M.A. Theses in Linguistics at the University of North Dakota (Abstracts)

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Hopkins, Jason 2013
Toward a further understanding of the extensibility of sign languages

Sign language video recordings have limited extensibility when compared with live,
face-to-face communication by signers. In an effort to improve the extensibility of video
recordings this study explores the possibility of leveraging a common meaning
negotiation technique, depictional signing, to increase understanding of recorded texts. In
an effort to gauge the understanding of depictional signing compared to lexical signing a
Recorded Text Test was devised using two texts, one with a high number of visual
depictions, the other with a high number of lexical signs. While a comparison of the
results of the two tests did not substantiate the hypothesis for reasons that appear to have
introduced spurious results, the comparisons of the two styles of signing within each
story did confirm the hypothesis.

Download thesis from http://arts-sciences.und.edu/summer-institute-of-linguistics/theses/_files/docs/2013-hopkins-jason.pdf