Publications

We are developing a computer tool to correct the written English of deaf writers. The design of this program is based on the belief that English is a second language for many deaf people and that many errors in the written English of deaf writers may be explained by language transfer (LT) coupled with the individual's lack of exposure to English. We are designing this program so that it will take advantage of the writer's knowledge of American Sign Language (ASL) in identifying errors and suggesting corrections. That is, the program will try to act as a tutor for a writer who knows ASL and is learning English as a second language. The purpose of this paper is to describe the groundwork for the development of this system. In particular, we review research on language transfer and research on American Sign Language. We present errors that we have found in writing samples from deaf people with an ASL background, and discuss what influence ASL knowledge may have had on some of these errors. We believe this influence should be exploited in the correction process.