Novo Deit-Libras: New study on picture univocity has standardized picture naming with close to 11,000 students (from 20 to 2 years of age) allowing for assessment and intervention tool research & development

[fernando capovilla]

Dear SW friends,

Thank you for commenting on the new Brazilian sign language dictionary: Novo
Deit-Libras.

It is great to know SW renditions, sign illustrations, and English glosses
help make Libras signs clear. I wonder what you think about meaning
illustrations (the line drawings that specify what signs mean). Do you think
they may help as well, specially deaf kids who are still acquiring literacy
skills? We hopoe so, and want to discover if that is really the case. We
have just conducted a comprehensive and systematic study on that.
This curious study on meaning illustrations goes like this:

We took all the Libras dictionary illustrations and showed to 2,000 college
students who named them by writing, one by one. (Nice people!).
Then we separated the subset of pictures that have achieved at least 70% of
univocity (the same name attibuted to them). We called them
good, univocal pics to college students.

Then we presented this subset to 2,000 high school students. (We thanked
them a lot!). Again, we separated the pictures that achieved at least 70% of
univocity. We called them good, univocal pics to high school students.

After that we presented this subset to 2,000 primary school students. (We
gave them goodies in return. Nothing edible. Just stationary paper, special
pens, etc.).  Always using written naming. Once more, we separated the
pictures that achieved at least 70% of univocity. We called them
good, univocal pics to primary school students.

Then we presented this subset to 2,000 5 year old kindergarten students for
oral naming this time. That took a lot of time and effort. One by one, kids
had to be heard patiently and in good spirit. (They received goodies ad
libitum). Once more, we separated the pictures that achieved at least 70% of
univocity. We called them good, univocal pics to 5 year old kids.

Since we had nothing else to do, we presented this subset to 1,000 4 year
old kids for oral naming. That took us even more time and effort. But it was
fun. Kids that age are lovely. Once more, we separated the pictures that
achieved at least 70% of univocity. We called them good, univocal pics to 5
year old kids.

Again, we separated the pictures that achieved at least 70% of univocity and
presented them to 1,000 3 year old kids. Again, because we thought it was
fun, we separated the pictures that achieved at least 70% of univocity and
presented them to 1,000 2 year old kids.

In the end, we ended up with  240 perfectly transparent pictures (in
addition to some periorbital dark circles...).

This 240 picture set is to be used in literacy acquisition assessment and
intervention tools, as well as for naming assessment tools for anomic
patients (anomia characterizes all types of aphasias, as you know). Nice
stuff.

In the beginning of 2011 we'll publish all these picture naiming data banks
along with statistical criteria of iconicity, univocity, written word
orthographic familiarity, written decodificability and codificability, etc.
Now we are using them to assess receptive & expressive signing standardized
parameters in deaf kids. Science is fun.


Again, thank you for your kind words, Valerie, Charles and Maureen! We are
deeply satisfied that you have enjoyed it, and that the signs are easy to
understand. That is precisely what we intended. Thank you so much for
telling us. That kind of feedback is what we need to create courage to keep
on moving ahead and swimming up the mountain river. Each sign is a salmon
egg than matures and hatches when one lays one's warm eyes upon it, giving
birth to knowledge that is to multiply and expand the domain of that deep
and vast ocean we call deaf cognition. Thank you.

Fernando

-- 
Fernando C. Capovilla, PhD
Professor Associado
Instituto de Psicologia, USP
Coord Lab Neuropsicolinguística Cognitiva Experimental, IP-Usp
Av. Prof. Mello de Morais 1721
São Paulo, SP, 05508-900
fcapovilla3 at gmail.com
visite-nos: http://lanceusp.hdfree.com.br/
veja nossos novos livros em: http://lanceusp.hdfree.com.br/livros.html

Timor Domini initium sapientiae est. Vincit qui se vincit.
Ora et labora. Usus optimus rerum magister.
Veritas Liberate Vos. Ergo, aude sapere.
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