Most recents (7)

@c_borstell

On the topic of #NoTalkTISLR started at #TISLR13 (a thread)...

I'm a hearing linguist. "Why did you get into sign languages?" is a question I get. Answer: I wanted to do linguistics, went to Stockholm Uni, got exposed to Swedish SL at the dept, got curious, enrolled in a class, got hooked, and continued parallel linguistics + sign language.

I took my first SSL class in 2007, just a tiny intro, more about structure than learning how to sign. A year later, I enrolled in a full-time class, took two semesters. After that, I was allowed to join a SL linguistics class, taught fully in SSL. I was the only hearing student.

Read 18 tweets

Calle Börstell

@c_borstell

Very excited about Hope Morgan et al.'s talk on phonological (wiggle-fingers) complexity and frequency distribution! Relevant to much of my own work! #TISLR13

Phonological complexity can be defined by 1) markedness (frequency/economy) and 2) structure (quantity).

E.g.:
Some handshapes are easier (1). Two-handed signs with simultaneous movements have more structure (2).
#TISLR13

Research question: is there a maximum limit of complexity that can be packed into a sign? #TISLR13

Read 9 tweets

Calle Börstell

@c_borstell

Now exciting presentation by @AnneliesKusters, @jordanfenlonlx & @foundinblank on convergence in international sign! #TISLR13

Very relevant to current work at @SLL_Radboud!

International Sign is sometimes used in formal, more conventionalized settings (conferences, etc), but here the authors did a longitudinal study at Frontrunners, looking at language attitude and lexical convergence over time! #TISLR13

So relevant for emergence and creolists too!

By the end of the Frontrunners program, the number of unique lexical signs (same item list in the beginning and end of the program) had decreased, pointing to convergence. #TISLR13

Read 7 tweets

Calle Börstell

@c_borstell

@freya_watkins_ on comprehension of signs depending on angles. Especially L2 signers have a harder task mentally rotating signs perceived from an angle (as opposed to front facing).
#TISLR13

I'm wondering if mouthing plays a role. 👄👀

In a lexical naming task, scores for different angle representations were correlated with scores on a general mental rotation task. #TISLR13

Performance depends on frequency: you perform better with angles you were exposed to the most (yay frequency effects in language). Mental rotation a crucial skill that perhaps needs explicit training. #TISLR13

Read 4 tweets

Adam Stone

@foundinblank

Sign language researchers, students, and geeks worldwide are traveling to Hamburg this week for #TISLR13 (tislr.de). In 2022, #TISLR14 will be in Osaka, and there'll be bids to host #TISLR15 in 2025.

Let's have a conversation about TISLR's carbon footprint? 🌍

Discussions about our individual and aggregate contributions to the climate emergency has changed *fast* in just the past several months. There's no reason to think the pace of change, awareness-raising, or pure panic is going to slow down between now and 2022.

It's conceivable that by 2022 that the idea of hundreds of researchers flying to Japan on carbon-spewing jets in order to share scientific research could be considered morally abhorrent.

So, at the upcoming #TISLR13 in Hamburg, let's get ahead of the conversation. 🙋‍♂️

Read 20 tweets

Calle Börstell

@c_borstell

3rd keynote of the day: Deanna Gagne from @LingdeptGU on bimodal bilingualism. #LingCologne

Code-blending is the simultaneous productions of (aspects of) an utterance in sign and speech.

This is not the same as SimCom🚫, but something that can reveal the structure of and interaction between languages. #LingCologne

But what happens if one of the two languages still has an emerging grammar — as in bimodals using Nicaraguan Sign Language? #LingCologne