DCAL News http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-newsviewer/rss Sonja Van Praag 2012-02-15T12:48:03Z DCAL Newsletter 12 available http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/newsletter12 Rosemary J Stamp 2013-05-20T21:33:32Z DCAL Newsletter 11 available in BSL http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/newsletter For the BSL version: Rosemary J Stamp 2013-05-11T17:24:58Z 'What do you think the girl wants from Father Christmas?' Theory of Mind research with deaf infants http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/story12 DCAL Deputy Director, Professor Gary Morgan, and other colleagues from DCAL and City University London have been working with researchers from the University of Sheffield, University of Trento and University of Gothenburg, on a joint project investigating early interaction involving British and Swedish hearing parents and their deaf and hearing 2-3 year old children. This research is the first to show that conversational input about mental states directed towards very young deaf children differs significantly in those areas of interaction thought to be crucial for Theory of Mind (ToM) development. ToM is the reasoning that enables us to reflect on the mental states of others. Importantly it contributes to sophisticated forms of human interaction and provides a basis for understanding others’ actions and dispositions. Rosemary J Stamp 2013-05-11T17:08:32Z Read my lips - Advances in speechreading research with deaf children http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/story11 Speechreading is the term used by researchers to refer to lipreading . ‘Speechreading’ is preferred to ‘lipreading’ because lots of information is used from all of the face, not just the lips, when you watch someone speak. For deaf people, this can be their primary route to speech information. Hearing people also make great use of visual speech, although they often don’t realize it. If you think of talking to someone in a noisy bar, a hearing person is much more likely to understand a person if they can be seen. This is where the old joke ‘I can’t hear you without my glasses on’ comes from. Rosemary J Stamp 2013-05-11T16:58:46Z Early sign language exposure benefits deaf children http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/story10 According to new research, acquiring sign language from an early age in addition to spoken or written language has significant benefits for deaf children. Rosemary J Stamp 2013-05-11T16:55:34Z Deaf Children and Development http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/story9 A considerable amount of DCAL’s work focuses on research that is improving outcomes for deaf children. DCAL explores how deaf children acquire and use language, as well as how their brains develop. Using this information DCAL can help the parents of deaf children and people who work with deaf children develop tools and strategies to ensure that the children get the best start in life. On the following pages you can read more about some of DCAL’s current research relating to deaf children and development. Rosemary J Stamp 2013-05-11T16:53:26Z Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research Conference 2013 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/story8 Rosemary J Stamp 2013-05-11T16:48:46Z DCAL research on voice hallucinations features in the Lancet http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/story7 DCAL’s Dr. Joanna Atkinson’s research into voice hallucinations in deaf people with psychosis was highlighted in a Lancet editorial published on 12 March 2012. The editorial was a commentary on a wider review by the journal on the mental health of deaf people. For more information on the research go to: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/research/research-projects/schizophrenia Rosemary J Stamp 2013-05-11T16:44:36Z DCAL's advocacy work with UK politicians http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/story6 As part of DCAL’s outreach programme to people involved in politics, Stephen Lloyd MP, Liberal Democrat MP for Eastbourne, visited DCAL on 12 June 2012 to find out more about its research. During his visit DCAL’s Deputy Director, Professor Gary Morgan and Co-Director Dr Mairéad MacSweeney gave a presentation on deaf children’s development. Stephen is particularly interested in DCAL’s work, having been hard of hearing from childhood. Amongst other present commitments he is one of the Vice Chairs of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Deafness. Rosemary J Stamp 2013-05-11T16:38:31Z Ground breaking deaf MEP visits DCAL http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/story5 Dr Ádám Kósa, MEP visited DCAL on Thursday 8 March 2012 and had the opportunity to meet with UCL Vice Provost (International) Professor Michael Worton, DCAL Director Professor Bencie Woll and DCAL researcher Robert Adam. Born in Budapest of Deaf parents, Dr Kósa  holds a unique position in the European Parliament, having been elected as its first ever Deaf Member in June 2009. Trained as a lawyer, his first language is Magyar Jelnyelv (Hungarian Sign Language). He is also fluent in Hungarian and English. Rosemary J Stamp 2013-05-11T16:36:01Z ESRC Future Leader Fellowships for DCAL researchers http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/story4 Two DCAL associates, Dr David Vinson (UCL Cognitive Perceptual & Brain Sciences) and Dr Evelyne Mercure (UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience) have been awarded Future Leader Fellowships by the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) from a total of 54 awards made nationally. The scheme aims to support early career social scientists by funding research projects, and providing researchers with an opportunity to develop the skills and experience they need to become leaders in their field. Rosemary J Stamp 2013-05-11T16:28:57Z DCAL director receives prestigious award http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/story3 DCAL Director Bencie Woll is amongst 38 new academics elected to Fellowships of the British Academy at their 19 July 2012 Annual General Meeting. The British Academy is the equivalent of the Royal Society, but for research in the humanities and social sciences. Bencie’s election is a significant achievement, being the first researcher in the field of Deaf Studies to receive this honour. Rosemary J Stamp 2013-05-11T16:26:47Z British Deaf Association honours DCAL researcher http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/story2 Frances Elton, Coordinator of Sign Language and Deaf Studies at UCL and associate member of DCAL, was awarded the British Deaf Association (BDA)’s Teaching of BSL (Sign Linguistics) Award at the BDA’s “Francis Maginn” Grand Banquet Celebration held at The Holiday Inn Bloomsbury Hotel in London on Sunday 18 March 2012. Rosemary J Stamp 2013-05-11T16:24:26Z DCAL Nominated for the Signature Organisation of the Year Award http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/story1 Staff from DCAL have been recognised for their outstanding contribution to deaf communication with a nomination for the 2012 Signature Award for the Organisation of the Year. Rosemary J Stamp 2013-05-11T16:16:15Z TISLR 11 abstracts now available http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/programme Rosemary J Stamp 2013-04-22T20:11:39Z DCAL and AoHL call for the National Dementia Strategy for England to be reviewed to ensure that funding is provided to meet the needs of people who are deaf or have hearing loss and also have dementia http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/joining-up DCAL and AoHL publish joint report and call for the National Dementia Strategy for England to be reviewed to ensure that funding is provided to meet the needs of people who are deaf or have hearing loss and also have dementia Rosemary J Stamp 2013-04-16T19:10:31Z BSL Grammaticality Judgement paper ranked in Top 25 Hottest Articles http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/gram-judge-paper Cormier, Schembri, Vinson & Orfanidou (2012) is ranked number 5 in ScienceDirect's list of Top 25 Hottest Articles for the journal Cognition, and number 25 for all Elsevier journals within the Arts and Humanities, based on downloads between October and December 2012. Rosemary J Stamp 2013-03-01T17:58:49Z New MSc in Language Sciences with specialisation in Sign Language Studies NOW RECRUITING for2013/2014 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/msc-recruiting Rosemary J Stamp 2013-03-01T17:56:26Z Professor Adam Kendon to become Honorary Emeritus Professor and DCAL Associate http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/kendon Rosemary J Stamp 2013-02-17T17:51:01Z Neuroscience: How the brain adapts to deafness http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/neuroscience Rosemary J Stamp 2013-02-12T19:36:05Z Programme for TISLR 2013 available on the webpage NOW! http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/tislr-programme Rosemary J Stamp 2013-02-09T19:30:57Z NDCS offering free two-day training courses to utilise Family Sign Language Toolkit http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/ndcs Rosemary J Stamp 2013-01-29T20:09:17Z Researchers in Language and Cognition present their work at a conference in Lisbon http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/lisbon-conf Rosemary J Stamp 2013-01-29T20:03:56Z New MSc in Language Sciences with specialisation in Sign Language Studies: NOW RECRUITING for 2013/2014 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/msc Rosemary J Stamp 2013-01-26T21:17:03Z Robert Adam is the first person in the UK to be both a registered Interpreter and a registered Translator on the NRCPD http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/ra Rosemary J Stamp 2013-01-12T13:59:10Z The Guardian publishes correction about BSL Corpus Project story http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/correction After months of correspondence between DCAL and editors at The Guardian, the newspaper has finally published a correction about the story from 8 October 2012 about politically correct signs in BSL that was misleading in its implied connections with the BSL Corpus Project. Rosemary J Stamp 2012-12-28T16:46:57Z Society Now features an article by researcher Dr Joanna Atkinson 'Voices inside my head' http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/society The Autumn 2012 issue of Society Now, an ERSC publication highlighting Research Making an Impact, features an article by DCAL researcher Dr Joanna Atkinson about voice hallucinations in deaf people, "Voices inside my head". Rosemary J Stamp 2012-11-16T05:47:32Z The Association for Physiological Sciences publishes DCAL research in Psychological Science http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/aps Date: 14 th November, 2012 Rosemary J Stamp 2012-11-14T06:04:03Z New leaflet about research targeted at the older deaf community http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/leaflet Rosemary J Stamp 2012-11-07T21:48:06Z DCAL responds to Harry Knoors weblog http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/harry In June 2012, Harry Knoors (Professor in Deaf Education, Radboud University Nijmegen) blogged about research recently published by DCAL on age of acquisition effects in BSL. The original blog was in Dutch; an English translation is below. Rosemary J Stamp 2012-11-06T09:07:23Z New DCAL-associated research project - Describing sociolinguistic variation in verb directionality in British Sign Language: A corpus-based study, funded by ESRC Secondary Data Analysis Initiative http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/directional Rosemary J Stamp 2012-10-27T23:49:33Z See Hear item on Deaf with dementia http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/seehear-dementia Watch the item on iplayer: Rosemary J Stamp 2012-10-25T05:20:52Z DCAL Newsletter October 2012 now available! http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/newsletter11 Rosemary J Stamp 2012-10-09T20:09:44Z DCAL's Response to Guardian article "Signs of the times: Deaf community minds its language" http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/guardian Response to the following article published by The Guardian on October 8th 2012: Rosemary J Stamp 2012-10-08T18:53:37Z Outreach activity at Frank Barnes School for Deaf Children http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/frankbarnes On Thursday 4 October, Frank Barnes School for Deaf Children will be the setting for a one-day Halloween workshop, organised by the Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre at UCL. With activities such as costume-making, pumpkin-carving, biscuit-decorating, face-painting and games in British Sign Language (BSL), the event is set to welcome the Halloween season in style. Rosemary J Stamp 2012-10-08T18:41:52Z See Hear Feature Deaf with Dementia Project October 17th http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/seehear Rosemary J Stamp 2012-09-23T21:17:33Z Deaf Children Development Conference blog launched http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/dcdc Rosemary J Stamp 2012-09-20T06:14:13Z Early sign language exposure benefits deaf children http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/early-sign-expos According to new research, acquiring sign language from an early age in addition to spoken or written language has significant benefits for deaf children. Rosemary J Stamp 2012-07-04T16:41:56Z New DCAL Briefing Sheet available on Dementia http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/briefing-dwd Rosemary J Stamp 2012-05-23T14:56:02Z Deaf Children's Development Conference to take place on September 11th 2012 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/deaf-child-conf Rosemary J Stamp 2012-05-15T08:55:19Z Frances Elton gets BDA award in recognition of her contribution to BSL and Sign Linguistics teaching http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/frances-award BSL Teacher Award from BDA Rosemary J Stamp 2012-05-14T14:47:49Z BSL Grammaticality Judgement Task Paper accepted for publication in journal Cognition http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/cognition To download the paper, please click on the following link: Rosemary J Stamp 2012-04-20T12:19:36Z BSL Corpus Project featured on The Hub http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/hub Rosemary J Stamp 2012-04-05T17:40:30Z DCAL research features in Lancet editorial http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/lancet Dr. Joanna Atkinson’s research into voice hallucinations in deaf people with psychosis was highlighted in an editorial  of the Lancet published on 12 March 2012 . The editorial was a commentary on a wider review by the journal on the mental health of deaf people. The editorial focused on issues relating to the need to provide flexible and responsive services to deaf people. Dr. Joanna Atkinson’s research was used as an example to show how the appropriate diagnosis of schizophrenia amongst deaf sign language users can be improved through clinicians taking account of the latest academic work . The editorial also cited the consequences of often poor communication between deaf patients and health professionals.    For more information Dr. Joanna Atkinson’s research please visit the following webpage. Rosemary J Stamp 2012-03-20T12:12:41Z Ground breaking Deaf politician to visit DCAL  http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/adam-kosa-visit DCAL is pleased to announce that Dr Ádám Kósa MEP will be visiting the ESRC funded research centre on 8th March 2012. Dr Ádám Kósa holds a unique position in the European Parliament, having been elected as its first-ever Deaf Member on 7th June, 2009. Dr Ádám Kósa was born in Budapest of Deaf parents and Magyar Jelnyelv (Hungarian Sign Language) is his first language.He is also fluent in Hungarian and English. Before entering the European parliament Dr Kósa trained as a lawyer and was president of SINOSZ (the national Hungarian organisation representing Deaf and Hard of Hearing people). Bencie Woll Director, DCAL Research Centre said: "We are delighted to welcome Dr Kósa to DCAL. As a MEP he has focused a great deal of attention on the status of sign languages in Europe. In 2010 Dr Kósa hosted a conference at the European Parliament which resulted in the Brussels Declaration on Sign Languages in the European Union. The declaration set out principles through which sign language legislation can be brought forward right across the EU." Dr Ádám Kósa will use the visit to DCAL to meet with representatives of Deaf organisations. He will also be speaking at 4pm in the DCAL library about his work as a Deaf MEP and the status of sign languages in Europe.    This will be a RSVP-only event for space and catering purposes. The event is however open to individuals and organizations with an interest in the work of Dr Kósa and the status of sign languages in Europe. Rosemary J Stamp 2012-03-16T16:50:03Z Get involved in DCAL's research! http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/get-involved Inspired by DCAL’s work? Would you like to get involved in our research projects into sign linguistics, psychology and neuroscience, and help in a practical way? Rosemary J Stamp 2012-02-26T18:10:10Z Sharing Research - Iconicity and Embodiment on Tour http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/iconicity DCAL Co-Director Professor Gabriella Vigliocco, who is also Professor of the Psychology of Language in the Department of Cognitive, Perceptual and Brain Sciences at University College London, and Director of the Language and Cognition Laboratory at University College London, has been able to take her research work on iconicity and embodiment in language to a wide range of audiences over several months - to international academic audiences at a number of conferences and to the wider community via contributing to a fascinating article in New Scientist magazine published in August 2011 by David Robson, Biology Features Editor. The idea for the article came about after he read the paper by Pamela Perniss, Robin Thompson and Gabriella Vigliocco, published in Frontiers in Psychology (2010) discussing iconicity in signed and spoken languages. Rosemary J Stamp 2012-02-26T18:07:09Z DCAL working with the Cognitive Disorders Clinic http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/cdc Do you know a Deaf British Sign Language (BSL) user who has developed memory or thinking problems? Appointments are now being offered for Deaf patients at a top UK neurology hospital. Rosemary J Stamp 2012-02-26T18:01:04Z Update on Deaf with Dementia Project http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/dementia A unique project working to improve life for Deaf people with dementia Regular DCAL newsletter readers will be familiar to some extent with the Deaf with Dementia (DwD) research project that we reported on in the Spring and Autumn 2010 newsletters. This unique joint project which started in April 2010 (and will finish in December 2012) aims to improve early diagnosis and management among Deaf people who use British Sign Language (BSL). It is funded by the Alzheimer’s Society, and is a partnership between the University of Manchester, University College London (UCL), City University London and RAD (Royal Association for Deaf People). DCAL researchers are involved from UCL, as well as DCAL associates based at City University London. The project is led by the University of Manchester. This research study is the first of its kind anywhere in the world. The team that is carrying it out encompass both Deaf and hearing researchers, and a wide range of professional backgrounds (including social work, speech and language therapy and clinical psychology) as well as multi-disciplinary academic excellence in dementia, Deaf studies, linguistics and neuroscience.  The team also includes a key specialist service provider. Rosemary J Stamp 2012-02-26T17:57:53Z DCAL's Tales from the Road http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/roadshow Regular readers of the DCAL newsletter will have read that DCAL was to take a Roadshow to six UK cities during 2011. The Roadshow was a chance for DCAL staff to meet with members of the Deaf Community and discuss DCAL’s research together. Some readers may be amongst the hundreds who attended the events. Now with the last leg of the tour having been Belfast in September 2011, there’s been time for the DCAL team to reflect back on the significance of the tour and how it all went. Funding for the Roadshow was obtained from the University College London (UCL) Beacons for Public Engagement programme. These awards are given for innovative projects that seek to engage with audiences that the university does not traditionally talk or listen to, or those who are socially excluded. DCAL postgraduate researcher and member of the Roadshow team, Robert Adam, explains more: “Deaf people do not know as much about their sign language as hearing people know about their spoken language. This is because it is not studied as a language in schools. So Deaf people do not always understand the nature of their language and how being Deaf can influence their experience. Similarly Deaf people do not have equal access to society because not everyone can sign and interpreters are not readily available. This affects peoples’ everyday experience and it also affects access to information that can be really important to them. Critically, in the past, research on Deaf people and sign language has often not been accessible for Deaf people. DCAL believes that it’s an important part of our role to disseminate research findings in BSL to the Deaf Community.” With the £12,000 funding award DCAL staff were able to travel to Birmingham in March, Glasgow in April, Newcastle and Manchester in May, Bristol in July and finally Belfast. At each Roadshow, held in Deaf centres, three to four DCAL researchers spoke about their work on different topics. These included language acquisition, the Deaf brain, Deaf interpreters, Deaf people and autism, Deaf people and dementia, the sign segmentation project and the British Sign Language (BSL) Corpus project. Deaf people who attended the events came via a variety of networks. Other participants included those who work with the Deaf Community such as interpreters and social workers. With a good number of attendees at each event it demonstrated to DCAL that people are really keen to learn about the Centre’s work. Most of the feedback was positive, with Deaf visitors saying they enjoyed the days, that the research projects were interesting and well-explained and how good it was to have access to the research that is being carried out by DCAL at first hand. People also came forward with useful suggestions about future DCAL research. For further details, visit the DCAL website: www.dcal.ucl.ac.uk. More public engagement pages are being added over time and all the presentations from the DCAL Deaf Open Day and DCAL Roadshows will eventually be available. It is hoped that DCAL’s website will become a really useful resource for Deaf people to continue to learn about, and get involved in, DCAL’s research. Rosemary J Stamp 2012-02-26T17:55:46Z BSL Corpus Project goes online http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/bslcp An important development has been made in a project that will be familiar to many DCAL newsletter readers from updates over the last few years: DCAL is pleased to announce that data from the British Sign Language Corpus Project (BSLCP) can now be accessed by all, having gone live on-line at the end of 2011.  Rosemary J Stamp 2012-02-26T17:53:47Z Talking about Bilingualism http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/bilingualism Across the world most children born today will grow up in bilingual or multi-lingual environments. These children will use two or more languages regularly. One language might be for home, and another for school; or parents might have different linguistic backgrounds. In London and other major cities classrooms are increasingly multilingual. The internet and TV also offer the opportunity for children to learn and absorb new languages. In the past it was thought that early exposure to two languages was confusing for children. But newer research tells us this is not so, and that there are clear cognitive and educational advantages to being bilingual, such as more being able to divide attention between different tasks or understanding the communicative intent of a speaker. Rosemary J Stamp 2012-02-26T17:52:06Z Are you interested in postgraduate study at DCAL? http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/postgrad-news DCAL is an outstanding place for postgraduate studies in deafness, cognition and language. All students are integrated into the DCAL community in a personal and academic capacity, and in a practical capacity. In addition to supervision from one or more DCAL staff, students benefit from seminars and centre meetings, and have full access to DCAL resources such as the specialist DCAL library, laboratories, studio space and video editing suite. There is a research student room on the 4th floor in DCAL itself. Some students also have workspace elsewhere in University College London (UCL), depending on where their supervisor is based. But students are also always on the move, attending meetings and training courses, not only within DCAL but also around UCL. They travel regularly outside of London for conferences and meetings, and often travel to collect data for their research projects. Applications are invited for students wishing to study for an MPhil/PhD degree at DCAL. This includes students who have an undergraduate degree (UK 2:1 or better, or top 40% in the class) and who have research interests that fit in with DCAL staff expertise and interests. Inquiries and applications from deaf students are particularly welcome. Rosemary J Stamp 2012-02-26T17:35:06Z Current DCAL Newsletter available in BSL http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/welcome Wishing all readers a good 2012! Rosemary J Stamp 2012-02-26T17:27:11Z Special Focus: What is it like to be a postgraduate at DCAL? http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dcal/dcal-news/postgrad The ESRC Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre (DCAL) includes within its mission, and its core values, a commitment to developing expertise in deafness, language and cognition among postgraduate research students. And this commitment is clear from DCAL’s postgraduate research record. Since its foundation in 2006, DCAL staff have supervised 15 postgraduate students in the area of deafness, cognition and language. As of 2011 six of these have already earned their PhDs and another six currently working towards their doctorate are expecting to complete during 2012. DCAL is very proud of these success stories, and would be glad to welcome more students. It is important to the centre to help build capacity in the widest field of its research remit, and DCAL is especially keen to welcome junior deaf academics who will be key in developing the future research agenda. Rosemary J Stamp 2012-02-18T15:54:30Z