Research Topics

Perception and processing of sign languages and written languages

Sign languages, spoken languages, tactile languages and written languages use different modalities. We are particularly interested in how German Sign Language and German written language are perceived and processed. The visual-gestural properties of sign languages allow to find out which processes are involved in perception and processing independently of the modality of a language.

Co-activation of languages in the brain

Research shows that in people who speak several languages, the languages are not stored separately in the brain. This leads to neuronal overlaps between the languages. We are investigating the effects that the simultaneous mastery of a sign language and a spoken or written language has on processes in the brain.

Analysis of language data

We are interested in sign language habits and forms of expression when using sign languages. Therefore, we analyze data, for example from the Public DGS Corpus, or carry out production studies in order to investigate specific sign language utterances.

Comparison of different linguistic target groups

People of different age groups with different sign language backgrounds participate in our studies. On the one hand, these are deaf people with early or later access to their respective sign language, here mostly German Sign Language. On the other hand, these are people who are learning German Sign Language as a second language. Investigating the different target groups provides the opportunity to identify factors that can influence language use.