Research methods

Our team is particularly specialized in theoretical and experimental research on sign language linguistics. The elicitation of specific data on German Sign Language (DGS) is conducted with native signers and early learners of DGS. For the video sessions, we use picture elicitation tasks, question-answer tasks, retelling of picture stories, narration tasks, translation tasks, and many more methods. We record natural language data in conversations between native signers at the sign language lab. There are at least two cameras filming simultaneously, one centered on the upper body and the other zooming on the face, thus enabling us to study both the manual and non-manual aspects of signed languages. The sign language lab has video equipment that makes it possible to record video data in high resolution (HD or 4K) and with a high frame rate, while simultaneously capturing the face of the person signing with the TrueDepth camera of an iPhone. The combination of these two systems makes it possible to capture a person's entire body in great detail during data collection and also to collect detailed information about the facial area. The raw film material is cut, edited and then annotated with professional annotation software specifically designed for this task. This guarantees a systematic analysis of the data.
Moreover, we conduct so-called eye-tracking experiments, among other things, for example to investigate eye movements during signing. The data sets are subsequently unified at the computer, thereby showing in which direction the signer looked exactly at a specific time while signing. More detailed information on the respective research methods is available under the different project descriptions (see projects).