Hill's new study shows various contradictions in the use of signed languages by exploring the linguistic and social factors that govern such stereotypical perceptions of social groups about signing differences.

This book provides an up-to-date overview of the main areas of the sociolinguistics of sign languages.

Started in 1986 as a project to simply describe the linguistic and sociolinguistic features of contact signing and to determine if this type of signing is aptly labeled a pidgin, this book blossomed in depth as the authors' data increased. The initial narrow goals of the book expanded and now project a much larger picture of language contact in the American deaf community."We were forced...to consider issues somewhat broader than those addressed by the (initial) project," writes Lucas in the preface. The result is a superbly-researched text, documenting the tireless efforts of Lucas and Valli over the last six years. Included in the book is a model of linguistic outcomes of language contact in the deaf community, the patterns of language use which emerged from the data, and the implications of the findings on deaf education, second language teaching, and interpreting.This book describes language contact in the deaf community within the larger context of studies of language contact. It reviews current issues and research on language contact. It re-examines claims that the outcome of language contact in the deaf community is a pidgin. It demonstrates what is unique about language contact in the deaf community based on analysis of videotaped data. It discusses the educational and teaching implications of findings with regard to language contact in the deaf community.

An interdisciplinary guide to traditional as well as cutting-edge methods for the study of language attitudes.

This book focuses on how sign language ideologies influence, manifest in, and are challenged by communicative practices. Sign languages are minority languages using the visual-gestural and tactile modalities, whose affordances are very different from those of spoken languages using the auditory-oral modality.

The most comprehensive overview available, this Handbook is an essential guide to sociolinguistics today. Reflecting the breadth of research in the field, it surveys a range of topics and approaches in the study of language variation and use in society. As well as linguistic perspectives, the handbook includes insights from anthropology, social psychology, the study of discourse and power, conversation analysis, theories of style and styling, language contact and applied sociolinguistics. Language practices seem to have reached new levels since the communications revolution of the late twentieth century. At the same time face-to-face communication is still the main force of language identity, even if social and peer networks of the traditional face-to-face nature are facing stiff competition of the Facebook-to-Facebook sort. The most authoritative guide to the state of the field, this handbook shows that sociolinguistics provides us with the best tools for understanding our unfolding evolution as social beings.

This edited book presents an detailed analysis of the experience of deaf people as a bilingual-bicultural minority group in America. An overview of mainstream research on bilingualism and biculturalism is followed by specific research and conceptual analyses which examine the impact of cultural and language diversity on the experiences of deaf people. The book ends with poignant personal reflections from deaf community members. The contributors include prominent deaf and hearing experts in bilingualism, ASL and Deaf culture, and deaf education.

New 4th Edition completely revised and updated with new DVD now available; ISBN 1-56368-283-4.

Describes language contact in the deaf community within the larger context of studies of language contact. This book reviews issues and research on language contact. It discusses the educational and teaching implications of findings with regard to language contact in the deaf community.

The analysis of language attitudes is important not only because attitudes can affect language maintenance and language change but also because such reflections and discussions can bring light to social, cultural, political and educational matters that require an interdisciplinary approach. This volume fills a crucial void in the field of Hispanic and Lusophone linguistics by introducing the latest production in the discipline of attitudes toward Spanish, Spanish sign language, Portuguese, Guarani and Papiamentu around the world, from South America and the Caribbean to the United States, Spain and Japan. The studies presented in this collection – a variety of sociolinguistic scenarios and methodological approaches – will make an important contribution to theoretical discussions on linguistic attitudes, specifically in the domains of language integration through education, language policy, and language maintenance. This book is intended for sociolinguists, social scientists and scholars in the humanities as well as graduate students enrolled in sociolinguistics courses.