FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
ACADEMIC DISCOURSE 2015-2016
ASSIGNMENT
(10/100)
Deadline:
December for section A–Kαρ (Instructor: A. Tzanne)
14th December for section Κασ–Παν (Instructor: B. Mitsikopoulou)
16th December for section Παξ–Ω (Instructor: E. Ifantidou)
17th
PLEASE NOTE:
No assignments will be accepted beyond the designated deadlines
No assignments will be accepted via e-mail
Assignments must be typed and not hand-written
TASK 1
The following extract is from a chapter entitled Sign Language Acquisition and it has
been written by Vivian Gramley (pages 187-204). This chapter appears in a book
entitled Handbook of Communication Competence which has been edited by Gert
Rickheit and Hans Strohner. The book was published in Berlin in 2008 by Mouton de
Gruyter Publishers.
Read the extract and:
(a) prepare an outline of the characteristic features of sign languages presented in
this text,
(b) based on the outline, write a summary of approximately 100 words, and
(c) provide a full bibliographical reference for the above chapter.
Contrary to some people’s belief there is not one universal sign language. There is not one
sign language that is shared by all deaf people in the world. There are many different sign
languages which have evolved independently of each other. They are all very different but
also share similar elements. The features that are shared by all sign languages is the
existence of a lexicon and grammatical rules. The lexicons and grammatical rules are
different for every sign language, comparable to spoken languages. Just like spoken
language, sign languages differ in their historical relationships. A well-known example in
this respect is the difference between American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign
Language (BSL). Although both languages are surrounded by the same spoken language,
English, these two sign languages are historically very different and mutually
unintelligible (Emmorey 2002: 2). French Sign Language and ASL, on the other hand, are
more alike due to the influence of French Sign Language on American Deaf people in the
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, when Laurent Clerc and Thomas Gallaudet, two
French teachers of the Deaf, established the first public school for the Deaf in the United
States. Nowadays, the two sign languages are clearly distinct languages (Lane 1984)
sharing lexical features.
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Another misbelief is that sign languages are made up of pictorial signs, similar to
pantomime, and are not as expressive as a spoken language. This is not true. Sign
languages have an intricate structure and enable the speakers/signers to express complex
ideas just like speakers of spoken languages do. At times it seems difficult to describe a
sign language linguistically because hearing linguists, who usually are the ones who
describe sign languages, have to learn not only to look for features in a sign language that
they know from spoken languages but recognize and acknowledge that sign languages
also use a different modality, namely the visual one.
When taking a closer look at sign languages it becomes obvious that grammatical rules
and lexicons are only two general features that sign languages have in common, even
though each language has its own set of rules and its own lexicon. Above and beyond this,
however, sign languages share the use of movement, handshape, position of the hands, as
well as simultaneity. The main difference that can be seen between a signed and a spoken
language is its mode.
While spoken languages use articulatory organs located in the vocal tract in order to
produce sounds, sign languages use a completely different set of articulators, namely the
hands and the face. While spoken languages are organized linearly in time, sign languages
make use of simultaneity and space. Simultaneity is the expression of more than one
lexical and grammatical feature at the same time – meaning that different elements are
incorporated in one sign, similar to polysynthetic languages (Bellugi and Klima 1982).
Furthermore, spoken languages are perceived with the ear while sign languages are
perceived with the eye. Needless to say, spoken languages also employ manual and facial
gestures but do not rely solely on these for the transmission of lexical information.
TASK 2
The following article appears in the newspaper The Independent and reports on recent
scientific research findings concerning the effects of worrying on people waiting for
important results. Read it carefully and extracting all the necessary and relevant
scientific information, adopt the identity of one of the academics who conducted the
research (Kate Sweeny and her team) and write the Abstract for a research paper on
this topic (also suggesting a title). The research paper will be published in an academic
journal and therefore your Abstract will have to exhibit the appropriate discourse style
and structure (about 200 words).
Worrying can be good for you, say scientists
Specifically, you may be in a better position to deal with both good and bad news
when it finally arrives
By Shana Lebowitz
The Independent, Thursday 12 November 2015
If after you've finished a job interview, you tend to bite your nails to shreds and mentally
replay the questions you fumbled until you've convinced yourself that you absolutely,
positively didn't get the job, take heart. You may have a leg up on everyone else.
Specifically, you may be in a better position to deal with both good and bad news when it
finally arrives.
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That's according to new research led by Kate Sweeny, Ph.D. at the University of
California, Riverside. Sweeny and her colleagues wanted to specifically investigate the
effects of worrying while waiting for important, potentially life-changing results.
So they looked at 230 law school graduates taking the July 2013 California bar exam,
starting two weeks before the exam and ending soon after the results were released four
months later.
Study participants filled out questionnaires at several points throughout the study period,
indicating things like how anxious they felt and how consumed they were thinking about
the exam; how often they tried to distract themselves or hide their feelings; how confident
they felt that they would pass the exam; and how much time they spent planning to cope
with potential failure.
Results suggested that there were three general strategies for dealing with the waiting
period. While some people tried to distract themselves and pretend that they weren't
freaking out, others tried to think of a silver lining to failure. The third group actively
anticipated the possibility of failure. This last strategy is similar to what researchers call
"defensive pessimism," or embracing and preparing for the worst while still hoping for the
best.
Eighty-five percent of participants passed the exam. The 33 people who failed were asked
whether they could believe that they had failed and whether they could accept the
situation. Those who passed were asked whether they felt relieved.
Two fascinating findings emerged. First, participants' efforts to distract themselves and
hide their feelings weren't particularly helpful at alleviating their anxiety. In fact, those
who tried to distract themselves often ended up feeling more anxious.
"Our findings suggest that the advice to 'just try to distract yourself' or to 'take your mind
off it' is not necessarily a recipe for a distress-free waiting period," the authors write,
adding that "perhaps a better alternative would be to simply experience and express
emotions in a natural way without attempting to suppress them." Participants who had
struggled through the waiting period were pleasantly surprised when they found out they'd
passed.
Second, worrying seemed to be productive. If they failed, participants who had ruminated
and acted pessimistic during the waiting period "were more motivated to spring into
action, presumably with an eye on retaking the exam at the next available opportunity,"
the researchers write. On the other hand, people who tried to stay positive and optimistic
"responded to news of failure with a sense of disbelief and denial." If they passed,
participants who had struggled through the waiting period were more pleasantly surprised,
while participants who had made it through easily were relatively underwhelmed.
The researchers say their findings "reveal an emotional trade-off." Whether you're waiting
to hear back about a job or an academic exam, worrying for a few weeks or months may
predict a better experience receiving the results. In other words, don't worry about
worrying; know that you're engaging in a totally natural process that may even be
productive in the long run.
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