Combining data-driven MT systems for improved sign language translation

In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of combining two data-driven machine translation (MT) systems for the translation of sign languages (SLs). We take the MT systems of two prominent data-driven research groups, the MaTrEx system developed at DCU and the Statistical Machine Translation (SMT) system developed at RWTH Aachen University, and apply their respective approaches to the task of translating Irish Sign Language and German Sign Language into English and German. In a set of experiments supported by automatic evaluation results, we show that there is a definite value to the prospective merging of MaTrEx’s Example-Based MT chunks and distortion limit increase with RWTH’s constraint reordering

Zeichensprache und erfolgreiche bilinguale Entwicklung bei sprachbehinderten Kindern

This paper reviews research on language development of deaf children, comparing those who have early access to natural sign language with those who do not. Early learning of sign language does not create concerns for the child\u27s development of other languages, speech, reading, or other cognitive skills. In fact, it can contribute directly to establishment of more of the high-level skills needed for successful bilingual development. The global benefit of learning a sign language as a first language is that in the resulting bilingual communicative setting, teachers and learners can take advantage of one language to assist in acquiring the other and in the transfer of general knowledge. As part of this discussion, English and ASL are compared as representatives of spoken and signed natural languages to provide explicit examples of their similarities and differences.Rad prikazuje istraživanja o jezičnom razvoju gluhe djece, uspoređujući onu koja se rano počinju sporazumijevati znakovima i onu koja to ne čine. Rano učenje znakovnog jezika ne stvara djetetu teškoće u svladavanju drugih jezika, govoru, čitanju ili drugim kognitivnim vještinama. Naprotiv, ono može izravno pridonijeti stvaranju većega broja razvijenih vještina potrebnih za uspješan dvojezični razvoj. Opća korist učenja znakovnoga jezika kao prvog jezika je ta da u proizlazećem dvojezičnom komunikacijskom okružju učitelji i učenici mogu iskoristiti jedan jezik koji će pomoći pri usvajanju drugoga te potaknuti prijenos općega znanja. U okviru ove rasprave, autorica uspoređuje engleski jezik i ASL (američki znakovni jezik) kao predstavnike govornoga i znakovnoga prirodnog jezika, kako bi dala jasne primjere njihovih sličnosti i razlika.Dieser Artikel präsentiert eine Untersuchung über die Entwicklung sprachbehinderter Kinder. Es geht konkret um einen Vergleich zwischen Kindern, die sich früh mit dem Gebrauch der Zeichensprache vertraut machen, und solchen, die sich auf andere Weise verständigen. Der frühe Erwerb der Zeichensprache bereitet dem Kind keinerlei Schwierigkeiten beim Erwerb anderer Sprachen, beim Sprechen, Lesen oder bei anderen kognitiven Fähigkeiten. Im Gegenteil: Die Beherrschung der Zeichensprache kann unmittelbar zur Entwicklung einer größeren Zahl von Fähigkeiten beitragen, die die Voraussetzung für eine erfolgreiche bilinguale Entwicklung des Kindes sind. Der allgemeine Nutzen vom Erwerb der Zeichensprache als der ersten Sprache besteht darin, dass in dem sich ergebenden zweisprachigen Kommunikationsumfeld Lehrer und Schüler die erste Sprache als Lernstütze beim Erwerb der zweiten Sprache verwenden und so außerdem die Vermittlung von allgemeinen Kenntnissen anregen können. Der Verfasser des Artikels stellt einen Vergleich zwischen dem Englischen und der Amerikanischen Zeichensprache (ASL) an, welche zum einen die gesprochene und zum anderen eine natürliche Zeichensprache darstellen, und führt klare Beispiele zum Beleg ihrer Ähnlichkeiten und Unterschiede an

Shared Reading Activities: A Recommendation For Deaf Children

There should be a focus on fun in shared reading activities with preschoolers in order to prepare them for later literacy, particularly those at risk of a poor foundation in a first language (L1), including deaf children (here “deaf” covers hard of hearing, as well). We look at how shared reading activities (SRAs) develop pre-literacy skills and describe bilingual-bimodal ebooks aimed purely at producing enjoyment, so families will engage in SRAs frequently

Variations in phonological working memory: linking early language experiences and language learning outcomes

In order to build complex language from perceptual input, children must have access to a powerful information processing system that can analyze, store, and use regularities in the signal to which the child is exposed. In this article, we propose that one of the most important parts of this underlying machinery is the linked set of cognitive and language processing components that comprise the child's developing working memory (WM). To examine this hypothesis, we explore how variations in the timing, quality, and quantity of language input during the earliest stages of development are related to variations in WM, especially phonological WM (PWM), and in turn language learning outcomes. In order to tease apart the relationships between early language experience, WM, and language development, we review research findings from studies of groups of language learners who clearly differ with respect to these aspects of input. Specifically, we consider the development of PWM in children with delayed exposure to language, that is, children born profoundly deaf and exposed to oral language following cochlear implantation and internationally adopted children who have delayed exposed to the adoption language; children who experience impoverished language input, that is, children who experience early bouts of otitis media and signing deaf children born to nonsigning hearing parents; and children with enriched early language input, that is, simultaneous bilinguals and second language learners

Emerging Ecology of a Sign Bilingualism and Co-enrollment Classroom: a Qualitative Analysis

This study documents the views and attitudes of stakeholders of the Hong Kong’s Sign Bilingualism and Co-enrollment (SLCO) Education Programme established in 2006, to identify an emerging ecology based on the SLCO classrooms in a primary school in which deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) as well as hearing participants, teachers and students alike, collaborated to create an inclusive culture in the school environment. Qualitative data were collected using two focus group discussions, each with six DHH students and six hearing students, and individual interviews with eleven parents of DHH and hearing students and six Deaf and hearing teachers. The data generated seven themes: positive impacts of sign language (i.e. HKSL), translanguaging, differences in English and Chinese achievement, positive attitudes towards co-enrollment, increase in students’ self-confidence, friendship and equal partnership, and importance and challenges of co-planning. Analysing these themes within the framework of evaluating inclusive education along the parameters of participation, achievement, and value of person as advanced in Anderson, Boyle and Deppeler (2014), we identified six dimensions to characterise the inclusive ecology of the SLCO classroom

Deaf Education in Early Childhood: Bilingual approaches in Mainland China from 1996-2004

This study investigates Sign Bilingual Education experimental projects introduced by Non Governmental Organizations for deaf children in their early childhood in six sites in five cities in Mainland China from 1996 to 2004. It focuses on the ways in which those involved – above all those in the NGOs – discussed and debated the principles and issues on the one hand and the practices and intended outcomes on the other. Three guiding research questions were formulated after the study of existing related literature: 1) What were the perspectives and claims of the advocators and the opponents of Chinese Sign Bilingual Education (SBE)? 2) What was the reality of the models of SBE seen through the eyes of those responsible? 3) What were the characteristics of the models? Ethnographic methods were used in all six experimental sites including interviews, classrooms observations, and archive studies, during a period from autumn 2003 to summer 2008. Data were analysed using a continuous question and comparison method to establish themes and issues which were common to the many participants and different experiments and sites in this China Case. The findings are presented in a taxonomy format on the basis of what the Sign Bilingual Education insiders perceived and presented. This taxonomy covers 1) the aims, the perspectives, the claims and the common propositions of Chinese Sign Bilingual Education organizers; 2) the characteristics of Chinese Sign Bilingual Education models; 3) the common claims of successful outcomes of the Sign Bilingual Education models; 4) the two types of Sign Bilingual Education models: Two-plus-two model for rural area and Two-plus-four model for urban area. The data suggest Sign Bilingual Education models in mainland China in the period under consideration, are rights-oriented models, developmental models, and tools for the reform of deaf education. A ‘Two-plus-four model’ has been developed which is referred to as a strong bilingual/ weak bicultural Sign Bilingual Education model

Lost in translation: the problems of using mainstream MT evaluation metrics for sign language translation

In this paper we consider the problems of applying corpus-based techniques to minority languages that are neither politically recognised nor have a formally accepted writing system, namely sign languages. We discuss the adoption of an annotated form of sign language data as a suitable corpus for the development of a data-driven machine translation (MT) system, and deal with issues that arise from its use. Useful software tools that facilitate easy annotation of video data are also discussed. Furthermore, we address the problems of using traditional MT evaluation metrics for sign language translation. Based on the candidate translations produced from our example-based machine translation system, we discuss why standard metrics fall short of providing an accurate evaluation and suggest more suitable evaluation methods

A Case Study of the Preventing Academic Failure Orton-Gillingham Approach With Five Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Using the Mediating Tool of Cued Speech

Struggling deaf readers, like struggling readers with dyslexia, share similarities in their difficulty with phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Orton-Gillingham instruction is used to remediate these difficulties among hearing readers, but data is needed on its effectiveness with deaf students. Five subjects, who were severely deaf or hard of hearing, participated in a year long case study analyzing the impact of an Orton-Gillingham approach, supported with Cued Speech, on the development of their reading skills. Participants ranged from kindergarten to Grade 5, had additional learning, language, and socioeconomic challenges, and were mainstreamed in a public school district. Data were obtained in the fall, winter, and spring of one academic year from assessments (DRA, DIBELS, PAF), interviews with classroom teachers, and field notes. Results demonstrated that all five students made a year of growth, or more, on their reading achievement, similarly to expected yearly progress of students without disabilities. Results indicated that Orton-Gillingham instruction, supported with Cued Speech, may mitigate reading challenges among severely deaf or hard of hearing students in the mainstream. Additional studies are needed to verify the results in different educational settings