Johanna Mesch
Biographic Data
| ID | 212289 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Johanna Mesch |
| GIVEN NAMES | Johanna |
| FAMILY NAME | Mesch |
| SIGNATURE | MESCH J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Stockholm University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0612-6304 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 31 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Corpus research on signed languages in the Nordic countries
This semi-systematic literature review examines signed language corpus research in the Nordic countries, with a quantitative and qualitative assessment of corpus research. The article first describes some critical components and functionalities of signed language corpora. It then outlines the evolution of Nordic corpus research, highlighting Sweden’s pioneering role and subsequent developments in Finland and Norway. The findings suggest a progres…
Tactile interactions
This paper investigates palm-ups, finger pointings, and holds in Tactile Swedish Sign Language interactions. Our objectives are threefold: scrutinizing the frequency of use of the three interactive markers, studying their functions, and describing the differences and similarities as compared to other signed and spoken languages. Data from two corpora were selected; one was collected in a studio and the other in natural settings. Fifty-nine minute…
A cross-linguistic comparison of reference across five signed languages
Do signers of different signed languages establish and maintain reference the same way? Here we compare how signers of five Western deaf signed languages coordinate fully conventionalized forms with more richly improvised semiotics to identify and talk about referents of varying agency. The five languages (based on a convenience sample) are Auslan, Irish Sign Language, Finnish Sign Language, Norwegian Sign Language, and Swedish Sign Language. Usi…
Self-Repair in Hearing L2 Learners' Spontaneous Signing
This study presents a corpus-based investigation of self-repairs in hearing adult L2 (M2L2, second modality and second language) learners of Swedish Sign Language (Svenskt teckenspråk, STS). This study analyses M2L2 learners' STS conversations with a deaf signer and examines the learners' self-repair practices and whether there are differences among learners of different proficiency levels. This provides a description of characteristics of self-r…
Meaning-making in tactile cross-signing context
Cross-linguistic studies of tactile sign language are still not widely performed internationally. For this study, four deafblind informants in two different tactile sign languages, Swedish Sign Language and Norwegian Sign Language, participated in the recording at a social and cultural workshop where they worked together to create a mutual understanding in their conversations. The study provides new information on how tactile and bodily signals a…
Use and acquisition of mouth actions in L2 sign language learners
This article deals with L2 acquisition of a sign language, examining in particular the use and acquisition of non-manual mouth actions performed by L2 learners of Swedish Sign Language. Based on longitudinal data from an L2 learner corpus, we describe the distribution, frequency, and spreading patterns of mouth actions in sixteen L2 learners at two time points. The data are compared with nine signers of an L1 control group. The results reveal som…
Conveying Environmental Information to Deafblind People
Many deafblind people use tactile sign language and interpreters in their daily lives. Because of their hearing and sight loss, the role of interpreters does not only involve translating the content expressed by other deaf or hearing people, but it also involves conveying environmental information (i.e., non-verbal communication regarding what is happening at a given moment to be able to understand the situation). This paper aims to contribute to…
Documentação de Línguas de Sinais
Este artigo apresenta uma discussão sobre a documentação de línguas de sinais, considerando motivações acadêmicas e sociais, assim como indicações de materiais que as comunidades surdas consideram relevantes integrarem tais documentações. Primeiramente, iremos apresentar uma discussão de ordem mais filosófica acerca da documentação linguística das línguas de sinais e, posteriormente, abordaremos as questões de ordem técnica e ética relativas à el…
Transitivity prominence within and across modalities
We investigate transitivity prominence of verbs across signed and spoken languages, based on data from both valency dictionaries and corpora. Our methodology relies on the assumption that dictionary data and corpus-based measures of transitivity are comparable, and we find evidence in support of this through the direct comparison of these two types of data across several spoken languages. For the signed modality, we measure the transitivity promi…
The Use of Signing Space in Signed News Broadcasts
This study focuses on the use of tokens, that is, empty non-topographical areas in front of the signer, in two different production sets of Swedish news broadcasts in Swedish Sign Language, one for deaf adults and another for deaf upper school-aged children. The sample includes altogether 1,084 tokens in token blends. The presenters refer to an earlier established token frequently, and the most frequent sign types used to indicate a presence of a…
Signed renga
South African Sign Language (SASL) poetry is still exploring many forms of poetry genres. This article describes the recent development of a new ‘genre’ in sign language poetry: signed renga (group poetry). The article will outline the form – what it is, how it has developed and spread, and why it is an apparently successful poetic genre. A sketch of a workshop from Signing Hands Across the Water 2 (SHAW 2) will also be provided to illustrate how…
Manual backchannel responses in signers' conversations in Swedish Sign Language
Gloss annotations in the Swedish Sign Language Corpus
The Swedish Sign Language Corpus (SSLC) was compiled during the years 2009–2011 and consists of video-recorded conversations with 42 informants between the ages of 20 and 82 from three separate regions in Sweden. The overall aim of the project was to create a corpus of Swedish Sign Language (SSL) that could provide a core data source for research on language structure and use, as well as for dictionary work. A portion of the corpus has been annot…
Co-forming real space blends in tactile signed language dialogues
This article reports on a linguistic study examining the use of real space blending in the tactile signed languages of Norwegian and Swedish signers who are both deaf and blind. Tactile signed languages are typically produced by interactants in contact with each other’s hands while signing. Of particular interest to this study are utterances which not only consist of the signer producing signs with his or her own hands (or other body parts), but …
Sharing sign language data online
This article describes how new technological possibilities allow sign language researchers to share and publish video data and transcriptions online. Both linguistic and technological aspects of creating and publishing a sign language corpus are discussed, and standards are proposed for both metadata and transcription categories specific to sign language data. In addition, ethical aspects of publishing video data of signers online are considered,…
Manual backchannel responses in signers' conversations in Swedish Sign Language
Co-forming real space blends in tactile signed language dialogues
This article reports on a linguistic study examining the use of real space blending in the tactile signed languages of Norwegian and Swedish signers who are both deaf and blind. Tactile signed languages are typically produced by interactants in contact with each other’s hands while signing. Of particular interest to this study are utterances which not only consist of the signer producing signs with his or her own hands (or other body parts), but …
Sharing sign language data online
This article describes how new technological possibilities allow sign language researchers to share and publish video data and transcriptions online. Both linguistic and technological aspects of creating and publishing a sign language corpus are discussed, and standards are proposed for both metadata and transcription categories specific to sign language data. In addition, ethical aspects of publishing video data of signers online are considered,…
Signed renga
South African Sign Language (SASL) poetry is still exploring many forms of poetry genres. This article describes the recent development of a new ‘genre’ in sign language poetry: signed renga (group poetry). The article will outline the form – what it is, how it has developed and spread, and why it is an apparently successful poetic genre. A sketch of a workshop from Signing Hands Across the Water 2 (SHAW 2) will also be provided to illustrate how…
Meaning-making in tactile cross-signing context
Cross-linguistic studies of tactile sign language are still not widely performed internationally. For this study, four deafblind informants in two different tactile sign languages, Swedish Sign Language and Norwegian Sign Language, participated in the recording at a social and cultural workshop where they worked together to create a mutual understanding in their conversations. The study provides new information on how tactile and bodily signals a…
The Use of Signing Space in Signed News Broadcasts
This study focuses on the use of tokens, that is, empty non-topographical areas in front of the signer, in two different production sets of Swedish news broadcasts in Swedish Sign Language, one for deaf adults and another for deaf upper school-aged children. The sample includes altogether 1,084 tokens in token blends. The presenters refer to an earlier established token frequently, and the most frequent sign types used to indicate a presence of a…
Gloss annotations in the Swedish Sign Language Corpus
The Swedish Sign Language Corpus (SSLC) was compiled during the years 2009–2011 and consists of video-recorded conversations with 42 informants between the ages of 20 and 82 from three separate regions in Sweden. The overall aim of the project was to create a corpus of Swedish Sign Language (SSL) that could provide a core data source for research on language structure and use, as well as for dictionary work. A portion of the corpus has been annot…
Self-Repair in Hearing L2 Learners' Spontaneous Signing
This study presents a corpus-based investigation of self-repairs in hearing adult L2 (M2L2, second modality and second language) learners of Swedish Sign Language (Svenskt teckenspråk, STS). This study analyses M2L2 learners' STS conversations with a deaf signer and examines the learners' self-repair practices and whether there are differences among learners of different proficiency levels. This provides a description of characteristics of self-r…
Sharing sign language data online
This article describes how new technological possibilities allow sign language researchers to share and publish video data and transcriptions online. Both linguistic and technological aspects of creating and publishing a sign language corpus are discussed, and standards are proposed for both metadata and transcription categories specific to sign language data. In addition, ethical aspects of publishing video data of signers online are considered,…
Gloss annotations in the Swedish Sign Language Corpus
The Swedish Sign Language Corpus (SSLC) was compiled during the years 2009–2011 and consists of video-recorded conversations with 42 informants between the ages of 20 and 82 from three separate regions in Sweden. The overall aim of the project was to create a corpus of Swedish Sign Language (SSL) that could provide a core data source for research on language structure and use, as well as for dictionary work. A portion of the corpus has been annot…
Co-forming real space blends in tactile signed language dialogues
This article reports on a linguistic study examining the use of real space blending in the tactile signed languages of Norwegian and Swedish signers who are both deaf and blind. Tactile signed languages are typically produced by interactants in contact with each other’s hands while signing. Of particular interest to this study are utterances which not only consist of the signer producing signs with his or her own hands (or other body parts), but …
Manual backchannel responses in signers' conversations in Swedish Sign Language
Signed renga
South African Sign Language (SASL) poetry is still exploring many forms of poetry genres. This article describes the recent development of a new ‘genre’ in sign language poetry: signed renga (group poetry). The article will outline the form – what it is, how it has developed and spread, and why it is an apparently successful poetic genre. A sketch of a workshop from Signing Hands Across the Water 2 (SHAW 2) will also be provided to illustrate how…
Transitivity prominence within and across modalities
We investigate transitivity prominence of verbs across signed and spoken languages, based on data from both valency dictionaries and corpora. Our methodology relies on the assumption that dictionary data and corpus-based measures of transitivity are comparable, and we find evidence in support of this through the direct comparison of these two types of data across several spoken languages. For the signed modality, we measure the transitivity promi…
The Use of Signing Space in Signed News Broadcasts
This study focuses on the use of tokens, that is, empty non-topographical areas in front of the signer, in two different production sets of Swedish news broadcasts in Swedish Sign Language, one for deaf adults and another for deaf upper school-aged children. The sample includes altogether 1,084 tokens in token blends. The presenters refer to an earlier established token frequently, and the most frequent sign types used to indicate a presence of a…
Conveying Environmental Information to Deafblind People
Many deafblind people use tactile sign language and interpreters in their daily lives. Because of their hearing and sight loss, the role of interpreters does not only involve translating the content expressed by other deaf or hearing people, but it also involves conveying environmental information (i.e., non-verbal communication regarding what is happening at a given moment to be able to understand the situation). This paper aims to contribute to…
Documentação de Línguas de Sinais
Este artigo apresenta uma discussão sobre a documentação de línguas de sinais, considerando motivações acadêmicas e sociais, assim como indicações de materiais que as comunidades surdas consideram relevantes integrarem tais documentações. Primeiramente, iremos apresentar uma discussão de ordem mais filosófica acerca da documentação linguística das línguas de sinais e, posteriormente, abordaremos as questões de ordem técnica e ética relativas à el…
Use and acquisition of mouth actions in L2 sign language learners
This article deals with L2 acquisition of a sign language, examining in particular the use and acquisition of non-manual mouth actions performed by L2 learners of Swedish Sign Language. Based on longitudinal data from an L2 learner corpus, we describe the distribution, frequency, and spreading patterns of mouth actions in sixteen L2 learners at two time points. The data are compared with nine signers of an L1 control group. The results reveal som…
A cross-linguistic comparison of reference across five signed languages
Do signers of different signed languages establish and maintain reference the same way? Here we compare how signers of five Western deaf signed languages coordinate fully conventionalized forms with more richly improvised semiotics to identify and talk about referents of varying agency. The five languages (based on a convenience sample) are Auslan, Irish Sign Language, Finnish Sign Language, Norwegian Sign Language, and Swedish Sign Language. Usi…
Self-Repair in Hearing L2 Learners' Spontaneous Signing
This study presents a corpus-based investigation of self-repairs in hearing adult L2 (M2L2, second modality and second language) learners of Swedish Sign Language (Svenskt teckenspråk, STS). This study analyses M2L2 learners' STS conversations with a deaf signer and examines the learners' self-repair practices and whether there are differences among learners of different proficiency levels. This provides a description of characteristics of self-r…
Meaning-making in tactile cross-signing context
Cross-linguistic studies of tactile sign language are still not widely performed internationally. For this study, four deafblind informants in two different tactile sign languages, Swedish Sign Language and Norwegian Sign Language, participated in the recording at a social and cultural workshop where they worked together to create a mutual understanding in their conversations. The study provides new information on how tactile and bodily signals a…
Corpus research on signed languages in the Nordic countries
This semi-systematic literature review examines signed language corpus research in the Nordic countries, with a quantitative and qualitative assessment of corpus research. The article first describes some critical components and functionalities of signed language corpora. It then outlines the evolution of Nordic corpus research, highlighting Sweden’s pioneering role and subsequent developments in Finland and Norway. The findings suggest a progres…
Tactile interactions
This paper investigates palm-ups, finger pointings, and holds in Tactile Swedish Sign Language interactions. Our objectives are threefold: scrutinizing the frequency of use of the three interactive markers, studying their functions, and describing the differences and similarities as compared to other signed and spoken languages. Data from two corpora were selected; one was collected in a studio and the other in natural settings. Fifty-nine minute…
Hearing Impairment and Communication (14 works) · Linguistics (13 works) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (11 works) · Sign language (11 works) · Computer Science (8 works) · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition (8 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Mathematics (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works) · Sign (mathematics (5 works)