It's Not What You Sign, It's How You Sign It: Politeness in American Sign Language

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments ix I am pleased to acknowledge the support and guidance of the many people who have made this research and the publication of this book possible. Numerous people have been instrumental in my work and have helped shape my understanding of cross-cultural communication and linguistic inquiry. I am thankful for my bilingual (ASL/English) family who initiated my journey into the world of language study. I want to thank my Deaf parents, Raymond and Dorothy Hoza, and my two Deaf siblings , Larry and Mike, for their gift of ASL and the Deaf world. Also, I wish to thank my hearing siblings, Peggy, Linda, Don, Pat, and Tim, for sharing this bilingual/bicultural ride with me and for deepening my awareness and appreciation of life as a bilingual/bicultural person. My professional thinking has been shaped by too many people to list here. However, I do want to acknowledge the contributions and help from the many Deaf people, interpreters, and linguists whom it has been my pleasure to know over the years. In particular, I am indebted to Dr. Cathy O’Connor at Boston University for her years of support and guidance, and for sharing her expertise in the field of sociolinguistics. She largely informed my understanding of linguistic politeness, and her mentorship and guidance were crucial to finetuning the research design and the implementation of the study. I am also grateful for the collegiality, support, and academic direction I received during my stint with the Boston University ASL Linguistics Project—especially Dr. Carol Neidle and Dr. Ben Bahan—for what they taught me about strict adherence to linguistic inquiry. I would also like to thank Daniel Roush for sharing his master’s thesis with me. In particular, his discovery of the association between x Acknowledgments nonmanual modifiers and politeness allowed me to recognize and focus on this aspect of ASL. The participants in the study gave willingly of their time, and although they will remain anonymous, their contributions are much appreciated and I whole-heartedly thank them for their participation in the study. There have been hundreds of Deaf and hearing people with whom I have discussed this work, and I am indebted to their discussions and critiques of this work. I want to thank Carol Zurek for allowing me to take pictures of her producing the nonmanual modifiers and signs for the photographs that appear in the book. I also want to thank the wonderful staff at Gallaudet University Press who worked diligently on editing the manuscript and preparing it for publication. The book is dedicated to my immediate family for their loving support and encouragement. Their inquisitiveness and interest helped me stay motivated to see this book through publication. IT’S NOT WHAT YOU SIGN, IT’S HOW YOU SIGN IT ...