Having a deaf student in class can pose a tremendous challenge for both the professor and the student, but it can also be an incredibly rewarding experience. To help make it so, this article briefly covers the differences between American Sign Language and English and then identifies aspects of linguistic skills where the deaf student may encounter difficulty in dealing with Philosophy. Those discussed are inadequate vocabulary, problems in reading and writing, insufficient background or “life” information, and difficulty (...) in dealing with abstractions. Since English will most likely be a second language for deaf students, there is also a brief discussion of similarities and differences between them and ESL students. An appendix to the article presents a collection of techniques that I developed to accommodate the needs of a profoundly deaf student who took an introductory Philosophy and an upper level Religion course with me. Among them are suggestions for lectures, class discussions, testing, written assignments, student-teacher conferences, and audio-visual materials. Finally, there are some useful on-line resources together with some tips for working with interpreters. (shrink)

The discussion note examines communication needs of deaf students and deaf philosophers in the classroom, with particular attention to working with qualified signed language interpreters in the classroom and creating an inclusive classroom environment for deaf students. It additionally considers the question of whether signed languages, such as American Sign Language (ASL), can convey abstract philosophical concepts used in spoken languages, and concludes that this is possible, suggesting that the small number of deaf philosophers (...) using ASL has affected the development of a philosophical lexicon in ASL. (shrink)

Group interaction is an essential way of social interaction and plays an important role in our social development. It has been found that when individuals participate in group interactions, the group identity of the interaction partner affects the mental processing and behavioral decision-making of subjects. However, little is known about how deaf college students, who are labeled distinctly different from normal hearing college students, will react when facing proposers from different groups in the ultimatum game and its (...) time course. In this study, we recruited 29 deaf college students who played the UG in which they received extremely unfair, moderately unfair, or fair offers from either outgroup members or ingroup members, while their brain potentials were recorded. The behavioral results showed that group membership did not impact the acceptance rate of deaf college students. But, event-related potential analysis demonstrated an enhanced feedback-related negativity elicited by ingroup members compared to outgroup members. Importantly, we found that under fairness conditions, deaf college students induced more positive P2 and P3 facing ingroup members compared to outgroup members. Our results demonstrated that group membership may modulate the performance of deaf college students in the UG and the existence of ingroup bias among deaf college students. This provides some evidence for the fairness characteristics of special populations, so that to improve the educational integration of colleges and universities. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:How Deafness May Emerge as a Disability as Social Interactions UnfoldGabrielle HodgeMy hearing loss ranges from moderate to profound in both ears. I use spoken English, written English and Auslan (Australian sign language) to communicate, and rely heavily on two hearing aids, speach reading skills and my vision to interact with other people. Here I demonstrate how my deafness tends to emerge as a disability through interactions with other (...) people within the health and wellbeing context of group yoga practice. I compare two experiences from practicing yoga in group classes (which involves physical interaction and requires attendance to non–spoken tasks), and use these experiences to explore what the label ‘disability’ does not capture, how this term reflects my lived experience of deafness, and what this might mean for health and wellbeing [End Page 193] professionals engaging with clients who experience types of deafness.All human interactions are uniquely and intersubjectively shaped by the actors, how they communicate, and what they are doing while interacting. In my case, if someone is simultaneously attending to some task while talking with me, this may mean that I cannot see their face and therefore cannot access their spoken utterances. During group conversations, others may overlap their spoken turns at a pace faster than I can visually track and therefore I cannot access the dynamic content of the group conversation. In these situations, my deafness may manifest as disability. This contrasts with interactions where I engage with other signers using Auslan, where my deafness does not manifest as disability at all. For me, deafness as disability tends to be an emergent characteristic of my interactions with other people, rather than a constant feature of all interactions, or all moments of a single interaction. It emerges most prominently through interactions with strangers, and less during interactions with social intimates. This characterisation contradicts the concept of disability as a fixed feature of an individual that impacts uniformly on all aspects of their experience.I regularly practice yoga and have done so for many years. I enjoy participating in classes with other students, as we jointly learn and develop practices that challenge and illuminate different aspects of our lives. “At the heart of all yogas lies the manipulation of visible, accessible means to reach invisible, intangible ends” (Givón 2005, p. 23). How one manipulates their visible, accessible means depends on one’s personal physiology, psychology and sociality. Over the years I have developed various strategies that enable me to participate in group practice and engage with other students and teachers without over–reliance on teachers or mediation from Auslan interpreters. I have mostly come to depend on observing how the teacher and other participants move (or even how shadows on the wall infer that they move) and interpreting their movements in context of the group practice.For example, by placing myself at the front or the middle of the class, I can observe the movements of others from several viewpoints in order to synchronise my own with theirs as the practice unfolds. Through experience, I can distinguish when these movements are intentional and when they may be accidental. By combining these strategies with one–on–one discussions with teachers before or after class, as well as doing my own research, I can subsequently learn about teachings that may be verbally expressed during classes and later match these with various teachers and practices over time. These strategies enable me to adapt to a situation where it is impossible to experience consistent face–to–face interaction and where it is difficult to access spoken instruction.Group yoga classes usually begin with the teacher sharing some comments or a story to prompt the theme of the class. This helps us to integrate our exploration of action with the exploration of “invisible and intangible” goals. As a class, we observe our teacher’s intentional movements and mirror these both mentally and physically. As the class progresses, the teacher migrates around the class observing and attending to individual students with adjustments and other assistance. Throughout the class, the teacher alternates between observing, demonstrating and assisting, while simultaneously instructing the class verbally.Most of the students in these group classes... (shrink)

This book is the first comprehensive examination of the psychological development of deaf children. Because the majority of young deaf children are reared in language-impoverished environments, their social and cognitive development may differ markedly from hearing children. The author here details those potential differences, giving special attention to how the psychological development of deaf children is affected by their interpersonal communication with parents, peers, and teachers. This careful and balanced consideration of existing evidence and research provides a (...) new psychological perspective on deaf children and deafness while debunking a number of popular notions about the hearing impaired. In light of recent findings concerning manual communication, parent-child interactions, and intellectual and academic assessments of hearing-impaired children, the author has forged an integrated understanding of social, language, and cognitive development as they are affected by childhood deafness. Empirical evaluations of deaf children's intellectual and academic abilities are stressed throughout. The Psychological Development of Deaf Children will be of great interest to students, teachers, and researchers studying deafness and how it relates to speech and hearing; developmental, social, and cognitive psychology; social work; and medicine. (shrink)

Resumo: Uma das medidas mais significativas do progresso de uma nação, no fornecimento de educação para pessoas com deficiências, bem como uma medida de quão bem seus sistemas de apoio operam e quão longe a sociedade se encontra, em seu desenvolvimento social, é o crescimento do ensino superior para pessoas com deficiências. Os resultados indicaram que os alunos surdos com experiência escolar geral apresentaram melhor adaptabilidade. O modelo de integração era mais adequado para aumentar a conscientização dos alunos surdos sobre (...) a interação social e a adaptabilidade escolar. Ademais, os alunos surdos tinham uma demanda maior por orientação profissional. No entanto, é importante observar que o modelo de treinamento de integração ainda possui espaço para aprimoramentos. Com base nos resultados das referidas pesquisas e nos problemas da prática, o presente artigo apresenta as sugestões e pareceres de contramedidas correspondentes. O artigo sugere que devemos construir um modelo educativo de integração baseado no conceito “trindade”, orientado para talentos socialmente integrados em aplicações artísticas, aperfeiçoar o sistema de gestão da educação de integração, melhorar o sistema de apoio ao aprendizado de estudantes universitários surdos sob a liderança da escola, modificar e reconstruir o sistema curricular de integração das áreas de arte e artesanato e fortalecer o apoio e a orientação da sociedade para a construção de um ambiente de integração. (shrink)

I am an M.D/Ph.D. student and work as a research assistant for the director of a division of the school of medicine who is an M.D. He assigned me to research a certain topic and gave me no guidelines or guidance as to how to do it. Nevertheless, I did the research and wrote it up. My supervisor liked the report and said that he thought it was so good that “I would like to offer you the opportunity to publish (...) it and list you as the primary author.” Some bells went off when he so grandly offered to let me author the report for which I had done 100% of research and writing. I consulted some other people in the field and they said that, as long as I was the primary author, it was legitimate for him to list himself as secondary author if he did some editing later. After editing the abstract only, he e-mailed his revisions to me and in a note at the bottom he asked me what I thought of his revised author order. His name was first, mine second, and the name of his girlfriend was third. I was shocked by what seemed to be a case of unethical author attribution and confronted him asking why he changed the order when we had agreed that I was primary author. He said that he had put in several hours of work. (shrink)

Postural instability marks a prevalent symptom of Parkinson’s disease. It often manifests in increased body sway, which is commonly assessed by tracking the Center of Pressure. Yet, in terms of postural control, the body’s Center of Mass, and not CoP is what is regulated in a gravitational field. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of early- to mid-stage PD on these measures of postural control in response to unpredictable visual perturbations. We investigated three cohorts: 18 patients (...) with early to mid-stage PD [Hoehn & Yahr stage ; 1.94 ± 0.70]; a group of 15 age-matched controls ; and a group of 12 young healthy adults. Participants stood on a force plate to track their CoP, while the movement of their entire body was recorded with a video-based motion tracking system to monitor their CoM. A moving room paradigm was applied through a head-mounted virtual reality headset. The stimulus consisted of a virtual tunnel that stretched in the anterior-posterior direction which either remained static or moved back and forth in an unpredictable fashion.We found differences in mean sway amplitude and mean velocities of CoP and CoM between the groups under both conditions, with higher MSA of CoP and CoM for PD and higher mean velocities of both variables for PD and ECT when compared with YCT. Visual perturbation increased mean CoP velocity in all groups but did not have effects on mean CoM velocity or MSA. While being significantly lower for the young adults, the net effect of visual perturbation on mean CoP velocity was similar between patients with PD and age-matched controls. There was no effect of the visual perturbation on mean CoM velocity for any of the groups.Our simultaneous assessment of CoP and CoM revealed that postural control is reflected differently in CoM and CoP. As the motion of CoM remained mostly unaffected, all groups successfully counteracted the perturbation and maintained their balance. Higher CoP velocity for PD and ECT revealed increased corrective motion needed to achieve this, which however was similar in both groups. Thus, our results suggest increased effort, expressed in CoP velocity, to be an effect of age rather than disease in earlier stages of PD. (shrink)

We write in response to the original article by Rennie and Rudland published in the April 2003 edition of this journal.1 Current and former Dundee Medical School students are concerned at the media misinterpretation of the study and the consequences that this branding of “dishonesty” will have on Dundee Medical School’s reputation and also on individuals embarking on their ….

More than three centuries after Baruch Spinoza's excommunication from the Jewish community of Amsterdam, his legacy remains contentious. Born in 1632, Spinoza is one of the most important thinkers of the Enlightenment and arguably the paradigm of the secular Jew, having left Orthodoxy without converting to another faith. One of the most provocative critiques of Spinoza comes from an unexpected source, the influential twentieth-century political philosopher, Leo Strauss. Though Strauss was not an Orthodox Jew, in a well-known essay that prefaced (...) his study of Spinoza, he critically examines modern philosophy's challenge to traditional religion. There he argues that while the Enlightenment had failed to decisively refute Orthodoxy, at the same time, Orthodoxy could only claim to believe its core tenets were true but could not claim to know they were true. Strauss leaves the question at an impasse; both the Enlightenment and Orthodoxy rest on axioms that neither side can fully prove or fully refute. Curiously, Strauss never asks Orthodox Jewish thinkers if his approach to defending Judaism against the claims of the Enlightenment is the same as theirs. This volume poses the question to a group of serious Orthodox Jewish thinkers in an attempt to find out if Orthodoxy has a better answer to the questions raised by Strauss than the one Strauss advanced on its behalf. The seventeen essays in this volume use a variety of approaches, drawing on traditional primary Jewish sources like Scripture, Talmud, and Midrash; medieval rationalists like Maimonides; Enlightenment-era Orthodox sources; Jewish mystical writings like Kabbalah and Chasidut; modern philosophical movements including postmodernism and analytic philosophy; and contemporary Jewish Bible interpretation. While the answers differ, what unites these essays is the willingness to take Strauss' question seriously and to provide "inside" answers, that is, answers given by Orthodox Jews. Much of modern thought tries to square the circle of how to live in a world without belief. The better question is whether it is possible to recover authentic religious belief in the modern world. This volume is an Orthodox Jewish attempt to answer that question, one that no serious person can approach with indifference. (shrink)

Despite the urgency of this issue, AI still struggles to represent social life. This article presents a comprehensive agent-based model that investigates status-power dynamics in groups. Kemper’s sociological status–power theory of social relationships, and a literature review on school children in middle youth, is its basis. The model allows us to investigate causation of the near-ubiquitous phenomenon that females have lower social status on average than males. Possible causes included in the model are children’s dispositional traits (kindness, beauty, and physical (...) power), schoolyard culture (social acceptability of fighting), behavioural strategy (amount of rough-and-tumble play) and the balance between public and dyadic sources of status. An agent-based model of a virtual schoolyard was created in which the children assemble in changing groups and mutually confer status. The status conferred upon a child modifies the status it holds. Rough-and-tumble is modelled as ambiguous: it is intended as a status conferral, but may be perceived as a power move. Running many trials of the model we found that in time, depending on the parameter settings, a gender-based status gap emerged. Rough-and-tumble play had more impact on emergent status differences than did physical power differences. Social acceptability of fighting also strongly moderated the resulting status gap. Placing more weight on dyadic relationship could alleviate status loss. All these model behaviours are in line with empirical findings of child behaviour studies at schools. They have face validity for social status issues in the adult world. We conclude from this that this kind of agent-based model merits use in studying the status–power dynamics of other issues in child behaviour, or indeed in social behaviour in general. (shrink)

Esta investigación de corte cualitativo realiza una revisión sistemática para conocer cuáles son los factores que dificultan y favorecen el proceso de aprendizaje del alumnado sordo bilingüe en primaria. Este trabajo sigue las pautas de la declaración PRISMA. Las bases de datos consultadas han sido Web of Science, Scopus, ERIC y Google Scholar revisándose en total 190 estudios empíricos, en español y en inglés, entre los años 1997 y 2021. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que hay escasas publicaciones al respecto y (...) se evidencia la necesidad de dar a conocer la situación de este colectivo para seguir avanzando y educando. (shrink)

Resumo -/- A partir da experiência de produção de uma videoaula de Lógica em Libras (Testa, Moraes, Bizio e Caló, 2021) para o IFSP FILOLIBRAS, inserida no contexto do projeto ‘O Ensino de Filosofia para Surdos: elaboração de material didático em uma perspectiva de inclusão escolar’ (Moraes e Bizio, 2021), levantamos algumas questões relativas ao arcabouço teórico do projeto. Após introduzirmos as motivações do projeto, explicamos como sua metodologia foi tratada no contexto da aula de Lógica, expondo as principais dificuldades (...) e soluções encontradas. Através da análise desta experiência, pretendemos levantar subsídios teóricos para pesquisas futuras no tema, incluindo a produção de um curso inteiramente voltado para o ensino de Lógica em Libras, não apenas enquanto área da Filosofia, mas também enquanto área de estudo multi e transdisciplinar, propedêutica ao fomento do Pensamento Crítico. -/- Palavras-chave: Ensino de Lógica, Educação Especial, Pedagogia Bilíngue, Libras. -/- Abstract -/- Based on the experience of producing a video lesson on Logic in Libras (Testa, Moraes, Bizio and Caló, 2021) to the IFSP FILOLIBRAS, inserted in the context of the project ‘O Ensino de Filosofia para Surdos: elaboração de material didático em uma perspectiva de inclusão escolar’ (‘Teaching Philosophy for Deaf students: elaboration of didactic material in a perspective of inclusive education’, in a free translation) (Moraes and Bizio, 2021), we raise some questions regarding the theoretical framework of the project. After introducing the motivations of the project, we explain how the chosen methodology was considered in the context of the Logic class, exposing the main difficulties and solutions found. Through the analysis of this experience, we intend to raise theoretical subsidies for future research on the subject, including the production of a course entirely focused on the teaching of Logic in Libras, not only as an area of Philosophy but also as a multi and transdisciplinary area of study, propaedeutic to fostering Critical Thinking. -/- Keywords: Teaching Logic, Special Education, Bilingual Pedagogy, Libras. (shrink)

Resumo: O ingresso de estudantes surdos no ensino superior tem ampliado nos últimos anos, e com isso, a inclusão desses estudantes, passa a ser um desafio. Nesse sentido, objetivamos neste estudo analisar a sua inclusão no ensino superior em Portugal. O estudo compreende a trajetória de três estudantes surdos vinculados a duas instituições de ensino superior, e cuja comunicação se estabelece pela Língua Portuguesa. Como forma de levantamento de dados, foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruradas, nas modalidades presencial e por videoconferência. Salientamos (...) que a escolha pela língua oral utilizada durante a entrevista foi dos estudantes, uma vez que estes alunos utilizam na maior parte do seu tempo a Língua Portuguesa, na sua vertente oral e escrita. Os resultados apontam para a importância de repensar a oferta de ensino permeado pela presença da Língua Gestual Portuguesa (LGP) nas atividades acadêmicas tendo em conta as principais necessidades apontadas pelos estudantes que participaram neste estudo: a) presença do intérprete de LGP nas salas de aula; b) colaboração dos professores da educação superior; c) interações sociais na universidade, e d) inclusão de estudantes surdos, o que demonstra a importância de repensar as práticas inclusivas para estudantes universitários surdos nas Instituições que frequentam. Palavras-chave: Ensino Superior; Estudantes surdos; Inclusão. Deaf students in Higher Education in Portugal - a reflection on inclusion Abstract: The enrollment of deaf students in higher education has increased in recent years, and with that, the inclusion of these students, becomes a challenge. In this sense, we aim in this study to analyze its inclusion in higher education in Portugal. The study comprises the trajectory of three deaf students linked to two higher education institutions, and whose communication is established by the Portuguese Language. For data collection, semi-structured interviews were conducted, in person and by video conference. We emphasize that the choice of the oral language used during the interview was of the students, since these students use most of their time the Portuguese language, in its oral and written components. The results point to the importance of rethinking the teaching offer permeated by the presence of the Portuguese Sign Language (PSL) in academic activities taking into account the main needs pointed out by the students who participated in this study: a) presence of the PSL interpreter in the classroom; b) collaboration of higher education teachers; c) social interactions at the university, and d) inclusion of deaf students, which demonstrates the importance of rethinking inclusive practices for deaf students in the Institutions they attend. Keywords: Higher Education; Deaf students; Inclusion. Estudiantes sordos en Educación Superior en Portugal - una reflexión sobre su inclusión Resumen: La matrícula de estudiantes sordos en la educación superior se ha incrementado en los últimos años, y con ello, la inclusión de estos estudiantes, se convierte en un desafío. En este sentido, nuestro objetivo en este estudio es analizar su inclusión en la educación superior en Portugal. El estudio comprende la trayectoria de tres estudiantes sordos vinculados a dos instituciones de educación superior, cuya comunicación está establecida por la lengua portuguesa. Como medio de recopilación de datos, se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas, en persona y por videoconferencia. Destacamos que la elección del idioma portugués utilizado durante la entrevista fue de los estudiantes, ya que estos estudiantes utilizan la mayor parte de su tiempo el idioma portugués, en sus aspectos oral y escrito. Los resultados apuntan a la importancia de repensar la oferta docente permeada por la presencia de la Lengua de Signos Portuguesa (LSP) en las actividades académicas teniendo en cuenta las principales necesidades señaladas por los estudiantes que participaron en este estudio: a) presencia del intérprete LSP en las aulas; b) colaboración de profesores de educación superior; c) interacciones sociales en la universidad, y d) inclusión de estudiantes sordos, lo que demuestra la importancia de repensar las prácticas inclusivas para los estudiantes universitarios sordos en las Instituciones a las que asisten. Palabras clave: Educación superior; Estudiantes sordos; Inclusión. Data de registro: 15/04/2021 Data de aceite: 01/12/2021. (shrink)

Resumo: O objetivo deste estudo é apresentar reflexões teórico-metodológicas sobre o processo de letramentos bilíngues de estudantes surdos no ensino superior. Tomamos a enunciação verbo-visual como categoria bakhtiniana que direciona as hipóteses de leitura em português pelos estudantes surdos e ocupa centralidade na produção textual sinalizada em língua brasileira de sinais. Da obra do folclorista Câmara Cascudo foram selecionadas lendas brasileiras para análise textual de elementos coesivos que operam nas estratégias de referenciação no texto narrativo em língua brasileira de sinais (...) e na língua portuguesa. Como contribuições teórico-metodológicas, apresentamos a utilização da pedagogia visual e de um roteiro que orienta a leitura com destaque aos elementos intertextuais, paratextuais e textuais na produção dos sentidos do texto. O videorregistro de lendas brasileiras em libras contribui para a ampliação do repertório de gêneros textuais sinalizados, pesquisa e diversificação de léxico regional e composição de acervo de materiais e tecnologias em língua de sinais, para a constituição de uma cultura letrada. Palavras-chave: Letramento acadêmico; Libras; Português como segunda língua; Gêneros textuais; Ensino Superior. Bilingual literacies of deaf students in higher education: a study with Brazilian legends Abstract: The objective of this study is to present theoretical and methodological reflections on the process of bilingual literacies of deaf students in higher education. We understand that the verbovisual enunciation is the Bakhtinian category that mobilizes the hypotheses of reading in Portuguese by deaf students and occupies the centrality in the Brazilian sign language textual production. We selected Brazilian legends of the work of the folklorist Câmara Cascudo, for textual analysis of cohesive elements that influence the referencing strategies in the narrative text in Brazilian sign language and in the Portuguese. As theoretical-methodological contributions, we present the use of visual pedagogy and a script that guides reading, with emphasis on intertextual, paratextual and textual elements in the production of the meanings of the text. The recording of the Brazilian sign language in video of Brazilian legends contributes to the expansion of the repertoire of textual genres signaled in the Brazilian sign language, research and diversification of the regional lexicon and the composition of materials and technologies in sign language for the constitution of a literate culture. Key-words: Academic literacy; Brazilian sign language; Portuguese as a second language; Textual genres; Higher education. Letramentos bilingües de estudiantes sordos en la educación superior: un estudio con leyendas brasileñas Résumen : El objetivo de este estudio es presentar reflexiones teóricas y metodológicas sobre el proceso de letramento bilingüe de estudiantes sordos en la educación superior. Entendemos que la enunciación verbovisual es la categoría bakhtiniana que influye en las hipótesis de lectura en portugués de los estudiantes sordos y ocupa la centralidad en la producción textual señalada en lengua de señas brasileña. Seleccionamos leyendas brasileñas de la obra de la folclorista Câmara Cascudo, para el análisis textual de elementos cohesivos que influyen en las estrategias de referenciación en el texto narrativo en lengua de señas brasileña y en portugués. Como aportes teóricos y metodológicos, se presenta el uso de la pedagogía visual y un guión que orienta la lectura con énfasis en elementos intertextuales, paratextuales y textuales en la producción de los sentidos del texto. La producción de leyendas brasileñas en lengua de señas videograbada contribuye a la expansión del repertorio de géneros textuales señalados en la lengua de señas brasileña, la investigación y diversificación del léxico regional y la composición de materiales y tecnologías en lengua de signos para la constitución de una cultura letrada. Palabras clave: Letramento académico ; Libras ; Portugués como segunda lengua ; Géneros textuales ; Enseñanza superior. Data de registro: 15/04/2021 Data de aceite: 01/12/2021. (shrink)

The discussion note examines communication needs of deaf students and deaf philosophers in the classroom, with particular attention to working with qualified signed language interpreters in the classroom and creating an inclusive classroom environment for deaf students. It additionally considers the question of whether signed languages, such as American Sign Language (ASL), can convey abstract philosophical concepts used in spoken languages, and concludes that this is possible, suggesting that the small number of deaf philosophers (...) using ASL has affected the development of a philosophical lexicon in ASL. (shrink)

This chapter presents some reflections by Lila Gleitman on the development of her thinking and her research – in concert with a host of esteemed collaborators over the years – on issues of language and mind, focusing on how language is acquired. Gleitman entered the field of linguistics as a student of Zellig Harris, and learned firsthand of Noam Chomsky's early work. The chapter points out that Goldin‐Meadow's first looks at isolate language, and deaf language, transmuted into her life's (...) work on gesture and sign. Linguists, including particularly Anne Senghas, had the opportunity to look at a remarkable case of a language rising in a hithertofore‐isolated deaf community. Behaviorist psychology saw language learning as an instance of more general principles of operant conditioning, a relatively straightforward distillation and organization of experience. Chomsky continues to frame and expatiate upon the central questions of language learning and knowledge. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:How I Lost My HearingJanessa SalesI was born as a healthy and strong hearing person, but I became deaf through a result of painful and traumatic cancer treatments. I was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor called Germinoma in 2003. I went through surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. I was good for one and a half years. However, in 2005 when I turned 12 my cancer relapsed. My doctors (...) told me and my family that I had to undergo a much stronger treatment plan called a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT). One of the possible side effects to this treatment was hearing loss. I unfortunately received this devastating side effect.I still remember the day that I lost my hearing. Before going to sleep that night, I received a dose of chemo. Waking up the next morning, something was terribly wrong. I couldn’t hear anything! I felt as if I were wearing earplugs. I called for my mother and I told her the alarming news, but as she was speaking back to me, I strained to hear her voice. All I saw were her lips moving. My doctors made arrangements for me to get my hearing tested with an audiologist.As the days that passed, I went through a deep depression. My doctors and my family tried different ways to communicate with me. They used note pads or white boards and wrote down what they wanted to say to me. As my hearing lessened, my other senses kicked in. I read body language and expressions. I learned to read lips. It was a little over a month before I got my hearing aids.Going back to school was very difficult, but my hearing loss, in itself, wasn’t as traumatic as the refusal to accept my new life. I spent the next four years trying to be hearing—trying to fix myself— trying to be what I once was. I always strained my ears trying to listen to my teachers. I tried fitting in with my friends, trying to keep up with their conversations, but it was no use. I couldn’t hear a thing; I was lost and confused.However, during my eighth grade year, I was given the choice to transfer to a different school. It was a mainstream school that had a DHH (Deaf and Hard of Hearing) program. It was a scary transition going to a new school, not knowing anybody. I hesitated and did not want to go at first, but eventually I got over my fears.When I transferred over to the other middle school, I still felt lost. I was still trying to be a hearing student. I only knew how to be auditory learner. I couldn’t focus because I wasn’t able to hear my teachers. I was new at sign language, so I couldn’t understand any of my interpreters. I had frequent meltdowns every week.I felt like I didn’t fit into the deaf world or the hearing world. I couldn’t understand either one. I was always misunderstanding my hearing friends, and I wasn’t able to understand my deaf peers because I didn’t fully know their language. I had low self–esteem and I felt like I didn’t belong anywhere.I had to learn to become a visual learner. I was given the use of a Frequency Modulated (FM) system. The FM system is an assistive listening device worn by the speaker to amplify his/her voice and transmit it directly to the listener’s ears via an electronic receiver and special earphones or the listener’s own hearing aids. I also had an interpreter and closed captions when needed.My DHH teacher Mr. H, who was my greatest mentor and role model, set me up with an Individualized Educational Program (IEP) that required that I had to have my homework written down instead being verbally told. I was allowed to have more time on tests when needed, and a note taker for lectures. All of these arrangements really helped me through my new “deaf world.”My mother and I took Sign Language classes at Sacramento State University where Mr. H also taught... (shrink)

This volume explores the philosophy of Étienne Bonnot de Condillac. It presents, for the first time, English-language essays on Condillac's philosophy, making the complexity and sophistication of his arguments and their influence on early modern philosophy accessible to a wider readership. Condillac's reflections on the origin and nature of human abilities, such as the ability to reason, reflect and use language, took philosophy in distinctly new directions. This volume showcases the diversity of themes and methods inspired by Condillac's work. The (...) chapters are divided into four thematic sections. Part 1 highlights themes and discussions that were central to Condillac's own philosophical thinking, thus laying the ground for the subsequent discussions that trace Condillac's influence in the 19th century and beyond. Part 2 focuses on the different ways in which Condillac's philosophy has been taken up, criticised and further developed in France. Part 3 discusses thinkers working in other European countries and parts of the world who took up Condillac's work. Finally, Part 4 looks at the practical applications of Condillac's philosophy in a variety of different fields, such as economics, psychology, psychopathology and deaf studies. Condillac and His Reception will appeal to scholars and advanced students working on early modern philosophy, history of science and intellectual history. (shrink)

In The Art of Humane Education, Donald Phillip Verene presents a new statement of the classical and humanist ideals that he believes should guide education in the liberal arts and sciences. These ideals are lost, he contends, in the corporate atmosphere of the contemporary university, with its emphasis on administration, faculty careerism, and student performance. Verene addresses questions of how and what to teach and offers practical suggestions for the conduct of class sessions, the relationship between teacher and student, the (...) interpretation of texts, and the meaning and use of a canon of great books.In sharp contrast to the current tendency toward specialization, Verene considers the aim of college education to be self-knowledge pursued through study of all fields of thought. Education, in his view, must be based on acquisition of the arts of reading, writing, and thinking. He regards the class lecture as a form of oratory that should be presented in accordance with the well-known principles of rhetoric. The Art of Humane Education, styled as a series of letters, makes the author's original and practical ideas very clear. In this elegant book, Verene explores the full range of issues surrounding humane education.On the humanities: "Despite Descartes, the study of humane letters has remained, but it is always in danger of passing out of the curriculum. It remains a beggar who will not quite leave the premises."On teaching: "Like oratory, teaching requires a natural gift, but it is also an art which, like all the other humane arts, can be learned only mimetically.... As some are born tone-deaf and cannot be musical, there are those who can never teach. But most if they wish have some aptitude for it, and this aptitude can be developed into an art."On teachers: "Teachers motivated by eloquence attempt to speak wholly on a subject, since the whole is where its life is. Teachers not motivated by eloquence tend to be either dull or comedic. The dull teacher may have knowledge but have no true language for it.... The comedic teacher is shallow and a menace to the subject matter."On administrators: "Administration is never content simply to concern itself with the pure business of the university, paying its bills, maintaining its buildings. It sees itself as necessary in order for the process between teacher and student to go on. But it is a process that it constantly interrupts.... Administrators, however, should not be taken too seriously."Although sharply critical of many aspects of the modern university and of many currents within the humanities, The Art of Humane Education remains at heart a ringing endorsement of the high humanist tradition and its continuing relevance to the institutions of teaching and learning. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Response to Louise Pascale, “Dispelling the Myth of the Non-Singer: Embracing Two Aesthetics for Singing”Vicki R. LindIn "Dispelling the Myth of the Non-Singer: Embracing Two Aesthetics for Singing," Louise Pascale explores classroom teachers' beliefs about singing. Specifically, she looks at possible reasons why many classroom teachers who have been raised in the Western traditions of music-making do not feel comfortable singing. As a vocal music education professor and an (...) avid singer, this is a topic near and dear to my heart. My image of a vibrant elementary classroom, rooted in my experiences as a student and later as an elementary music teacher, includes singing. If, as Pascale notes, there is a growing number of teachers who define themselves as "non-singers" and who, because of this, do not include music in the classroom, there is indeed reason for alarm.As I read the introductory paragraph of this paper I immediately thought of elementary teachers who had at one time or another been labeled as "tone deaf" and who had allowed an early negative singing experience to cause them to believe they could not sing. Pascale challenged this simple explanation of the non-singer and made a strong case for a more thorough investigation of the problem.Pascale began her investigation by conducting a series of interviews with people who believed they could not sing. She found a variety of reasons for the self-proclaimed non-singers negative self image including: 1) never being selected to sing a solo; 2) not being able to lead songs, and 3) not singing in tune. Pascale used the story of a young Barbados woman, Onika, as an illustration of how these experiences could be linked to Western music traditions. Onika was born in Barbados but moved to the United States at the age of four. This young woman considered herself a singer in her native country but a non-singer in America. Onika felt she was a singer in Barbados because she enjoyed singing music in the Solka tradition; the music was fun, moved fast, and she could sing along without being concerned about how she sounded. She described herself as a non-singer in the United States because she was not able to lead songs and did not have a strong voice.I agree that the conventional Western view of music in the schools is rooted in classical traditions that value performance, perfection, and virtuosity and that these views may lead to the above mentioned assumptions regarding singing. I question, however, whether this conventional view permeates the beliefs of those [End Page 200] outside of the traditional music education circle. Onika's experiences with music in Barbados seemed to be very natural, a part of life; her experiences with music in the United States seemed limited to formal experiences in church or school settings. It would be interesting to investigate whether the dichotomy is between two cultures, the United States and Barbados, or between two different ways of experiencing music, in school and in everyday life.The main body of Pascale's work is the description of two aesthetics for singing, Aesthetic A, the classical Western tradition and Aesthetic B, a broader, multi-dimensional perspective. The list of characteristics differentiating Aesthetic A and Aesthetic B relate to the teaching of music, the process of music education. Emphasizing product and performance, stressing the importance of skill building and relying on classical repertoire are characteristics related to the traditional viewpoint, or Aesthetic A. These characteristics are contrasted with those related to Aesthetic B; the emphasis is placed on process and participation, stress is placed on social value and feeling, and vernacular repertoire is used. Pascale makes the point that Aesthetic B is not meant to replace "traditional" thinking but is a broadening of the perspective. Two questions emerge from Pascale's two aesthetics. First, is there a commonly held "traditional" culture of singing that exists in schools today? Schools and learning populations in the United States are so diverse it is hard to imagine a single philosophy driving music education. Second, does Aesthetic B add new dimensions, or does it describe a balance that is necessary in any philosophy that... (shrink)

In the course of his life a man surrounds himself with questions, much as he surrounds himself with furniture, books or pictures. Personality is expressed not only by the selection of a Chippendale chair, the amassing of early colour-plate books, or the purchase of a Renoir, but also by the kind of questions which a man “collects”-raises, without necessarily solving. Some questions, like some books, are to be brooded over and studied; some are introduced only to be contemplated from time (...) to time, like fine bindings; and some occur so casually as hardly to rouse any attention at all. There is an obvious difference between a man who bids carefully at a book auction or forces himself on to his knees to identify a dust-covered quarto in a slum bookshop, and a man whose library is inherited from parents or grandparents; acceptances and not choices will distinguish the casual possessor from the bookman. Similarly, there are many questions which sit lightly on a man's mind, which are as little the object of sustained wondering or bafflement as his ancestors” well bound volumes of theology or game-shooting are the reflection of his own tastes or interests. These may be questions of any sort: they may be factual questions, important or trivial, or they may be theoretical questions, philosophical perhaps, or religious or scientific. A student of literature, for instance, has been known to congratulate himself on his ignorance of modern science, ignorance so deliberate that any scientific question raised in his presence fails even to make him wonder. For any person, however, there are ranges of questions which barely touch his mind: he may be aware that he does not know how to derive answers to them for himself, but his inability will not cause him concern. The memory, the practical or the reasoning skill of the kind that would be required are perhaps so much out of proportion to what he possesses that to bemoan the lack of them is unrealistic -as it is often idle and merely conventional for one who is tone-deaf to say how much he wishes he could sing an aria . Other questions altogether, important or trivial, he takes seriously and troubles to answer, because they touch his own special interests directly: he may pride himself on never neglecting a newspaper problem in bridge or chess, or he may never fail to answer correctly a question about the construction of some instrument or machine. The same person, however, will also get the length of raising many questions which remain mere questions. He may be troubled and puzzled about certain political or social question which circumstances do not compel him to answer: but he will not be hypocritical in professing an interest in them. Some of these questions, of course, may become solved after a fashion, if he listens to the voice of politician, statistician, priest or psychologist and is lucky enough to get an answer which satisfies him. But many will survive with just enough recurrences of wondering about them to make them, as you might say, chronic. This is the intermediate class of questions. (shrink)

Gestures are a special sort of action. They communicate the individual's moods and desires to the world and they operate under different psychological and cognitive constraints to other actions. The connections between gesture and language - spoken and signed - pose some fascinating questions. How intimately are gesture and language connected? Did one evolve from the other? To what extent are they similarly processed in the brain? In what ways are signed languages akin to spoken language and gestures? Gesture, Speech, (...) and Sign examines these questions, bringing together an international array of expertise to explore the origins, neurobiology, and uses of these three communication systems. A unique feature of the book is its discussion of how a greater understanding of these issues can be used to improve human-computer interactions. Designed to appeal to a multi-disciplinary audience Gesture, Speech, and Sign will be of interest to advanced students and researchers in neuroscience, psychology, linguistics, computer science, and those involved in deaf studies. (shrink)

Gaze behavior is an important component of children’s language, cognitive, and sociocultural development. This is especially true for young deaf children acquiring a signed language—if they are not looking at the language model, they are not getting linguistic input. Deaf caregivers engage their deaf infants and toddlers using visual and tactile strategies to draw in, support, and promote their child’s visual attention; we argue that these caregiver actions create a developmental niche that establishes the visual modality capital (...) their child needs for successful sign language learning. But most deaf children do not have deaf signing parents and they will need to rely on adult signing teachers if they are to acquire a signed language at an early age. This study examines classroom interactions between a Deaf teacher, her teacher’s aide, and six deaf preschoolers to document the teachers’ “everyday practices” as they socialize the gaze behavior of these children. Utilizing a detailed behavioral and linguistic analysis of two video-recorded book-sharing contexts, we present data summarizing the teacher’s attention-getting actions directed toward the children and the discourse-embedded cues that signal the teacher’s expectations for student participation in the signed conversation. We observed that the teacher’s behaviors differed according to the parent status of the deaf preschooler suggesting that Deaf children of Deaf parents arrive to the preschool classroom with well-developed self-regulation of their attention or gaze. The teachers also used more physical and explicit cueing with the deaf children of hearing parents—possibly to promote their ability to leverage the visual modality for sign language acquisition. We situate these socialization patterns within a framework that integrates notions of intuitive or indigenous practices, developmental niche, and modality capital. Implications for early childhood deaf education are also discussed. (shrink)

It is, perhaps, a propitious time to discuss the economic rights of disabled persons. In recent years, the media in the United States have re-ported on such notable events as: students at the nation's only college for the deaf stage a successful protest campaign to have a deaf individual ap-pointed president of their institution; a book by a disabled British physicist on the origins of the universe becomes a best seller; a pitcher with only one arm has (...) a successful rookie season in major league baseball; a motion-picture actor wins an Oscar for his portrayal of a wheelchair-bound person, beating out another nominee playing another wheelchair-bound person; a cancer patient wins an Olympic gold medal in wrestling; a paralyzed mother trains her children to accept discipline by inserting their hands in her mouth to be gently bitten when punishment is due; and a paraplegic rock climber scales the sheer four-thousand-foot wall of Yosemite Valley's El Capitan. Most significantly, in 1990, the United States Congress passed an important bill – the Americans with Disabili-ties Act – extending to disabled people employment and access-related protections afforded to members of other disadvantaged groups by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (shrink)

In this piece I discuss two ways in which providers may become able to treat patients better. The first is for them to encourage all medical parties, including medical students, to always speak up. The second is to take initiatives to learn of pain that patients feel but neither show nor spontaneously report. They may refer to this pain as invisible pain, often bitterly, in that others not seeing their pain judge them wrongly and harshly. Providers, once seeing this (...) pain, are encouraged to then take additional measures to try to alleviate it. Clinical examples provided to illustrate the range of treatments providers may add are post-traumatic stress disorders, problems involving substance use, and hoarding disorders. Similar concerns regarding people who are deaf and hard of hearing are also addressed. (shrink)

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2011 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society at Saint Xavier University in Chicago, Illinois. We propose a cooperative approach by students in recording lecture activities such that the classroom becomes more visually accessible for everyone, especially for deaf, hard of hearing and low-vision students. Students utilize their personal camera-equipped smart phones to capture and share their views of a visually inaccessible classroom to students' devices. (...) We show this approach virtually retrofits a classroom to make it a more visually accessible learning environment. This approach can be used in meetings to get and share optimal views of the meeting for all participants. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Response to Louise Pascale, “Dispelling the Myth of the Non-Singer: Embracing Two Aesthetics for Singing”Vicki R. LindIn "Dispelling the Myth of the Non-Singer: Embracing Two Aesthetics for Singing," Louise Pascale explores classroom teachers' beliefs about singing. Specifically, she looks at possible reasons why many classroom teachers who have been raised in the Western traditions of music-making do not feel comfortable singing. As a vocal music education professor and an (...) avid singer, this is a topic near and dear to my heart. My image of a vibrant elementary classroom, rooted in my experiences as a student and later as an elementary music teacher, includes singing. If, as Pascale notes, there is a growing number of teachers who define themselves as "non-singers" and who, because of this, do not include music in the classroom, there is indeed reason for alarm.As I read the introductory paragraph of this paper I immediately thought of elementary teachers who had at one time or another been labeled as "tone deaf" and who had allowed an early negative singing experience to cause them to believe they could not sing. Pascale challenged this simple explanation of the non-singer and made a strong case for a more thorough investigation of the problem.Pascale began her investigation by conducting a series of interviews with people who believed they could not sing. She found a variety of reasons for the self-proclaimed non-singers negative self image including: 1) never being selected to sing a solo; 2) not being able to lead songs, and 3) not singing in tune. Pascale used the story of a young Barbados woman, Onika, as an illustration of how these experiences could be linked to Western music traditions. Onika was born in Barbados but moved to the United States at the age of four. This young woman considered herself a singer in her native country but a non-singer in America. Onika felt she was a singer in Barbados because she enjoyed singing music in the Solka tradition; the music was fun, moved fast, and she could sing along without being concerned about how she sounded. She described herself as a non-singer in the United States because she was not able to lead songs and did not have a strong voice.I agree that the conventional Western view of music in the schools is rooted in classical traditions that value performance, perfection, and virtuosity and that these views may lead to the above mentioned assumptions regarding singing. I question, however, whether this conventional view permeates the beliefs of those [End Page 200] outside of the traditional music education circle. Onika's experiences with music in Barbados seemed to be very natural, a part of life; her experiences with music in the United States seemed limited to formal experiences in church or school settings. It would be interesting to investigate whether the dichotomy is between two cultures, the United States and Barbados, or between two different ways of experiencing music, in school and in everyday life.The main body of Pascale's work is the description of two aesthetics for singing, Aesthetic A, the classical Western tradition and Aesthetic B, a broader, multi-dimensional perspective. The list of characteristics differentiating Aesthetic A and Aesthetic B relate to the teaching of music, the process of music education. Emphasizing product and performance, stressing the importance of skill building and relying on classical repertoire are characteristics related to the traditional viewpoint, or Aesthetic A. These characteristics are contrasted with those related to Aesthetic B; the emphasis is placed on process and participation, stress is placed on social value and feeling, and vernacular repertoire is used. Pascale makes the point that Aesthetic B is not meant to replace "traditional" thinking but is a broadening of the perspective. Two questions emerge from Pascale's two aesthetics. First, is there a commonly held "traditional" culture of singing that exists in schools today? Schools and learning populations in the United States are so diverse it is hard to imagine a single philosophy driving music education. Second, does Aesthetic B add new dimensions, or does it describe a balance that is necessary in any philosophy that... (shrink)

“What is the difference between badal and ‘aṭf bayān?” Here is a student question, quite legitimate, which, interestingly enough, does not find an immediate answer. This answer is not found neither in Arabist grammars of Arabic, nor even in the traditional Arab grammars of Arabic which, for many, only rely as a distinction between the two on the sacrosanct ’i‘rāb and in the very restricted framework of the vocative. Thus there is nothing to differentiate two examples given by Ibn Ǧinnī, (...) illustrating respectively badal and ‘atf bayān: qāma ’aḫū-ka zaydun and qāma ’aḫū-ka muḥammadun. Moreover, a grammarian and logician like ’Astarābāḏī even explicitly states that he does not see any clear difference between badal al-kull min al-kull and the ‘atf al-bayān. This criterion is neither distributional, nor inflectional, nor even semantic and pragmatic, even if it results from the latter, but suprasegmental, and it turns out that medieval Arabic grammarians are not deaf to it, as this article will show. (shrink)

The Deaf culture in the United States is a unique culture that is not widely understood. To members of the Deaf community in the United States, deafness is not viewed as a disease or pathology to be treated or cured; instead it is seen as a difference in human experience. Members of this community do not hide their deafness; instead they take great pride in their Deaf identity. The Deaf culture in the United States is very (...) communitarian not individualistic. Mary Beth and Dominic are a married couple in their late 20s who are genetically deaf. They are active members in the Deaf community and work as advocates for individuals who are deaf, family members of Deaf people and sign language interpreters who identify with the Deaf culture. Mary Beth and Dominic approach the fertility clinic with a request that they only want a child with the genetic gene for deafness. They would want the embryos that do not have the gene to be destroyed. This would entail creating a child who would have the gene for deafness. Medically and ethically, should the fertility clinic agree to the couple’s request? The authors argue that the couple's request should be denied and provide reasons for it from the perspectives of foundational and clinical ethics. (shrink)

The cochlear implant controversy involves questions about the nature of disability and the definition of “normal” bodies; it also raises arguments about the nature and significance of culture and the rights of minority cultures. I defend the claim that there might be such a thing as “Deaf culture” and then examine how two different understandings of the role of culture in the lives of individuals can lead to different conclusions about the rights of Deaf parents in relation to (...) their children, and about the ethics of public funding for research on cochlear implants. An argument asserting the rights of minority cultures to equal respect and consideration within a multicultural society, informed by communitarian political philosophy, offers the best prospect for the defence of the unique culture(s) of the Deaf. (shrink)

We should react to deaf parents who choose to have a deaf child with compassion not condemnationThere has been a great deal of discussion during the past few years of the potential biotechnology offers to us to choose to have only perfect babies, and of the implications that might have, for instance for the disabled. What few people foresaw is that these same technologies could be deliberately used to ensure that children would be born with disabilities. That this (...) is a real possibility, and not merely the thought experiment of a philosopher, is brought home to us by the decision of an American lesbian couple to select a deaf sperm donor in order to maximise the chances that their children, Jehanne and Gauvin, would be deaf like them.1 Their choice has sparked controversy, not only among medical ethicists, but in the opinion pages of newspapers across the world. Ought parents be permitted to make such choices?If the parents of Jehanne and Gauvin have done anything wrong, it must consist in violating their child’s right to an open future—limiting its future potential for choice.2 But what does it mean to respect this right?From the moment a child is born, her parents are making choices for her, which will powerfully shape her future. They will decide what kind of education she will have, what religious experiences, from among what group she can select friends. Thereby, they profoundly mould the person she will be and the life she will have.When this activity is carried out within certain, ill-defined, limits, it is in no way objectionable. It is not merely a …. (shrink)