Roy - Discourse in Signed Languages

Kristin Jean Mulrooney, General Editor

Cynthia B. Roy, Editor

GALLAUDET UNIVERSITY PRESS

Washington, DC

Sociolinguistics in Deaf Communities

A Series Edited by Kristin Jean Mulrooney

Gallaudet University Press

Washington, DC 20002

http://gupress.gallaudet.edu

2011 by Gallaudet University

All rights reserved. Published 2011

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 1-56368-511-6; 978-1-56368-511-8

ISSN 1080-5494

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.

This volume is dedicated to Dr. Ceil Lucas, the founding editor of the Sociolinguistics in Deaf Communities Series and Professor of Linguistics at Gallaudet University, in recognition of her enthusiasm, encouragement, and development of scholarly work in the discourse of signed languages everywhere.

And, to my sister, Elizabeth Bilderback Guenzel You were always better at discourse than me 19522010

Cynthia B. Roy

Paul Dudis

Mary Thumann

Jack Hoza

Laurie Swabey

Christopher Stone

Daniel Roush

Jeffrey E. Davis

Robert Bayley

Department of Linguistics

University of California, Davis

Davis, California

Jeffrey E. Davis

College of Education, Deaf Studies and Educational Interpreting

University of Tennessee

Knoxville, Tennessee

Trevor Johnston

Department of Linguistics

Macquarie University

Sydney, Australia

Susan M. Mather

Department of Linguistics

Gallaudet University

Washington, DC

Carolyn McCaskill

Department of ASL and Deaf Studies

Gallaudet University

Washington, DC

Stephen M. Nover

Center for ASL/English Bilingual Education and Research

Gallaudet University

Washington, DC

Lourdes Pietrosemoli

University of the Andes

Merida, Venezuela

Claire L. Ramsey

Teacher Education Program

University of California, San Diego

La Jolla, California

John Rickford

Department of Linguistics

Stanford University

Stanford, California

Adam Schembri

Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre

University College London

London, United Kingdom

Laurene Simms

Department of Education

Gallaudet University

Washington, DC

Graham H. Turner

Translation and Interpreting Studies

Heriot-Watt University

Edinburgh, Scotland

Elizabeth Winston

Educational Linguistics Research Center

Loveland, Colorado

Jeffrey E. Davis

Educational Interpreter Program

Department of Theory and

Practice in Teacher Education

University of Tennessee

Knoxville, Tennessee

Paul Dudis

Department of Linguistics

Gallaudet University

Washington, DC

Jack Hoza

Sign Language Interpretation Program

Humanities Division

University of New Hampshire at Manchester

Manchester, New Hampshire

Daniel Roush

Department of ASL and Interpreter Education

Eastern Kentucky University

Richmond, Kentucky

Christopher Stone

Deafness, Cognition and Research Centre

University College of London

London, England

Laurie Swabey

Department of American Sign Language and Interpreting

University of St. Catherine

St. Paul, Minnesota

Mary Thumann

Department of Interpretation

Gallaudet University

Washington, DC

No volume is complete without acknowledging those who made it possible. I thank Ceil Lucas and Kristin Mulrooney for the opportunity to be a guest editor for this volume, 17th in a series of outstanding volumes about the sociolinguistics of Deaf communities both here and abroad. I am especially grateful to Ceil Lucas, former series editor, who published my first research article, which was about discourse in ASL, and who has always encouraged the discourse analysis aspect of research on American Sign Language. This volume may not have been completed without the sage advice, reassurances, and patience of Ivey Pittle Wallace, editorial director of Gallaudet University Press.

The contributors have all worked with me to produce this volume, and I thank each of them for their valuable contributions. All of these contributions will enrich and advance our understanding of the complexities of discourse within signed language communities. I would also like to thank members of the editorial advisory board and other reviewers, all of whom offered insightful comments and suggestions. I am particularly grateful to Elizabeth Winston who, over the years, has both sustained and inspired my own interest in the discourse analysis of ASL, and led the way with the volume she edited, Storytelling and Conversation: Discourse in Deaf Communities (Gallaudet University Press, 1999).

Cynthia B. Roy

What is discourse? In The Handbook of Discourse Analysis , editors Schiffrin, Tannen, and Hamilton (2001) answer that question by reminding readers of two examples presented by Charles Fillmore. The examples were from signs at a local swimming pool. One sign said:

Please use the toilets, not the pool.

The other sign said:

Pool for members only.

Read separately, these are instructions for swimmers at most any American swimming pool. However, if the second one is read after the first one, it invokes laughter. This example, then,

captures what we might call the gift of discourse: new meanings are created through the relationship between sentences. But it also illustrates what we might call the curse of discourse: since more than one meaning can be created, how do we decide which meaning is intended, is justifiable, and/or makes the most sense? (Schiffrin, Tannen, & Hamilton, 2001, p. 10)