ITALIAN SIGN LANGUAGE 1

Main objective of the course is to develop the awareness of the linguistic similarities and differences between spoken and sign languages. The course aims at stimulating the metalinguistic knowledge of Italian Sign Language, especially in the phonological domain, in a comparative perspective with Italian, spoken and sign languages. Furthermore, the course aims at developing the basic grammatical and lexical competence of Italian Sign Language.

Detailed objectives
Knowledge and understanding
The student understands the functional equivalent of the phonology of sign languages and of Italian Sign Language, in particular.
The student knows the terminology of the phonology of Italian Sign Language.
The student knows and understands the phonological processes of Italian Sign Language and is able to compare them with those of other sign and spoken languages.
The student knows the diachronic lexical variation and understands the phonological phenomena of sociolinguistic variation of Italian Sign Language.
The student knows the basic lexicon and grammar of Italian Sign Language. The student understands some regional lexical variations.

Applying knowledge and understanding
The student is able to adequately use the terminology concerning the phonology of Italian Sign Language.
The student recognizes and describes the basic elements of the phonology of Italian Sign Language and its phonological phenomena.
The student is able to provide concrete examples of the basic phonological units and phenomena.
The student understands and produces basic communicative interactions in Italian Sign Language concerning everyday life situations in different contexts (family, work, study, free time).

Making judgements
The student is able to judge the well-formedness of phonological units and phenomena in other sign languages by comparing them to linguistic units and phenomena typical of Italian Sign Language.
The student is able to find the bibliographical references the teacher indicates.
The student is able to express grammatical judgements on simple signs and basic grammatical structures of Italian Sign Language.

Communication
The student is able to describe the main differences between vocal and sign languages by using the specific terminology and he/she is, furthermore, able to argue in favor of the linguistic status of sign languages.
The student is able to describe the phonological characteristics of Italian Sign Language by discussing concrete linguistic examples.
The student shows to be able to interact with the peers, the professor and the tutor in a critical and respectful way. The student is able to interact in Italian Sign Language in basic communicative situations.

Learning skills
The student is able to take notes and to apply the method of critical thinking and cross-linguistic comparison to future linguistic studies.
The student is able to consult the literature present in the texts and articles indicated by the professor.

No prerequisite is required for this course.

The course of Italian Sign Language 1 is divided into the theoretical module (taught by prof. Chiara Branchini in one semester) and the yearly linguistic practice (taught by Dott. Gabriele Caia). The theoretical module taught by prof. Branchini is addressed to students taking LIS as a second language. Students taking LIS1 only for a year have to attend the theoretical module taught by prof. Lara Mantovan.

Theoretical module:
1. Principle and parameters in world languages and in Italian Sign Language
2. Differences between gestures and signs
3. The phonology of sign languages: cheremes, phonological parameters and minimal pairs in Italian Sign Language
4. Free variants and allochers
5. Suprasegmental features
6. Special oral components (COS) and borrowed words images (IPP)
7. Phonological processes in Italian Sign Language: assimilation, cancellation, epenthesis
8. Some notions on sociolinguistic variation in sign languages
9. The problem of transcribing sign language data

Linguistic practice:
1. Acquisition of basic phonological and phonetic competences
2. Acquisition of basic lexical competences divided into thematic areas: family, free time, work, study
3. Acquisition of personal pronouns, possessive adjectives and pronouns, interrogative pronouns, cardinal numbers, and verbal typologies
4. Acquisition of basic grammatical competences concerning the declarative, interrogative and negative sentence
5. Acquisition of the ability to use and discriminate classifiers of shape, dimension and perimeter
6. Ability to use the basic non-manual components at the phonological, morphological and syntactic level

Theoretical module:
- Russo Cardona T., Volterra V. 2007. Le lingue dei segni. Storia e semiotica. Roma, Carocci editore.
- Volterra V. (a cura di) 2004. La lingua dei segni italiana. La comunicazione visivo-gestuale dei sordi. Bologna, il Mulino.
- Bertone C., Cardinaletti A. (a cura di) 2009. Alcuni capitoli della grammatica della LIS. Atti dell'incontro di studio 'La grammatica della Lingua dei Segni Italiana'. Venezia, Cafoscarina. Students will study only the following chapters: Introduzione; Radutzky E., Il cambiamento fonologico storico della Lingua dei Segni Italiana; Lerose L., I tipi di avverbio in LIS.
- Caselli M.C., Maragna S., Volterra V.2006. Linguaggio e sordità. Gesti, segni e parole nello sviluppo e nell'educazione. Bologna, Il Mulino. Students will study only chapters 3 and 4.
- More articles will be available online.
- Notes of the lectures will be made available online for only one week from the day of the corresponding lecture.


Linguistic practice:
- DVD, "Pa-Pa" (Cultura Sorda, Ironia, Barzellette e Storia dei sordi), the monologue by Gabriele Caia
- DVD, la lingua dei Segni Italiana: corso elementare. http://www.deafmedia.eu/dvdshop/lis1/lis1.html
- Other material might be suggested by the teacher during lectures.

Students taking the course as a free annual choice may consult the dictionary:
- I primi 400 segni. Piccolo dizionario della Lingua dei segni italiana per comunicare con i sordi. 2008. A cura di Natalia Angelini, Rossano Borgioli, Anna Folchi, Matteo Mastromatteo. Carocci.

Students enrolled in the tree-year study of Italian Sign Language are advised to consult the dictionary:
- Dizionario bilingue elementare della lingua italiana dei segni. 1992. Elena Radutzky. Edizioni Kappa.

Students will be evaluated through three different stages: (i) an oral examination aiming at verifying the ability to apply and connect the knowledge acquired during the theoretical module as well as the student’s use of the specific terminology adopted during the theoretical module. (ii) a written examination aiming at verifying the linguistic comprehension of LIS, and (iii) an oral examination aiming at verifying the basic communicative competence developed in LIS.
In order to be able to take the oral production examination, the student will have to pass the written examination about linguistic comprehension. To pass the course, the student must pass the three stages of the final examination. The final score is the mean of the three scores obtained during the three examinations described above.

Lectures and linguistic practices directed to individuals and groups. An extensive range of video recorded linguistic material will be used. Students will use the software GoReact (https://goreact.wistia.com/medias/htlspjqzsh ) specifically developed for the correction of linguistic practice in sign language. Students will receive feedback to their linguistic exercise through the software GoReact from the teacher carrying out linguist practice in Italian Sign Language.

The theoretical module taught by prof. Branchini is addressed to students taking LIS as a second language. Students taking LIS1 only for a year have to attend the theoretical module taught by prof. Lara Mantovan.

Students will be divided into smaller groups in order to attend linguistic practices of Italian Sign Language. The division will guarantee no overlapping of classes with the other foreign language. Students will have to sign up to only one group. Where no indication of the other foreign language is provided, students can freely sign up to one of the groups available.
Students can sign up online at: http://static.unive.it/prenotazioni/p/lezionidslcc

Group A: students taking English-Angloamerican (A-L); Spanish; Portuguese; German.
Group B: students taking English-Angloamerican (M-Z); French; Russian.
Students taking a different language from the ones mentioned above, may sign up to one of the two groups depending on the class schedule of the other studied foreign language.

Attendance is warmly recommended.

written and oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development