What are parameter errors in ASL and how can you reduce them?
"Reduce parameter errors" is a fancy way of saying "clean up your signing."
In other words, do your signs using the handshapes, movements, locations, and
orientations that are used by the majority of skilled signers and/or that are
similar to the citation (dictionary) version of signs.
Let me give you an example of a signing error that is not
a parameter error. Suppose someone signs APPLE in an excellent way but they
meant to sign or should have signed BANANA. That isn't a parameter error.
That instead is a lexical selection error or a conceptual error. It is possible
for a signer to choose the wrong sign entirely, even though they are producing
it correctly. This isn’t an issue with handshape, movement, location, palm
orientation, or non-manual signals (the parameters), but rather with selecting
the appropriate lexical item, or sign, to convey the intended meaning.
Lexical selection errors are similar to what might happen in spoken language
when someone says "apple" but meant to say "banana." The error lies in the
choice of the sign rather than in the production of the sign itself. In ASL,
these types of errors might arise from a temporary lapse in recall, confusion
between similar concepts, or even a "slip of the hand" where a related sign is
selected instead of the target sign.
Whether a parameter error has occurred is often a matter of subjective opinion.
Sometimes people "correct" a parameter error done by someone else -- when it
really isn't an error but rather the signing was fine but the person doing the
correcting lacks of awareness of ASL at the parameter level or is disregarding
the differences between citation (dictionary) versions versus real-life
articulation (or in other words the way signs morph and change when signed in
everyday communication).
An interpreter friend of mine has more than once been (supposedly) "corrected"
by Deaf people to do the sign "SORRY" with an "S" handshape. Yet if you were to
study the history of the sign for "SORRY" and common real-life usage of that
sign (easily observed in videos of skilled signers) the citation (dictionary)
handshape is an "A" (or at least it should be an "A" or a modified "A" if we are
seeking a historically and currently accurate representation of fluent Deaf
signing).
Let me say that again: She has been "corrected" twice for a parameter error that
was not an error.
Another error that is not an error that I see (other) Deaf sometimes correcting
is that of coarticulated fingerspelling shapes such as a three-fingered "E"
spelled after an "M" or a two-fingered "E" spelled after an "N." Such
"parameters" are actually accurate but sometimes "corrected" by overzealous
non-experts who think they are experts but lack an awareness of their own
language at the parameter level.
However, it is a fact that many ASL as a second language learners make a
significant number of handshape, location, orientation, and movement (as well as
non-manual) errors.
Now I'm going to provide a partial answer your question Mohammed because I know
you will have read this far because you are one of those language learners who
put in deep effort.
An approach to reducing parameter errors is to invest time with skilled signers
and then empower them to correct you at a granular level. Inform them that you
appreciate and very much want those around you to fix your signing at or very
near the moment you muck up. Assure them that you won't think it is rude and if
they do it in front of other people point out to the other people that you WANT
and have asked for such feedback.
I have a friend who due to a bacterial infection basically became a drooling ...
well, let's just say she suffered from a catastrophic cognitive impairment,
literally drooled, spoke nonsense, and was lucky to survive. She lost much of
her brain function due to bacterially induced deterioration of the myelin
sheathing that insulates nerve cells and speeds up the transmission of
electrical impulses.
She was (and still is) a fierce warrior and demanded her life and her
communication ability back and empowered me (and everyone else) to work with
her. We developed an understanding that when she signed an error I would angle
my body just enough so her perspective of my signing would be similar to her
perspective of her own signing and I would show a more common version of the
sign.
Often, due to her reduced functioning she couldn't fix the error by just seeing
the target version modeled. At that point I would gently but quickly grab her
hands, position them, and move them the right way. Remember, this person had
empowered me to fix her signing as directly and as efficiently as possible.
We wasted ZERO time in formalities or ego protecting and simply held long
conversations in close proximity during which it was common for me to fix 30 to
50 or more errors per conversation (that is not an exaggeration).
Again, and again, and again.
Long story short -- her signing improved to a point that many would consider
miraculous.
On the base of her commitment and incredible effort the process worked because
of permission and adjustments to expectation levels allowing us to bypass social
norms and become hyper-effective at the parameter error reduction.
Feedback enabled by trust.
Ways to reduce parameter errors:
1. Pay attention to each parameter when learning a new sign.
Specifically become aware of the handshape, location, orientation and movement
of each new sign (as well as any accompanying facial expressions).
2. Watch yourself signing in a mirror and look for any differences between
what your hands are doing and what you've seen signed by skilled signers.
3. Video record yourself signing and then play it back later after you've
had a chance to forget what you signed and see if you can understand your own
signing. If not, why? Do your signs seem different? What is
different? Ask a friend to review your video and point out any signs that
seem off or different.
4. Do real time expressive evaluations in which a collaborator presents
you with a list of vocabulary words and asks you to sign them. The
collaborator stops you immediately and informs you of any signs that seem to
have an error and identifies what that error might be. Make a list of such
errors and review them with other signers to see if the issue is really an error
or just differences in how individual signers produce signs.
Notes:
Also see:
Parameters - ASL
and
Parameters of ASL
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