ASL Linguistics Chapter 10 - Sociolinguistics Answer Key PDF

## ASL Linguistics chapter 4F - ASL Sociolinguistics ### Sociolinguistics Sociolinguistics studies how people use language, not the forms of the language - not the hand shapes or the signs or the phrases or the sentences Another way to think of sociolinguistics is to think how any group of people...

## ASL Linguistics chapter 4F - ASL Sociolinguistics ### Sociolinguistics Sociolinguistics studies how people use language, not the forms of the language - not the hand shapes or the signs or the phrases or the sentences Another way to think of sociolinguistics is to think how any group of people (Americans with English, Brazilians with Portuguese and the Deaf community with ASL) use language to accomplish their communication goals (i.e. asking questions, being polite, commands, statements, etc.) This chapter looks at various 'goals' and how those are accomplished in ASL. ### Politeness Like Americans/hearing people with English, people who are Deaf show politeness by using signs like PLEASE, THANK-YOU, EXCUSE ME, etc. Deaf individuals are no more or less polite, they just may do it differently (or similarly). ### Terms of address Compared to English, ASL uses terms of address MUCH less frequently. As previously discussed in 4C-Semantics (p. 98 in my book), terms of address are one-way English speakers show formality and politeness, ASL accomplishes this in other ways. Chapter 4C mostly discussed terms of address regarding titles such as Dr., Mr., Ms. and Mrs.; this chapter focuses on terms of address English speakers include when we incorporate a person's name when we talk to them or refer to them when they aren't present. **Examples:** "Good morning Kamala, how are you?" "I had a chance to chat with Tony Nitko recently." Our book includes 4 different considerations of how names are approached in ASL. 1. When meeting someone for the first time, each person fingerspells their name AND introduces their sign name, if they have one. 2. Traditionally sign names follow patterns. For us hearing people who do not have parents who are Deaf, we may be given a sign name, if we socialize within the Deaf community enough. It is considered inappropriate for a hearing person to invent their own sign name (or anyone else's for that matter). 3. Sign names are typically used when that person is being referenced and isn't present at the time. When Deaf people chat with someone else Deaf or a hearing person who knows sign, they do not typically use the other persons sign name. Talking to Eric in ASL: "Hey, how you? You look tired." = (in English)= "Hey, Eric, how are you; you look tired?" Because we make eye contact with the person we are addressing when we sign, they know we are talking to them and we do not need to include their name. 4. In general, ASL uses names much less frequently in direct address. ### Getting attention Hearing people get each other's attention by saying a person's name or by saying "excuse me"; "Hello", etc. Deaf people generally use movement, touch, light or vibration to get someone's attention. For us hearing people we need to be respectful when we use these approaches to get a Deaf person's attention. Here are some things to keep in mind for each of these: **Movement:** wave hands/arms **Touch:** shoulder on arm **Light:** flash lights - for whole group - not quickly **Vibration:** stomp floor ### Greetings Greets are handled very similarly by hearing and Deaf people, with any number of statements. Again, most often, hearing people include the person's name they are greeting, and Deaf people typically do not. ### Farewells In Deaf culture greetings, and farewells usually take longer than in hearing culture. This is one way we see cultural approaches differ. Individualist cultures (Hearing Americans) - more of a concern/focus on starting on time. Collectivists cultures (Deaf culture) – importance on sharing background information (i.e. "how's your kids", "Did you ever finish your project?", etc.) Also, prior to COVID-19, it was not unusual for Deaf people to hug each other (as well as hearing people socializing in the Deaf community) during farewells. Most hearing people have someone we hug but it is usually a much smaller group of people and usually it is family or people we know VERY well. It will be interesting to see how the Deaf community may alter farewells as well as other things due to the current pandemic, even when it has abated. ### Indirect questions Indirect questions are a little more formal and polite and English speakers use them when we speak to someone we don't know well or in professional situations. **Example:** "Could you tell me where the bathroom is?" ASL uses very few indirect questions. In ASL, the above sentence might be signed: "BATHROOM WHERE?" Just because this isn't signed as an indirect question, does not mean this lacks formality or politeness. This section also mentions 'Deaf bluntness', aka, 'Deaf blunt'. We have discussed this in class. *Remember; what is nice, mean, rude, socially appropriate/inappropriate to English speakers and members of the Deaf community ARE NOT always the same. This is where we sometimes need to step out from behind our own cultural lens and try to see things from another cultural perspective. When we do this, we may go from experiencing 'Deaf blunt' as hurtful or offensive to having the experience of "oh, that is different". Hopefully, this will allow you to experience this as a taste of another culture rather than a hurtful or offensive experience. One way to cut off communication with someone Deaf is to close your eyes which prevents any further information (through sign language anyway). This would be considered rude (or childish) to someone Deaf so beware. But speaking of eyes or eyesight - a Deaf persons eyes are a precious sense. Things that disrupt eyes or eyesight (or interferes with visual communication) is particularly bothersome to Deaf people. **Examples:** crying, something in your eye, big room where someone Deaf in the back can't see you (stand or elevate yourself), sun or bright light behind you, etc. ### Questions as statements English speakers incorporate these, but they are rare in the Deaf community. ### Rhetorical Questions Rhetorical questions in English: transitions to introduce supporting reasons or details (in class we discussed also using them for sarcasm). Rhetorical questions in ASL are used for three reasons: transition, clarity and emphasis. Do not overuse rhetorical questions in ASL - it's easy to do if you're not careful; and you don't want to do that, do you? (see what I did there!?!) ### Transition Instead of signing 'because', most signers substitute the rhetorical question ‘WHY?', which functions as a transition to further information. **Example:** RECENT SATURDAY, COLLEGE I COME, WHY? DCS CLUB WORKSHOP. ### Clarity Another purpose of rhetorical questions in ASL is for clarity. ASL is usually done from the general to the specific (topic-comment, noun-adjectives, etc.). Sometimes signers will state the topic or noun and follow that with a rhetorical question before delivering the additional information. **Example:** NEXT-YEAR FALL, I PLAN ENTER COLLEGE WHERE? GALLAUDET. ### Emphasis The third way ASL uses rhetorical questions is for emphasis. When a certain piece of information is important, unusual, unexpected, or memorable, signers will usually include a rhetorical question just before the unusual information. This is done to alert the listener that the unusual or memorable part of the story is about to occur. **Example:** NEW MOVIE GOOD, BUT LONG, HOW LONG? THREE-HOUR HALF! Again, do not overuse rhetorical questions in ASL. Before you decide to include one, consider which of the three above reasons you are incorporating it into your signing. **Notes/questions:**