one. "WITH". The phoneme consists Of two Arabic letters "meem" + "San". The first Sign represents the letter "meem", the second Sign represents the letter "aan". EXAMPLE: I live WITH my family. EXAMPLE: When we go shopping we have to stay WITH the teacher. 131 Older Subject's Signs Concept l fin I I \\ ’ nn/ \ ‘33.); ? . GOOD \,,.', MORNING \‘ ,I p com WIN SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place both hands (Slightly bent with palms facing down) in front of the body, move both hands up to the sides while separating the fingers (palms will face out). Then place the right hand on the right side of the head as if saluting. ORIGIN: The motions indicate the salutation (greeting) when the sun rises in the morning. EXAMPLE: When we wake up in the morning we say GOOD MORNING. Younger Subject's Signs cooo MORNING SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the right hand on the right side of the head as if saluting. ORIGIN: Motion of saluta- tion (Greeting). EXAMPLE: When we say hi in the morning. 132 Older Subject's Signs Cpncept zen , l :7— ! I I i w - . 9 d 2? F1 \ ; CHAIRS /’ I / I< : \u I , UNIS I SIGN DESCRIPTION: Squat, slightly, several times with palms facing down as if hold- ing the chair's hands. Then add the "many" Sign. ORIGIN: Motion of sitting in a CHAIR. EXAMPLE: When I feel tired I Sit in the CHAIR. SCHOOLS sums SIGN DESCRIPTION: Strike the right index finger into the left palm several times. Then add the "many" Sign. ORIGIN: The motion indicates a stick that is used to punish the children in the SCHOOLS. EXAMPLE: Children 90 to SCHOOLS. Younger Subject's Signs 2% 4’7 fl —— ’- T9154 // / \\l I 1 SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 28N.* ORIGIN: Same as 28N EXAMPLE: There are many CHAIRSin the classroom. *The subject did not add the "many" Sign. 23$ $000.5 SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 29N. ORIGIN: Same as 29N. EXAMPLE: SCHOOLS are for learning. 133 Older Subject's Signs Concept mu TEA EA SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the right hand in front of the right Shoulder with palm facing in, in- dex finger pointing down, thumb pointing left and other fingers bent. Move the hand slightly down and twist the index finger in a circle motion as if stirring the sugar in a glass of TEA. ORIGIN: Holding a small glass of tea and stirring the sugar in it. EXAMPLE: We drink TEA with breakfast. Younger Supject's Signs TEA SIGN DESCRIPTION: Cup the right hand as if holding a glass* between the thumb and the other fingers. Move the hand toward the mouth as if drinking. ORIGIN: Natural Sign of drinking. EXAMPLE: We drink TEA with breakfast. *In Jordan, the common way to drink tea is from small juice size glasses. 134 Older Subject's Signs Concept 31H ’ P SIT SIT SIGN DESCRIPTION: Squat as if Sitting. ORIGIN: Natural motion of sitting. EXAMPLE: When we feel tired we' SIT down. DOG SIGN DESCRIPTION: Stretch the right hand down, swing it left and right several times while tapping the thumb and the first two fingers together (palm fac- ing out). ORIGIN: Familiar sign for call- ing or playing with the DOG. EXAMPLE: The DOG is loyal guard. Younger Subject's Signs 31$ SIT SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 31N. ORIGIN: Same as 31N. EXAMPLE: We SIT down at our desks in the class- room. 0G3 SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right hand with in- dex and little finger point- ing up and palm facing out, tap the thumb and the mid- dle two fingers together. ORIGIN: The motion repre— sents the DOG barking. EXAMPLE: Our school prin- cipal has a DOG. 135 Older Subject's Signs Concept 3: MEAT an SIGN DESCRIPTION: Chop the open right hand up and down over the back of the left fist several times. ORIGIN: As if cutting a piece of meat with a butcher's knife. EXAMPLE: MEAT is expensive. SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right index and middle fingers (separated) with palm facing in. ORIGIN: Two fingers represent the numeral TWO. EXAMPLE: I ate TWO eggs today. Younger Subject's Signs 33$ NEAT SIGN DESCRIPTION: Lift up the skin on the back side of the left hand with right thumb and fingers. ORIGIN: Showing the MEAT Of the hand. EXAMPLE: We often eat MEAT for dinner. 34S SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 34N. ORIGIN: Same as 34N. EXAMPLE: I have TWO brothers. 136 Older Subject's Signs Concept an HEY SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as the subject's Sign of the Arabic letter "yeh", then extend the hand toward right. ORIGIN: "Ya" in Arabic means "hey". The phoneme consists of the Arabic letter "yeh" (while it is drawn out). The first Sign represents the letter "yeh", the motion represents drawing it out. EXAMPLE: See the following note. NOTE: The subject explained through the interpreter that he learned in the school that this Sign is used to call someone but he never used or needed it. Younger Subject's Signs HEY SIGN DESCRIPTION: Stretch the right hand in front of the body with fingers, slightly bent with palm facing up. Move the fore- arm straight back toward the body. ORIGIN: As if calling someone to come over. EXAMPLE: When the teacher calls one of us he says "HEY". 137 Older Subject's Signs Concept at FOUR mm SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right four fingers (separated) except the thumb which is bent inward, palm facing out. ORIGIN: Four fingers represent the numeral FOUR. EXAMPLE: I have FOUR sisters. 37H WATER HATER. SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move the tip of the extended right thumb back and forth in front of the mouth aS if drinking, other fingers bent, palm facing left. ORIGIN: Natural Sign of drinking WATER from a ceramic container. EXAMPLE: When we feel thirsty, we drink WATER. Younger Subject's Signs {£5 FM SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 36N except the palm is facing inward instead of outward. ORIGIN: Same as 36N. EXAMPLE: The car has FOUR wheels. 37$ HATER SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 37N. ORIGIN: Same as 37N. EXAMPLE: If we want a drink of WATER we leave the classroom. 138 Older Subject's Signs Concept 3: /”OC/ {/4 l) TROUSERS I II- I MES: TROJSEB SIGN DESCRIPTION: Draw the palms up and down against the outsides of the thighs. ORIGIN: Showing the TROUSERS. EXAMPLE: These are my TROUSERS. U FINGERS V‘s FINES SIGN DESCRIPTION: Grasp the fingers of the right hand one by one (starting with the little finger) with the left hand. ORIGIN: Showing the FINGERS. EXAMPLE: I use my FINGERS to graSp things. Younger Subject's Signs 38$ \\ TROUSERS SIGN DESCRIPTION: Pull the right side of the pants up and down with the right thumb and index finger. ORIGIN: Showing the TROUSERS. EXAMPLE: Our TROUSERS Should be clean all the time. FIMIIG SIGN DESCRIPTION: Draw the left hand across the back of the right fingers. ORIGIN: Showing the FINGERS. EXAMPLE: Our FINGERS' nails should be out every week. Older Subject's Signs FIVE 139 Concept FIVE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right five fingers (separated) with palm facing out. ORIGIN: Five fingers represent the numeral FIVE. EXAMPLE: I have FIVE piasters in my pocket. Younger Subject's Signs FIVE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 40N. ORIGIN: Same as 40N. EXAMPLE: We eat dinner at FIVE o'clock. 140 Older Subject's Signs Concept 41H : 1mg: I k) ///} " DONKEY fl/ DMY SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the tips of the thumbs on the temples, other fingers (sepa- rated) pointing up, palms fac- ing out. Move the fingers down and up in a half circle motion several times. ORIGIN: The DONKEY has long ears. EXAMPLE: DONKEYS are used to carry heavy things. Younger Subject's Signs 41S . --_ __._ .—___.___. SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the tips of the thumbs behind the ears, other fingers (separated) toward up, palms facing out. Move the fingers down and up in a half circle motion sev- eral times. ORIGIN: The DONKEY has long ears. EXAMPLE: We see many DON- KEYS passing by the school.* *The school is located in a rural area. Older Subject's Signs AZN 141 Concept IRON SIGN DESCRIPTION: Strike the right index finger up and down across the left index finger. ORIGIN: As if malleating the iron. EXAMPLE: Big machines are made from IRON. Younger Subject's Signs 42$ SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold the fists in front of the body with palms facing each other and thumbs resting on the top of the fingers. Move the hands slightly up and down. ORIGIN: Showing the roughness of the IRON. EXAMPLE: We weld the IRON in the school workshop. 142 Older Subject's Signs Concept 4m MOTHER I‘DTIER SIGN DESCRIPTION: Put the tip of the crooked right index finger between the lips as if sucking. ORIGIN: Motion of feeding the baby from the MOTHER'S breast. EXAMPLE: The MOTHER takes care of the house. MN \ _____ - ______ , "x .SIT’ "-Ei " ‘~2’§$ <49;— _/ I" I | I Y vi, gézgjk \‘:f§§3 TABLE TABLE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the flat hands with palms facing down in front of the body. Draw them straight to the Sides by moving the right hand to the right and the left hand to the left. Then draw them straight down (palms will face each other). ORIGIN: A shape of a TABLE. EXAMPLE: We eat on the TABLE. Younger Subject's Signs l I I I I I , 1 MOTHER SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the cupped right hand on the left breast then the right breast. ORIGIN: MOTHERS have breasts. EXAMPLE: MOTHERS love their children. as 7 \“'.:‘~ 4" """"" ’ I .1‘ ._.'- . ’ ",2: ,/ ~\:3§€;'<¢E€;uv’ I’ I ' I Y / PG: I j SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 44N. ORIGIN: Same as 44N. EXAMPLE: There is a teacher's TABLE in every classroom. Older Subject's Signs TEN 143 Concept TEN SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up all fingers (separated) with palms facing out. ORIGIN: The TEN fingers repre- sent the numeral TEN. EXAMPLE: TEN like this.* *The subject showed a coin of ten piasters. SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move the fingers (slightly separated) up and down several times in front Of the body, BIRD palms facing down. Then cup the right hand in front of the right side of the body with palm facing out and finger tips toward up. ORIGIN: A flying BIRD. EXAMPLE: Our neighbor has a BIRD. Younger Subject's Signs 45S TEN SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 45N. ORIGIN: Same as 45N. EXAMPLE: I have TEN fingers. SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move both hands up and down at the sides of your body as if flying. ORIGIN: Flying BIRD. EXAMPLE: There are many BIRDS flying over the trees. 144 Older Subject's Signs Concept 4m (r? .: l " P " MOSQUE {II/III: I " mm SIGN DESCRIPTION: Cup the right hand at the level of the shoulder with palm facing down. Move it slightly up and down. ORIGIN: A shape of the mosque's dome. EXAMPLE: People pray in the MOSQUE. Younger Subject's Signs 47$ MOSQUE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Right palm is facing the right cheek and left palm is facing the left cheek with fingers tips up. ORIGIN: Natural motion of praying in the MOSQUE. EXAMPLE: People go to the MOSQUES to pray to God. 145 Older Subject's Signs Concept 4m TOMATO TOIATD SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move the right index finger (its tip toward left) right and left on the lips. Then use the same hand to hold the right cheek with the thumb and index finger. Then cup the same hand in front of the right side of the body (palm facing in, fingers toward up) as if holding a ball. ORIGIN: Lips, cheeks and TOMATO are red. EXAMPLE: TOMATO is expensive. Younger Subject's Signs 48$ mMm SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the right hand close to the mouth as if eating a tomato. Then cup the hand as 48N. ORIGIN: Motion of eating a TOMATO. EXAMPLE: We eat cooked TOMATO Often. 146 Older Subject's Signs Concept 4m HS. ‘4 a I ,T- ~ ,frhééngg //2§Es. .. 1-..}; 1 z" ‘ I --.-"-‘q .v- ’-\£- unwifis§ ”I BREAD asmflfik’ Chi:__---- A} new SIGN DESCRIPTION: Put palms over each other in a crosswise manner alternately several times, then make a circle Shape with the thumbs and index fingers of both hands. ORIGIN: Natural motion of flipping the dough of the pita BREAD. EXAMPLE: I eat BREAD with food. Younger Subject's Signs SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place hands in front of the shoulders with palms out (slightly facing each other) tap the thumb and the index finger (of each hand) together, other fingers bent. Then form a circle as 49N. ORIGIN: Showing the crumbs of the pita BREAD. EXAMPLE: We should not throw the left over BREAD. 147 Older Subject's Signs Concept w: WHITE WHITE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place both hands in front of the body (fin- gers half bent, palms facing in). Draw them up above the Shoulders Younger Subject's Signs WHITE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as SON. ORIGIN: Same as 50N. EXAMPLE: This car is WHITE.* *The subject pointed to a (the separated thumb and index finger toward up, other fingers bent). white car in the school ORIGIN: Motion of the brightness parking lot. of WHITE. EXAMPLE: I have WHITE shirt. 5m ’- ‘- I St Ll) _/ APPLE ,/ m APPLE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Cup the right hand in front of the right side of the body with palm facing in and fingers up . ORIGIN: Holding and shaping an APPLE. EXAMPLE: SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the right hand close to the mouth as if eating an apple. ORIGIN: Motion of eating an apple. EXAMPLE: Each one gets one apple with dinner. I like APPLES. 148 Older Subject's Signs Concept Younger Subject's Signs 5. I I FOR ran FOR SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold both SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same cheeks between the thumb and as 52N. the other fingers of the , right hand. Draw the hand ORIGIN' Same as 52N' down to the chin. EXAMPLE: We do good ORIGIN: Motion of respect things FOR GOd- for old and religious people who have beards. EXAMPLE: My mother cooks for us. 149 Older Subject's Signs Concept an ///:;‘ ":;'3\\l \ «3;; \. :1; WOOD €3% :«3/7 2 HST/Mgr? N / My «e————- ————-e» uooo SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move the little fingerside of the right hand on the back of the left hand back and forth as if sawing. Then place both hands with palms facing down, thumb and index fingers (of each hand) forming 3/4 circle and other fingers bent. Move hands away from each other. ORIGIN: Motion of sawing a piece of WOOD. EXAMPLE: Some doors are made from WOOD. Younger Subject's Signs 54$ SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold the left fist in front of the body with palm facing down. Move the right hand with palm facing left, down beside it as if saw- ing. ORIGIN: AS if sawing a piece of WOOD. EXAMPLE: We make closets from the WOOD in the school workshop. 150 Older Subject's Signs §oncept 55H 2 PIASTER Pl ASTER SIGN DESCRIPTION: Placé the index finger of the right hand (other fingers bent) inside the closed left hand. Then take it out and hold it up. ORIGIN: Banking one PIASTER. EXAMPLE: You can't buy anything with one PIASTER. 56M ’\ /-"\ r/ ,_ - Y to ROSE ‘N\¢ ”- I (4“"33’9 l“\K. / /’ I I ’ / ROSE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Bring the tips of the right fingers to- gether on the nose. Draw them forward while opening the fingers. ORIGIN: Natural motion of smelling a ROSE. EXAMPLE: ROSES are beautiful. Younger Subject's Signs PIASTER SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right index finger with palm facing left. ORIGIN: Showing one PIASTER. EXAMPLE: If we find one PIASTER on the floor we should give it to the teacher. SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 56N. ORIGIN: Same as 56N. EXAMPLE: ROSES grow in Spring. Older Subject's Signs 57M 151 Concept SIX SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right fingers (separated) with palm facing out. Keep the thumb as it is and bend the remain- ing four fingers downward. ORIGIN: Six fingers represent the numeral SIX. EXAMPLE: week. I work SIX days a Younger Subject's Siggs SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the left fingers (separated) and the right thumb (ex- tended), left palm facing out, palm of right fist facing left, and the re- maining right four fingers bent inward. ORIGIN: Six fingers rep- resent the numeral SIX. EXAMPLE: I have SIX brothers and sisters. 152 Older Subject's Signs Concept we ALL uL SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the Open right hand in front with palm fac- ing down. Move the hand from left to right while making a circle motion, then draw it up while bringing the fingers together pointing down. ORIGIN: The motion covers every- one (ALL) around. EXAMPLE: ALL my friends are deaf. PEOPLE PEU’LE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 9N "MEN" sign.* ORIGIN: Same as 9N "MEN" sign. EXAMPLE: There are many "PEOPLE" walking downtown. *The reason that both signs are Younger Subject's Signs as i ’TTZ'x {/firfl\) ' \C'\\ n‘: I:." ’7' \.9Q,/’ uL SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the right hand in front of the right side of the body with palm facing down. Move it to the left while making a circle motion. ORIGIN: The motion covers everyone (ALL) around. EXAMPLE: Sometimes we clean ALL the school yards. 59S PEOPLE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 98 "MEN" sign.* ORIGIN: PEOPLE are men.* EXAMPLE: PEOPLE visit our school every now and then. similar is because the Arabic trans-*See note in 59N. lation of "PEOPLE" clude women. tends not to in- 153 Older Subject's Signs Concept DAY 4 Qeijpln “>14: 4% / DAY SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move the right index finger straight down sharply, other fingers bent. ORIGIN: Indication of a specific period of time (DAY). EXAMPLE: I didn't go to work TODAY. Younger Subject's Signs DAY SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place both hands up to the level of the head with palms fac- ing each other. Draw them down (right hand toward left and left hand toward right) in front of the chest with palms facing down, then up again. ORIGIN: The sun sets and rises in one DAY. EXAMPLE: The week is seven DAYS. 154 Older Subject's Signs Concept 5m C \ CHICKEN / \./ ( l’- . T "" ‘érk ' I \ /\‘z‘§§‘ },?~;.\ , 115-r“) 93:1." , l \ / .s. , 2 1 mmu SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move both hands up and down in front of the body, palms facing down, fingers relaxed. Then place the back of the right crooked index finger under the nose, other fingers bent. Shake the wrist up and down several times. ORIGIN: Motion of flying CHICKENS that have beaks. EXAMPLE: My mother cooks CHICKEN every now and then. Younger Subject's Signs 61S SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the thumb and index finger of the right hand close to the mouth, finger tips left, tap the second joint of the index finger and the tip of the thumb together, other fingers are slightly crooked. Then add the "many" sign. ORIGIN: CHICKENS have beaks. EXAMPLE: We eat CHICKEN often. 155 Older Subject's Signs Concept Younger Subject's Signs RICE ‘ ‘ //7:;,§ 1433/" / -§¥ ma: /;~--_/’ RICE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Tap the right SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as thumb and index finger together the first motion of 62N. in front of the body, palm left, . . . other fingers bent. Then move the gglgigé Holding a piece hand toward the mouth as if eat- ’ ing. EXAMPLE: We eat RICE ORIGIN: Motion of holding a piece every day. of RICE and eating it. EXAMPLE: We eat RICE often. 634 635 ’\ C\ (\Iq (\\ ‘ h IL \.,\ \,\\E \U" \\\, N ’2, \ -a /, SEVEN YWd mu SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right fingers (separated), then left fingers (separated) and keep the thumb and the index the right thumb and index fin- finger as they are and bend ger (separated) with palm the remaining three fingers in- facing out. ward, palm facing out. ORIGIN: Seven fingers rep- ORIGIN: Seven fingers represent resent the numeral SEVEN. the numeral SEVEN' EXAMPLE: One, two, three... EXAMPLE: Our neighbor has SEVEN ...SEVEN.* children. *The subject counted on his fingers. Older Subject's Signs 53d ems 156 Concept GLASS SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right hand near the right cheek with index finger up, thumb toward left and other fingers bent. Then move the index finger, sharply, down through the left parallel thumb and index finger (separated). ORIGIN: You can see through the GLASS. EXAMPLE: We drink water in the GLASS- Younger Subject's Signs fix 4; '7 5? SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right hand near the right cheek with index finger up, thumb toward left and other fingers bent. ORIGIN: A GLASS shape. EXAMPLE: We should be careful when we carry GLASS so as not to break it. 157 Older Subject's Signs Concept an THING INNS SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as the subject's sign of the Arabic letter "sheen", then extend the hand (toward right) of the Arabic letter "yeh". ORIGIN: "Shae" in Arabic means "THING". "shae" consists of the Arabic letters "sheen" + the drawn out (toward right) letter "yeh". The first sign represents the letter "sheen", the motion rep- resents the drawn out letter "yeh" . EXAMPLE: You find many THINGS to buy in the market. Younger Subject's Signs 645 pl. fl \ \ // \__,__ .- "’ ‘;f,’“’v . ( “5--.- Cat" \ . 41:4 4:9 71?C% \‘xffh MA ‘ I ”I 50 K)’ I I . ' I” “MIG J SIGN DESCRIPTION: Point the right thumb, index and middle fingers (separated) forward, other fingers bent, palm facing left. Bounce the hand from left to right in stages at the waist level. ORIGIN: Pointing to THINGS around. EXAMPLE: This, this and this are THINGS.* *The subject pointed out to different objects around him. fir 158 Older Subject's Signs Concept 6N :?-;41 I fii$aij) 1 /‘ ”(F-1%.: I‘\ I \..’ \f/ r: J . \\7\.‘T\ EGGS a? "OIGQI "3%.! 2 t9; -’ “' ”:4 c. ‘t we SIGN DESCRIPTION: Bring finger- tips of both hands together to face each other, let hands go with separated fingers' tips down. Then place the left hand as if holding a frying pan handle and move the right hand back and forth in a circle motion as if scrambling eggs.* ORIGIN: Natural motion of break- ing off two EGGS together, putt ing them in a frying pan and scrambling them. EXAMPLE: We eat EGGS in the morning. *The subject did not add the "many" sign here, probably, because the word "EGGS" is used commonly to indicate singular and plural. Younger Subject's Signs EGGS SIGN DESCRIPTION:* Bring fingertips of both hands together to face each other, then let hands go with separated fingers' tips down. ORIGIN: Natural motion of breaking off two EGGS together and putting them in a frying pan. EXAMPLE: Everyone gets one boiled EGG with break- fast. *See note under 65N. 159 Older Subject's Signs Concept *1 1"“! : K /\ ‘ SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move the right palm on the ABDOMEN in a circle motion. ORIGIN: Showing the ABDOMEN. EXAMPLE: I have never felt a stomach ache. FACE FAG SIGN DESCRIPTION: Draw the palm of the right hand down on the face. ORIGIN: ShOwing the PACE. EXAMPLE: I wash my FACE every day. Younger Subject's Signs ’\Cva1 _1 \\‘\\\\ \. $5 MN ‘4 SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 66N without making a circle motion. ORIGIN: Same as 66N. EXAMPLE: When we eat our ABDOMENS get bigger. PM! SIGN DESCRIPTION: Use the right index finger to draw a circle around the FACE. ORIGIN: Showing the FACE. EXAMPLE: We should wash our FACES every morning. 160 Older Subject's Signs Cpncept SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move the right index finger (its tip toward left) right and left on the lips. ORIGIN: Lips are RED. EXAMPLE: The blood is RED. t/t \__../ A , / SIGN DESCRIPTION: Tap the chest slightly with the right palm. ORIGIN: Indicating self. EXAMPLE I can drive the car. Younger Subject's Signs 68$ ”\ SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 68N. ORIGIN: Same as 68N. EXAMPLE: My shirt is RED.* *The subject pointed to his RED shirt. 4 ' SIGN DESCRIPTION: Point the right index finger toward the chest. ORIGIN: Indicating self. EXAMPLE: I am boy. 161 Older Subject's Signs Concept 7m | OR / I ’I :3;- -“' /2. g " :f% “s--:-3A on SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as the subject's signs of the Arabic letters "alif" and "wow" re- spectively. ORIGIN: "Cu" in Arabic means "OR". The phoneme consists of the Arabic letters "alif" + "wow". The first sign represents the letter "alif", the second mo- tion represents the letter "wow". EXAMPLE: Food can be cooked either by my mother OR by my sister. Younger Subject's Signs I 705 . i SIGN DESCRIPTION: Bring the right index finger up and down (in a half circle motion) in front of the right shoulder. ORIGIN: Motion used when talking about more than one choice. EXAMPLE: Me OR you. 162 Older Subject's Sign Concept Younger Subject's Sign 7m V BLACK /I cum , t J SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold some SIGN DESCRIPTION: Brush hair by the right thumb and the right cheek downward index finger. with the tips of the right index and middle fingers. ORIGIN: Black skin. EXAMPLE: The pants are BLACK.* *The subject pointed to his teacher's pants. ORIGIN: Showing the BLACK hair. EXAMPLE: I have BLACK pants. 163 Older Sunject's Signs Concept 7m EIGHT EIGHT SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right fingers (separated), keep the thumb, index and middle fin- gers as they are and bend the remaining two fingers downward palm facing out. ORIGIN: Eight fingers represent the numeral EIGHT. EXAMPLE: It costs EIGHT piasters to have a shirt ironed. Younger Subject's Signs ElGl-fl SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the left fingers (separated) and the right thumb, index, and middle fingers (separat- ed), the right ring and little fingers are bent in- ward, palms facing outward. ORIGIN: EIGHT fingers rep- resent the numeral EIGHT. EXAMPLE: My brother is EIGHT years old. 164 Older Subject's Signs Concept Younger Subject's Signs :a i:” /I :3 ———-—-—._._.-._ -__ _ l s m ; SOLDIER H mmm mmm SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place right fist (with paLm facing in the side of the right hand and thumb up) in front of the on the forehead with thumb chest. Move the hand slightly in and index fingers touching and out on the chest several the forehead, palm facing times. left. ORIGIN: A SOLDIER carrying a ORIGIN: Representation of gun. the crown on the SOLDIER'S EXAMPLE: The SOLDIERS defend hat“ the country. EXAMPLE: The SOLDIERS carry rifles. 7‘" 74$ BRIEFCASE ' I ‘ \ l \. : I _____.—’ ’I .I \ié (A; ”'5'” ‘0 BRIIFMSE 90' SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move the right SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same fist up and down against the as 74N. right side of the waist. ORIGIN- Same as 74N ORIGIN: As If carrying a BRIEF- EXAMPLE: I put my books CASE“ in the BRIEFCASE. EXAMPLE: When we travel we carry a BRIEFCASE. 165 Older Subject's Sign Concept 1 7w 3;:: ~-"’ -.--(“\ \ UNCLE W01 SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as "FATHER" sign l7N, then move the stretched index and middle finger up and down alternately in front of you, other fingers bent, palm facing down. ORIGIN: The two fingers indi- cate the brotherhood relation- ship. EXAMPLE: I don't see my UNCLE often. Younger Subject's Sign SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as "FATHER" sign 178, then bring both index fingers together (touching each other) in front of you. ORIGIN: Same as 75N. EXAMPLE: My UNCLE lives nearby. Older Subject's Signs ’fi— '_ — -— —- .“ 166 Concept SHOES SIGN DESCRIPTION:* Lift up the left leg in front of the right leg. Tap the left Shoe with the right hand several times. ORIGIN: Showing the SHOE. EXAMPLE: I don't like tight SHOES. *The subject did not add the "many" Sign because the word SHOES is commonly used as singular. Younger Subject's Signs 'ms . ‘\ SKIS SIGN DESCRIPTION:* Lift up the right leg slightly and point the right index finger to the shoe. ORIGIN: Showing the SHOE. EXAMPLE: We should keep our SHOES clean. *See note under 76N. 167 Older Subject's Signs Concept nu THEY no SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as the subject's Signs of the letters "heh" and "meem", respectively. ORIGIN: N hom II in Arabic means "THEY". The phoneme consists of two Arabic The motion "heh", the the letter letters "heh" + "meem". represents the letter last sign represents "meem". EXAMPLE: See the following note. NOTE: The subject explained that THEY is like his brother's family. Younger Subject's Signs 5.1%: “CY SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as "THIS" sign 15N. Then add the "many" Sign. ORIGIN: Pointing to some- one, then adding the Sign of "many" to indicate more than one. EXAMPLE: THEY are still in the classroom.* *The subject pointed out to his classroom and meant his classmates, accord- ing to our interpreter. 168 Older Subject's Signs Concept RADIO SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place both hands in front with palms slightly out. Twist the thumb, index and middle fingers of each hand right and left in a circle motion. Then put the tip of the right index finger on the right ear. ORIGIN: As if tuning, then listening to a RADIO. EXAMPLE: Hearing people can listen to the RADIO. Younger Subject's Signs SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 78N, reversing the order of the motions. ORIGIN: Same as 78N. EXAMPLE: The principal has a RADIO. 169 Older Subject's Signs Concept WOMAN SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as "RED" sign as 68N. Then hold the lobe of the right ear with the right thumb and index finger (as the first motion of the "GIRL" Sign). ORIGIN: The red lips and the earrings represent a woman. EXAMPLE: Many WOMEN work where I work. Younger Subject's Signs SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the cupped right hand on the right breast then on the left breast.* ORIGIN: WOMEN have breasts. EXAMPLE: A WOMAN like our teacher. *The only difference be- tween this sign and 43S "MOTHER" sign is that the subject signed "MOTHER" by moving the hand from left to right instead of moving it from right to left. It is believed that this difference in order had not been done by the subject intentionally and that the subject would give the same Sign for both concepts in either order. Older Subject's Signs Concept N"! 170 NINE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right fingers (separated) with palm facing out and bend the thumb inward, and keep the re- maining fingers as they are. ORIGIN: Nine fingers represent the numeral NINE. EXAMPLE: My sister has NINE Shoes. Younger Subject's Signs NI'C SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up all the fingers (sep- arated) except the right thumb which is bent in- ward, palms facing out- ward. ORIGIN: NINE fingers represent the numeral NINE. EXAMPLE: We are NINE students in the class- room. 171 Older Subject's Signs Concept 8m 2 f GRAPE GRAPE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Press the tips of the left thumb, index and mid- dle fingers together in front of the body, palm toward left. Move the right finger tips between the left hand and the mouth (as if picking off grapes and eating them). ORIGIN: Motion of picking a grape and eating it. EXAMPLE: GRAPES are inex- pensive. Younger Subject's Signs 81S GRAPE SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 81N. ORIGIN: Same as 81N. EXAMPLE: There are many GRAPE trees around here. 172 Older Subject's Signs Concept POTATO P01 ATO SIGN DESCRIPTION: Draw up both hands to the front of the chest while clinching the fists with palms facing in. Then draw the hands to the sides. ORIGIN: POTATO causes fatness. EXAMPLE: I like to eat boiled POTATO with boiled eggs. Younger Subject's Signs POTATO SIGN DESCRIPTION: Strike the right hand (little- finger side) over the left palm several times, right palm facing left. ORIGIN: As if cutting a POTATO. EXAMPLE: We eat POTATO often. 173 Older Subject's Signs Concept ROOSTER WEI? SIGN DESCRIPTION: Set the back of the right crooked index finger under the nose, palm facing out, other fingers bent. Bounce the hand up and down in a half circle motion. Then place the tip of the thumb on the fore- head with palm facing left and fingers separated. ORIGIN: The ROOSTER has a beak and a comb. EXAMPLE: If you go to a farm you find many hens and a few ROOSTERS. Younger Subject's Signs METER SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as the last position of 83N sign and move the fin- gers slightly right and left several times. ORIGIN: Showing the comb of the ROOSTER. EXAMPLE: The ROOSTER is stronger than the hen. 174 Older Subject's Signs Concept 34H PLATES PUTES SIGN DESCRIPTION: Form one circle with the thumbs and index fingers of both hands. Then add the "many" Sign. ORIGIN: PLATES are round. EXAMPLE: We put the food in PLATES. Younger Subject's Signs 84$ PLATES SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 84N. ORIGIN: Same as 84N. EXAMPLE: We eat from PLATES. 175 Older Sunject's Signs Concept N A: j r" W ”47"; k I Q / /'G:;:3I~r/ WHEN , w */::(:)..v“;. z. 2:42, /"‘._M :9 g \s‘ an SIGN DESCRIPTION: Tap your watch with the tip of the right index finger several times. Then twist the hand in a half circle motion from palm in to palm up as if inquiring. ORIGIN: Pointing to the watch and adding the natural motion of inquiring. EXAMPLE: We are not supposed to ask the guests: "WHEN are you leaving". Younger Subject's Signs m SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move the right index finger over the back of the left wrist in a clockwise motion. ORIGIN: Showing the time as the hands of the watch are moving around. EXAMPLE: See note below. NOTE: The subject explained that we use WHEN if we want to know about the time of an event. 176 Older Sunject's Signs Concept DOCTOR 0000‘? SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold the left wrist with the right thumb and middle finger. ORIGIN: Natural motion of ex- amining the pulse. EXAMPLE: thn we feel sick we should go to the DOCTOR. 87M \g‘i AIRPLANE \1\ \. I \ ‘c ~§Q~ ‘\~ G \\‘\\ \‘ ~4 AIM SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move the flat right hand forward in an ascend- ing manner in front of the body, palm facing down. ORIGIN: Motion of the AIRPLANE take-off. EXAMPLE: I see many AIRPLANES flying in the sky. Younger Subject's Signs ‘75 DOCTOR SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold the left arm with the right hand. ORIGIN: As if checking the blood pressure. EXAMPLE: Every now and then a DOCTOR comes to examine us in school. /I AIM SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move the right hand forward in an ascending manner in front of the body, thumb and little finger are pointing out, other fingers bent, palm facing down. ORIGIN: Same as 87N. EXAMPLE: AIRPLANES make big noise. 177 Older Subject's Signs Concept we /\/\\ NOSE ms SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold the nose with the right hand. ORIGIN: Showing the NOSE. EXAMPLE: We breath through our NOSES. FEAST FIAS‘I SIGN DESCRIPTION: Draw down the chest the little finger edge of both hands, tips up with palms facing and back of both hands facing each other. Then move the right index finger from right to left across the lips. ORIGIN: Wearing new clothes in the FEAST that comes after fast- ing. EXAMPLE: People visit each other in the FEAST. Younger Subject's Signs 88$ /\/\ SIGN DESCRIPTION: Same as 88N. ORIGIN: Same as 88N. EXAMPLE: Our NOSES should always be clean. 89$ SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold the back of the cupped right hand on the mouth, then move it up and place it on the forehead, palm out. ORIGIN: In the FEAST, the child kisses his parent's hand and puts it on his own forehead. EXAMPLE: We wear new clothes in the FEAST. Older Sub'ect's Signs Concept DOOR mm SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the right fist in front of the left side of the body with 178 palm facing down as if holding the door's handle. Then move the right flat hand right and left as if fanning the air, fingers' tips toward up. ORIGIN: Natural motion of open- ing and closing the door. EXAMPLE: We lock the house DOOR before we go to bed. Younger Subject's Signs 90$ 1. noon SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold up the right hand (index and middle fingers are slightly crooked, other fingers bent) with palm facing right. Move the 'hand very slightly left and right several times. ORIGIN: Motion of knocking on the DOOR. EXAMPLE: We should knock the DOOR before we enter the classroom. 179 Older Subject's Signs Concept 91H ‘— WINDOW SIGN DESCRIPTION: Indicate a square, using each index finger to shape half the square. Then move both palms in front of the body (finger tips up), palms alternating out and in. ORIGIN: The motion represents opening and closing a square center latch WINDOW. EXAMPLE: WINDOWS bring light to the house. Younger Subject's Signs ' 3%: ’ L ‘k .”)\ . / \ \ fr .\. I 915 film SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold both fists beside each other in front of the body with palms facing each other. Move the fists away from each other as if opening a center latch WINDOW. ORIGIN: Motion of Opening a center latch WINDOW. EXAMPLE: In summer we open the WINDOWS of the class- room. 180 Older Subject's Signs Concept . I) ) L/ i PENCIL ) FENCIL SIGN DESCRIPTION: Press the tips of the right thumb and in- dex finger together (the other fingers bent) and move the right hand on the left Palm as if writing.* Then twist the right index finger inside the left fist back and forth in a circle motion as if sharpen- ing. ORIGIN: Natural motion of writ- ing with a PENCIL and sharpening it. EXAMPLE: Children use PENCILS in school. *Arabic language is read and written from right to left. Younger Subject's Signs F92: PENCIL SIGN DESCRIPTION: Tips of the right thumb and index finger are touching each other as if holding a pencil. Move the hand from right to left as if writing on an imaginary blackboard. ORIGIN: Motion of writing with a piece of chalk (PENCIL). EXAMPLE: We use PENCILS to write our homework. 181 Older Subject's Signs Concept CLOTHES QWKS SIGN DESCRIPTION: Draw both curved hands from the sides of the Shoulders to the front of the body as wearing a coat. Then add the "many" sign. ORIGIN: Motion of wearing clothes. EXAMPLE: My sister has many clothes. Younger Subject's Signs $5 QNKS SIGN DESCRIPTION:* Hold the clothes on the chest with both hands and shake them slightly up and down. ORIGIN: Showing the CLOTHES. EXAMPLE: These are CLOTHES.** *The subject did not make the "many" sign, probably, because the word "clothes" doesn't have singular form. **The subject pointed to his clothes. 182 Older Subject's Signs Concept q ; W ‘ 'J" : Ah): ' i? \\\"\ " J I \‘3‘,’ j? \ ‘I/ .x_ . \\ x ' ‘l/w ‘ 17 \ l r‘. f |;%}, 12 NOON 1“ '4' 2 P‘é’//" .T l ' \u “1'. m \‘ SIGN DESCRIPTION: Make the "TEN" Sign and the "TWO" sign.* Then move the hand in front of the mouth as if eating. ORIGIN: NOON time when you eat at twelve o'clock. EXAMPLE: PeOple eat lunch at NOON time. *The difference between the "TWO" sign here and the "TWO" Sign of 34N is that the palm here is facing out. Younger Subject's Signs SIGN DESCRIPTION: Point to your watch with the right index finger, then make the "ten" sign followed by the "two" sign.* ORIGIN: Twelve o'clock is NOON time. EXAMPLE: We eat lunch at NOON. *The difference between the "two" Sign here and the "two" Sign of 34S is that the sign here was made by the thumb and index finger with palm out. Older Subject's Signs 1 /( , 4”"?72‘.’v v. 1 ’Iri‘k' 1;;§::\ ”H "II "'-—-+—"\\ ’17--—)— — TELEVISIW SIGN DESCRIPTION: 183 Concept TELEVISION Indicate a square, using each index fin- ger to shape half the square. Then move the right flat hand right and left in front of the body with palm facing out and fingers separated. ORIGIN: You see pictures on the square screen of the T.V. EXAMPLE: We watch T.V. night. every Younger Subject's Signs 95$ TELEVISIIN SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move both hands (fingers sep- arated) in circle motions in front of the body with palms facing out. ORIGIN: Motion of the T.V. pictures. EXAMPLE: We don't have T.V. in the school. 184 Older Sunject's Signs Concepn I’o -.:o“\(.-— 4 ‘ £313: '. I K, \ / 3_-'4-a FISH FISH SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the right open hand in front of the body with palm facing left. Set the tips of the left fingers on the inside of the right fore- arm. Move the right hand right and left (from the wrist) several times, then add the "many" sign. ORIGIN: The movement of the FISH tail in the water. EXAMPLE: My mother fries FISH Younger Subject's Signs $5 FISH SIGN DESCRIPTION:* Put the rightpalm on the back of theleft hand with right thumb pointing to- ward left and left thumb pointing toward right. Move the thumbs back and forth several times. ORIGIN: Motion of a FISH swimming in the water. EXAMPLE: FISH is de- licious. *The subject did not add the "many" Sign here, probably, because the word is commonly used to indicate plural and singu- lar. 185 Older Subject's Signs Concept SIGN DESCRIPTION: Place the back of both thumbs on the COWS temples with palms facing out, little fingers toward up, and other fingers bent. Then move both fists up and down in front of the body (with palms fac in), alternatly, as if milk a cow. Then add the "many" Sign. ing ing ORIGIN: Motions of the horns of the COW that we milk. EXAMPLE: COWS are very fat. Younger Subject's Signs W5 (K (EEC COJS SIGN DESCRIPTION: Point the thumbs and the little fingers of both hands over the upper part of the Shoulders with other fingers bent. Twist each hand in one half circle motion, thumbs and little fingers will be pointing up.* ORIGIN: Showing the horns of the cow. EXAMPLE: We get milk from the COWS. *The subject didn't add the "many" sign here. 186 Older Sunject's Signs Concept Younger Subject's Signs nu ‘Q I)» NIGHT (I; l/ ’ NIGHT NIGHT SIGN DESCRIPTION: Hold both' SIGN DESCRIPTION: Bring flat hands up over the shoulders both hands to the sides of with palms facing out and fin- the head with tips of right gers up. Move both hands in- parallel thumb and remain- ward (crossing each other) and ing fingers facing right place them beside each other temple and tips of left (the left little finger beside parallel thumb and remain- the right thumb), palms down ing fingers facing left in front of the chest. temple. ORIGIN: The motion represents ORIGIN: Same as 98N. changing the day light to darkness in the NIGHT. EXAMPLE: People sleep at NIGHT . EXAMPLE: We sleep at NIGHT. 187 Older Subject's Signs Concept ma BROTHER BROII‘ER SIGN DESCRIPTION: Move the right index and middle finger up and down, alternately, in front of the body, other fingers bent. ORIGIN: Two fingers are alike like BROTHERS. EXAMPLE: My BROTHER doesn't live with us. SHIRT SIGN DESCRIPTION: Draw both palms (fingers separated) down on the chest to the waist level, finger tips toward each other. ORIGIN: Showing the SHIRT. EXAMPLE: I have many SHIRTS. Younger Subject's Signs BROTIER SIGN DESCRIPTION: Bring both index fingers (touch— ing each other) in front of the body. ORIGIN: Same as 99N. EXAMPLE: My BROTHER can hear. mm J SIGN DESCRIPTION: Draw both curved hands from the sides of the shoulders to the front of the body as if wearing a SHIRT. Then hold the left upper arm with the right hand. ORIGIN: As if putting on then showing a Shirt. EXAMPLE: We should keep our SHIRTS clean. LI ST OF REFERENCES LIST OF REFERENCES Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf. "A Position Paper of the American Organization for the Hearing Im- paired, May 1, 1975, "Volta Review, 77, 5:330-332, 1975. Anthony, D. "Seeing Essential English". Unpublished Manu- script, 1966. 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