Initiatives & Projects

Initiatives Visual Language Acquisition Initiative The aim of the Visual Language Acquisition Initiative is to provide a comprehensive picture of the normative process of language acquisition in visually-oriented learners. Reading Development and Literacy Intiative The Reading Development and Literacy Initiative strives to explain the means by which visually-oriented learners (especially those who have no access to sound) achieve competence in reading. Inter-Language and Inter-Modal Language Mapping Initiative The Inter-Language and Inter-Modal Language Mapping Initiative seeks to understand the optimal methods for mapping between visual linguistic and visual knowledge domains. Language and Communicative Forms in a Visual Modality Initiative The Language and Communicative Forms in a Visual Modality Initiative asks how a language is actualized in a visual modality. Cognitive Processing and Knowledge Representations Initiative The Cognitive Processing and Knowledge Representations initiative focuses on the critical interplay of non-linguistic cognitive processes such as working memory, attention, and theory of mind in language understanding.

Projects Effects of different word parsing strategies on word learning This research is conducted to determine whether deaf adults word learning improves when emphasis is placed on meaning and visual process, of both signs and printed words. Working Group on Visual Engagement Experiment This project is conducted to study early child caregivers who socialize visual attention in a visual language environment; influence the development of eye-gaze following, attention regulation, and language development over time. Use of hands to teach Science and English The research is conducted to analyze the use of spatial depiction (through co-speech gesture or through the spatial resources of ASL) to express abstract concepts. The purpose is to use spatial depiction as a window into the types of mental schemas underlying different types of reasoning. Socialization of Visual Engagement in Deaf Ed For deaf children, visual engagement with teachers, books, and peers is critical for successful language development and classroom learning. This study is conducted to understand how deaf preschool teachers socialize such young children into this cognitively demanding type of visual engagement. Poor and Proficient Readers in Different Countries The goal of this project is to investigate and compare a wide range of skills involved in the reading process, between poor and proficient deaf readers, and that of normally developing hearing readers and hearing readers manifesting reading difficulties. The research will be conducted in three different countries (Israel, USA, Germany) with individuals from four orthographic/linguistic backgrounds (Hebrew, Arabic, English, German). The findings from this research – along with relevant findings from other research – will be integrated into a a reading theory of the deaf. (Paul Miller, PI) Ethnical Research Practices The focus of this project is to try and improve research practices that involve deaf participants,and increase awareness of ethnical practice in the scientific and research communities. (Jenny Singleton) Empirical test of sentence interlanguage mappings Recent studies has shown that bilinguals do not simply switch off one language when using another. Further bilinguals rarely make random errors in which language they speak, but at the same time can code switch with one another; suggesting they they posses an elegant means to control the selection of their intended language. The purpose of this study is to investigate deaf bilinguals cross-language activation at the grammatical level in reading task that are designed to examine process demands present during skilled English reading comprehension. (Jill Morford, PI) Effects of age of deafness on visual attention Differences in the default spatial distribution of visual attention in deaf children may have important consequences for the development of a range of skills, including reading and joint attention, and may also play a key role in the appropriate diagnosis of attention deficits and other learning disabilities in deaf populations. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of deafness upon the development of visual attention skills, and to assess the development of spatial aspects of visual attention in deaf and hearing children. Deaf children with sign language disorders During the language development years, research estimates that 5-10% of hearing children develop language disorders. However there is very little research about potential sign language disorders that may affect deaf children acquiring sign language from their signing care givers. This research focuses on deaf children of deaf parents who have been identified by their parents and/or school officials as exhibiting sign language disorders. (Quinto-Pozos, PI) Cross Language Lexical Activation Recent studies show that cross-language activation in bilinguals is a typical behavior, rather than an exception (e.g., Dijkstra & Van Heuven, 2002; Marian & Spivey, 2003). For example, Spanish-English bilinguals activate the Spanish word perro when reading or hearing the English words dog or pear. As bilinguals achieve greater fluency in their second language, the effect size of cross-language activation decreases (e.g., Kroll & Stewart, 1994, Sunderman & Kroll, 2006). This study investigates deaf ASL-English bilinguals to see if English words activate ASL translation. Second, the study investigates effects of L2 proficiency by examining whether cross-language activation varies according to the English proficiency level of these bilinguals. Kuntze Lab: Five-Year Longitudinal Study The overall goal of this five-year study is to examine from a developmental perspective how a cohort of ASL-speaking children acquire English language and reading skills when their education takes place in a learning environment that is rich in ASL and where there are abundant opportunities for adult-child interaction. Age-Appropriate ASL Vocabulary Guessing Game: Word Attack Strategies for Vocabulary Development The effects of age of deafness on visual attention, Matt Dye, PI The series of studies will investigate a range of possible factors that may influence the degree and type of plasticity observed in deaf individuals, such as age of onset of deafness, degree of hearing loss and how long an individual has been deaf. Cognitive Neuroscience Strand Projects Our Initiative-based projects serve to advance our understanding of the neurobiological capacity for human language. Select, Develop, Enhance, and Validate Common Measures of ASL This project will evaluate existing measures of ASL and derive a common battery for use in the scientific studies of the Center. Where necessary, new measures will be developed and validated. Establish Procedures for Conducting Video Classroom Research This project will examine a wide variety of classroom observational methodologies, and develop parameters for an experimental classroom that employs panoramic video capture of complete classroom events and the development of analytical tools for describing and analyzing visual learning events. Develop/Improve Ethical/Scientific Standards for Video Research This project will undertake a review of ethical practices in video-based research, with a view toward creating standards that enable data sharing among researchers working at multiple sites in multiple disciplines, and protect the individuals who are participants in the video-taped interactions.