A1 Journal article (refereed)
Early Research on Finnish Sign Language : In the Footsteps of Great Role Models (2024)
Rissanen, T., Rainò, P., & Takkinen, R. (2024). Early Research on Finnish Sign Language : In the Footsteps of Great Role Models. Sign Language Studies, 24(2), 362-375. https://doi.org/10.1353/sls.2024.a920116
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Rissanen, Terhi; Rainò, Päivi; Takkinen, Ritva
Journal or series: Sign Language Studies
ISSN: 0302-1475
eISSN: 1533-6263
Publication year: 2024
Volume: 24
Issue number: 2
Pages range: 362-375
Publisher: Gallaudet university press
Publication country: United States
Publication language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sls.2024.a920116
Publication open access: Not open
Publication channel open access:
Abstract
Research on Finnish Sign Language (FinSL) started in 1982 at Helsinki University. The main drivers behind it were Professor Fred Karlsson, then head of the Department of General Linguistics at Helsinki University and Liisa Kauppinen, who was the executive director of the Finnish Association of the Deaf (and who, in later years, received honorary doctorates from Gallaudet University, the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, and Trinity College in Ireland). The first paid researchers in this new endeavor were a linguistics student, Terhi Rissanen, together with Thomas Sandholm, a native FinSL signer. Their combined experiences are recounted in the first section of this article. In the second section, Päivi Rainò, who grew up in a signing family, recounts how she joined this team as a student intern. The third section is by Ritva Takkinen, who describes how she became interested in signing while studying to be a speech therapist in the early 1970s and went on to do research on the acquisition of FinSL while working on her MA thesis and later her PhD thesis.
Keywords: sign language; Finnish Sign Language; language research; research history; history of science and learning
Contributing organizations
Ministry reporting: Yes
Reporting Year: 2024
Preliminary JUFO rating: 1
