Due 15 January/ June at 11:59 PM HOL time.
Please send your answers in one email to hol.signlanguage@gmail.com and put "Sign Language - Term Project - HOL Name" in the subject line. Also remember to include your HOL name and your House in the body of your email.
Option 1 - Research (30 points)
There are several different topics to choose from for this option.
Feel free to drop me a line if there is another topic that interests you.
Minimum 300 words. Don't forget to cite your sources.
Option A
There are numerous other topics relating to sign language, both with regards to the linguistics side and more generally. Choose one of the topics below and do some research on it. You can either choose to discuss the topic broadly or focus on one or several aspects of that particular topic. Also include some examples as well.
- sign language semantics
- story telling and/or poetry in sign language
- sign language pragmatics
- sign language discourse analysis
- sign language notation
- sign language sociolinguistics
- sign language psycholinguistics
- sign names
Option B
Alternatively, you can choose to focus on one of the following linguists and their contribution to sign language or sign language linguistics. In the case of Stokoe or Liddell and Johnson, please do not repeat information that is already mentioned in the lessons.
- Alexander Bell
- Scott Liddell and Robert Johnson
- Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet
- Wendy Sandler
- William Stokoe
Option C
While having a hearing loss or being deaf can be challenging to live with, there are inspiring stories out there of people who have managed to overcome this and have gone on to achieve great things.
Helen Keller is probably one of the most famous examples of someone who has managed to do exactly this.
Do some research about someone else who also managed to overcome their deafness.
Option 2 - Application (30 points)
This integrates most of what was covered in each of the lessons.
You can either put together a made up dialogue between two people or you can tell me about a particular topic using sign language (using glosses and links to the relevant images or videos). In either case, include a description of non-manual signals or how some of the signs may have been modified. Also include a transcription in English.
Some ideas for topics include:
- family
- school/university/work
- interests
- sports
- hobbies
- country/culture
If you choose to do a dialogue, I'd like to request that each person in the dialogue has a minimum of 5 turns. If you choose to describe something instead, please include 10 sentences/utterances.
Also, note that I'm not necessarily looking to see whether or not you have used the correct grammar, but rather that you have at least put some effort into it.