It's Not What You Sign, It's How You Sign It : Politeness in American Sign Language

The general stereotype regarding interaction between American Sign Language and English is a model of oversimplification: ASL signers are direct and English speakers are indirect. Jack Hoza’s study __It’s Not What You Sign, It’s How You Sign It: Politeness in American Sign Language__ upends this common impression through an in-depth comparison of the communication styles between these two language communities. Hoza investigates relevant social variables in specific contexts and explores the particular linguistic strategies ASL signers and English speakers employ when they interact in these contexts. __It’s Not What You Sign, It’s How You Sign It__ is framed within politeness theory, an apt model to determine various interpretations of what speakers or signers mean in respect to the form of that which they say or sign. The variations reveal how linguistic and cultural differences intersect in ways that are often misinterpreted or overlooked in cross-cultural communication. To clarify these cross-linguistic differences, this volume explores two primary types of politeness and the linguistic strategies used by English speakers and ASL signers to express politeness concerns in face-to-face interaction. Hoza’s final analysis leads to a better understanding of the rich complexity of the linguistic choices of these language groups. The Fifth Volume in the Deaf Lives Series. Born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1974, Paul Jacobs lost his mother when he was three months old. When he was five, he lost most of his hearing. These two defining events formed the core of his being. He spent the first two decades of his life coming to terms with being neither Deaf nor hearing, a neither/nor, an in-between, and a person with a social identity that had yet to be invented. His memoir, Neither-Nor: A Young Australian's Experience with Deafness, recounts this journey. Jacobs excelled in sports and the classroom, but he never lost awareness of how he was seen as different, often in cruel or patronizing ways. His father, a child psychologist, headed a long list of supportive people in his life, including his Uncle Brian, his itinerant teacher of the deaf Mrs. Carey, a gifted art teacher Mrs. Klein, who demanded and received from him first-rate work, a notetaker Rita, and Bella, his first girlfriend. Jacobs eventually attended university, where he graduated with honors. He also entered the Deaf world when he starred on the Deaf Australian World Cup cricket team. However, he never learned sign language, and frequently noted the lack of an adult role model for "neither-nors"#x9D; such as himself. Still emotionally adrift in 1998, Jacobs toured Europe, then volunteered to tutor deaf residents at Court Grange College in Devon, England. There, he discovered a darker reality for some deaf individuals -- hearing loss complicated by schizophrenia, Bonnevie-Ullrich Syndrome, and other conditions. After returning to Australia, Jacobs recognized what he had gleaned from his long journey: Power comes from within, not without. Sure, deafness makes one prone to be stigmatized. Yet having a disability can act as a stimulus for greater personal growth, richer experiences, and more genuine relationships IT’S NOT WHAT YOU SIGN, IT’S HOW YOU SIGN IT......Page 4 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 1. Politeness—It’s How You Say It......Page 14 2. Exploring Linguistic Strategies......Page 45 3. Requests in ASL and English......Page 76 4. Rejections in ASL and English......Page 119 5. Two Nonmanual Modifiers That Mitigate Smaller Threats to Face......Page 139 6. Three Nonmanual Modifiers That Mitigate More Severe Threats to Face......Page 162 7. Language Fluency and Politeness......Page 201 8. Why It Matters How You Say It......Page 215 Appendix I. Transcription Conventions......Page 228 Appendix II. Discourse Completion Test......Page 231 Appendix III. Brown and Levinson’s (1987) Politeness Strategies......Page 234 References......Page 238 Index......Page 244 The General Stereotype Regarding Interaction Between American Sign Language And English Is A Model Of Oversimplification: Asl Signers Are Direct And English Speakers Are Indirect. In This Study, Jack Hoza Upends This Common Impression Through An In-depth Comparison Of The Communication Styles Between These Two Language Communities.--jacket. Politeness-it's How You Say It -- Exploring Linguistic Strategies -- Requests In Asl And English -- Rejections In Asl And English -- Nonmanual Modifiers That Mitigate Smaller Threats To Face -- Nonmanual Modifiers That Mitigate More Severe Threats To Face -- Language Fluency And Politeness -- Why It Matters How You Say It. Jack Hoza. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 225-230) And Index. Written by Jack Hoza (Director of the Sign Language Interpretation Program at the University of New Hampshire, Manchester) It's Not What You Sign, It's How Your Sign It: Politeness In American Sign Language is an analysis of linguistic strategies employed by ASL signers as compared to English speakers, with regard to the social variables of specific contexts. Chapters contrast requests in ASL and English, rejections in ASL and English, the interconnection between fluency and politeness, and much more. A scholarly text ideal for intermediate to advanced linguistic students and scholars, It's Not What You Sign, It's How You Sign It is a welcome contribution to language and communication studies shelves.