Using Context to Communicate Romanian Sign Language Learners

Using Context to Communicate Romanian Sign Language Learners and their Communication Strategies Becky Melville

What are Communication Strategies(CS)? • “Language devices that can be used to solve communication problems when linguistic resources are lacking, that is, these strategies are used only when a speaker perceives a problem that may cause communication breakdown. ” (Bialystok 1990)

Research with Learners of Romanian Sign Language • Playing a “game” • How will it compare to previous research done with learners of spoken languages?

Different types of CS’s • Reduction/Avoidance • Achievement/Compensatory

Reduction/Avoidance Strategies • Topic Avoidance • Message abandonment • Semantic reduction

Achievement/Compensatory Strategies • Based on First/other Language • Foreignizing • Fingerspelling • Using words from other languages • Specifically other sign languages • Voicing • Other • Repetition • Mime

Achievement/Compensatory Strategies (cont. ) • Using Target Language • Circumlocution • Lexical signs vs. Classifiers • Substitution • “Faith” instead of “trust” • Using examples • “Guess” on a multiple choice test • Personal knowledge • “Surprise” baby shower • Connect to current situation • Pointing to things in the room • Comparison • Optimistic vs Pessimistic • Categories • List for “weather” • Clarify meaning • “Don’t feel like” • Clarify in another context • “Now, the weather is sunny. ”

Findings • Used mostly target-language based strategies, regardless of ability in the language • Personal examples were used a lot– knowing the person you’re talking to really helps in communication • Learners were thinking about the knowledge that the other person had, so they could say something that would be easy to catch on to/understand

Why is it important to learn about CSs? • First language CSs do not translate to second language CSs • Having a wider “toolbox” of CSs will help you communicate more easily • It’s important to be aware of the CSs you use and how they work for you (Rodriguez et al. 2012)

Sources • Bialystok, Ellen. 1990. Communication Strategies: A Psychological Analysis of Second-Language Use (Applied Linguistics Series). Vol. 24. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell. • Rodriguez Cervantes, Carmen A. & Ruth Roux Rodriguez. 2012. The Use of Communication Strategies in the Beginner EFL Classroom. Gist Education and Learning Research Journal 6. 111– 128. • Wang, Dianjian, Hongling Lai & Michael Leslie. 2015. Chinese English Learners’ Strategic Competence. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 44. 701– 714.