ion of verb agreement by hearing learners of a sign language. During a 2-year period, 14 novel learners of Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT) with a spoken language background performed an elicitation task 15 times. Seven deaf native signers and NGT teachers performed the same task to serve as a benchmark group. The results obtained show that for some learners, the verb agreement system of NGT was difficult to master, despite numerous examples in the input. As compared to the benchmark group, learners tended to omit agreement markers on verbs that could be modified, did not always correctly use established locations associated with discourse referents, and made characteristic errors with respect to properties that are important in the expression of agreement (movement and orientation). The outcomes of the study are of value to practitioners in the field, as they are informative with regard to the nature of the learning process during the first stages of learning a sign language.
Abstract van Poster presentatie. Our student-interpreters feel ill prepared for assignments that involve sign supported speech (Anonymous, 2015). This is probably due to the fact that there is no single way of communicating in sign supported speech (Sutton-Spence & Woll, 1999). Our study investigates if and how we could prepare our students within a fouryear bachelor curriculum.
Abstract van prestentatie. According to Roy and Napier (2015), the earliest research on sign language interpreting dates to the mid-1970s. More recently we have acknowledged the need for research to be part of sign language interpreter (SLI) education programs (Winston, 2013). At present, educators feel an urgent need to embed research in their SLI programs with two goals: first, to firmly base their teaching in evidencebased practice, and second, to teach future interpreters how to continuously improve their practice
