About the Research

This research was conducted with the aid of Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Single-year Grants (Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists [Start-up]) by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science in fiscal years 2008 and 2009. As a part of the larger work made possible by this grant, we have made available to the public Japanese Sign Language (JSL) Map (prototype), which contains a limited vocabulary of 30 words/phrases. We hope that you will read the following content (an overview of the research and notes on usage of the map) and make use of the JSL Map (prototype).

Additionally, a research paper on the achievement of this research, titled "Lexical Sharing Phenomenon among Sign Language Users in Japan," can be viewed at [this site].

Subject

Documentation Research for Japanese Sign Language Map

Objectives

Japanese sign language (JSL) is known to have regional and age variations, and there have been several attempts to investigate or introduce some of the regional variations (e.g. Shuwa tiikisa chosa hokokusho [Reports on Regional Variations in Sign Language], NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, February 1988; Nihon no shuwa iroiro 1 [Variations in Sign Language in Japan 1], the National Research Association for Sign Language Interpretation, September 2005).

Compared to these investigations, the main objective of this research was to show both regional and age variations at the lexical level by means of a Sign Language Map.

Methods

1. Vocabulary Selection for Investigation
   Thirty words and phrases were selected after preliminary investigation using vocabulary lists in previous investigations into sign language vocabularies examined for reference. The words and phrases are:
   dog, cat, monkey, chicken, egg, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, dormitory, going to school, physical education, Japanese language (as a school subject), traveling, Japan, France, grandfather, grandmother, east, west, south, north, brown, pink, 100 yen, 300 yen, 1000 yen.
2. Collection of Sign Language Expressions
   Requests were made for cooperation in this research to the Japanese Federation of the Deaf, the national organization representing deaf persons who use JSL, and its prefectural organizations in September 2009. The requested items were as follows:
   1. Access to two members of the organizations each of whom, in principle, studied consistently in the elementary through upper secondary departments of the same school for the deaf (one each from the 30 year-old and 70 year-old groups, male or female).
   2. Videotaping of sign language expressions obtained when presented with vocabulary cards and mailing them to the researcher.
3. Description and Classification of Sign Language Expressions
   The sign language expressions in the videos mailed in from 47 prefectural organizations by February 2010 were described in written Japanese and classified according to the hand position, shape, and movement for each word/phrase.
4. Preparation of Videos of Sign Language Expressions and Creation of Web Page
   Videos of the sign language expressions in each category were prepared on the basis of classification results and web pages that could make the most of the functions of the JSL map were created (released on May 2010).

Roles and Responsibilities (as of May 2010)

Acknowledgments

This research could not have been realized without the cooperation of the Japanese Federation of the Deaf and its prefectural organizations. We would like to express our deep appreciation to all the organizations for their cooperation whilst they were very busy in local campaigns and projects.
 

Comments and Feedback

Your comments and feedback about the "JSL map (prototype)" are appreciated.