Describing and remembering motion events in British Sign Language
Motion events are ubiquitous in conversation, from describing a tiresome commute to recounting a burglary. These situations, where an entity changes location, consist of four main semantic components: Motion (the movement), Figure (the entity moving), Ground (the object or objects with respect to which the Figure carries out the Motion) and Path (the route taken). Two additional semantic components can occur simultaneously: Manner (the way the Motion occurs) and Cause (the source of/reason for the Motion). Languages differ in preferences for provision and packaging of semantic components in descriptions. It has been suggested, in the thinking-for-speaking hypothesis, that these preferences influence the conceptualisation of events (such as their memorisation). This thesis addresses questions relating to the description and memory of Motion events in British Sign Language (BSL) and English. It compares early BSL (acquired before age seven) and late BSL (acquired after age 16) descriptions of Motion events and investigates whether linguistic preferences influence memory. Comparing descriptions by early signers and late signers indicates where their linguistic preferences differ, providing valuable knowledge
Bermingham, Rowena
sign language ; British Sign Language ; sign languages ; linguistics ; Motion Events ; Talmy ; memory ; recogniton memory ; attention ; bilingualism ; English ; Linguistic Relativity ; Thinking-for-Speaking ; second language ; language learning ; bimodal
Describing and remembering motion events in British Sign Language. Motion events are ubiquitous in conversation, from describing a tiresome commute to recounting a burglary. These situations, where an entity changes location, consist of four main semantic components: Motion (the movement), Figure (the entity moving), Ground (the object or objects with respect to which the Figure carries out the Motion) and Path (the route taken). Two additional semantic components can occur simultaneously: Manner (the way the Motion occurs) and Cause (the source of/reason for the Motion). Languages differ in preferences for provision and packaging of semantic components in descriptions. It has been suggested, in the thinking-for-speaking hypothesis, that these preferences influence the conceptualisation of events (such as their memorisation). This thesis addresses questions relating to the description and memory of Motion events in British Sign Language (BSL) and English. It compares early BSL (acquired before age seven) and late BSL (acquired after age 16) descriptions of Motion events and investigates whether linguistic preferences influence memory. Comparing descriptions by early signers and late signers indicates where their linguistic preferences differ, providing valuable knowledge
describing remember motion_event british_sign language motion_event ubiquitous conversation describe recount situation entity change location consist_four main semantic component motion movement figure entity move ground object object respect figure carry motion path route take additional semantic component occur simultaneously manner way motion occur cause source reason motion languages differ preference provision packaging semantic component description suggest thinking for speaking hypothesis preference influence conceptualisation event address_question relate description memory motion_event british_sign_language_bsl english compare early bsl acquire late bsl acquire description motion_event investigate_whether linguistic preference influence memory comparing description early signer late signer indicate linguistic preference differ provide_valuable knowledge