Dublin Core
Title
THE METONYMS AND DEAF CHILDREN
Abstract
Language is an abstract system of symbols, which is concretely realized by way of speech, writing and signing. Difficulties in speech and communication in deaf children cause problems in their social, emotional and cognitive development. Deaf children show inadequate results on semantic tests due to their inadequate knowledge of the language, the level of concreteness and underdeveloped linguistic associations. These problems can be for the most part overcome with the adoption of sign language. The aim of our study was to evaluate the meanings of certain words and their association by deaf children, attending grades six to eight-24 students; as well as to establish the development of the category of metonym words. We also wanted to examine the strength of the relationship between the knowledge of sign language and the level of knowledge of this category of words, if one existed at all. The study incorporated a segment of the Semantic Test by S. Vladisavljevic. Pupils were given 20 words-notions (snail, gold, snake, deer, flower, drop, fair, fox, rock and rabbit) and it was requested of them to give all possible meanings for those words. A qualitative and quantitative analysis was completed of the obtained linguistic material. The obtained results showed a partial influence of the pupil‘s age and the level of knowledge of metonyms. Also, it was observed that better knowledge of sign language affects the results of the deaf pupils, i.e. they had better speech and understanding of word meanings.
Keywords
Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed
PeerReviewed
Date
2011-05
Extent
112