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Linguistic Encoding and Adult-Child Communication Harley Hamilton During interpersonal communication, short-term memory appears to function as a central or on-line processor for information received or expressed by an individual. Of particular interest are the linguistic encoding bases used in short-term memory by deaf subjects; these bases appear to be cherologically or sign-based for signs and printed information. Studies of recall performance (Bellugi & Siple, 1974; Klima & Bellugi, 1979; Hamilton, 1984b; Shand, 1982), perception of signs (Grosjean, Teuber, & Lane, 1979; Hamilton, 1984a; Shand, 1982), and intrusion errors made in the experimental setting and during spontaneous conversation (Bellugi & Siple, 1974; Hamilton, 1984b; Newkirk, Klima, Pederson, & Bellugi, 1980) have been used as the bases for this claim. The intrusion error data are perhaps most important for educators of deaf students. These intrusion errors, termed slips of the hand when they are expressive and slips of the eye when they are receptive, are commonplace occurrences in human communications. They are also a source of some teacher-child miscommunication. When a slip occurs, information has been erroneously expressed or received. For example, upon seeing a carrot, an ll-year-old responded by signing, "Butterfly eat carrot." This response appears to be odd until one considers that the local signs for butterfly and rabbit differ only in handshape. They are considered a minimal pair because they differ in only one aspect. This error can then be readily explained as a slip of the hand. A slip of the eye also causes confusion; for instance, a teacher asked a child, "Who sleeps in your room?" using signs for each word spoken. The child answered, "blue," which again appears to be a rather odd response. However, if this response is analyzed from a perceptual point of view, a slip of the eye readily explains it. By combining the location and movement of the sign for who (mouth/wiggle) and the initial handshape of the sign for sleep (S-hand) the sign color is formed. The question asked by the teacher then becomes "Colors in your room?" to which blue is an appropriate answer. Young deaf children are confronted with many similarly produced signs in their everyday activities. For example, in a preschool classroom or at home there is usually an abundance of cooking and play activities. The children, who are new to signs, are exposed during a cooking activity to such signs as egg, knife, salt, spoon, soup, butter, and sit, which are all minimal pairs. While some misunderstandings may be due to the child's lack of vocabulary knowledge, others may be due to a misreading or misproduction of a sign. For example, the adult asks the child to get butter, and the child returns with soup or a spoon. By realizing that signs are perceived and encoded based on sign parameters rather than on spoken parameters, teachers will be able to recognize more quickly a possible source for a child's The complete version of this paper is available in microfiche or hard copy from ERIC Document Reproduction Service. Ask for Document No. ED 247 713. 91 Issues in Cognition and Language Development misunderstanding and then correct it. Children are more likely to confuse signs such as egg and knife, which differ only in movement, than they are to confuse egg and leg where the spoken English is similar but the signs differ greatly. By accepting that signs are perceived and produced based on sign parameters , educators can then address the development of sign language perception. A great deal of research has been done on auditory perceptual skills (Ling, 1976; Sanders, 1971), yet the sign perceptual skills of young deaf children have not been studied until recently (Hamilton, 1984a). It is first necessary for research to delineate this area of language development so that education will have developmental data on which to base any program designed to help children develop their sign perceptual skills. An immediate implication for teaching methodology is that teachers may wish to either maximize or minimize the differences between signs for items they present. For example, when working on color recognition with the children, the teacher may wish to contrast items that are blue and red (these color signs differ greatly), or blue and yellow (these color signs differ minimally). Research must then address the question, Is planned presentation or planned avoidance of minimal pairs of signs the better teaching strategy? Also, if one strategy is better, is it better for all learners at all times, or is it related to...

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