Identifying the Phonological Errors of Second-Modality, Second-Language (M2-L2) Novice Signers Through Video-Based Mock Tests

Abstract

This study investigates how video-based mock tests can reveal the types of phonological errors that novice British Sign Language (BSL) learners make most often, and how teachers might help learners increase their phonological accuracy. The testing need that this local language test was designed to address was a predominance of phonological errors among 10 level-1 BSL learners at the author’s university, with relatively little progress being made in enabling them to target their phonological skills effectively. The mock test devised to meet this need, required that students send a video clip of themselves signing about an assigned topic. To categorise the errors, the five phonological parameters of BSL, handshape, location, orientation, movement, and non-manual features, were applied. The results of the mock test showed that most common errors were in the handshape and movement parameters, but that movement errors were repeated more often between signers. Some movement errors seemed to result from confusion between signs in the same semantic domain. Deploying and analysing mock tests in this way can meet the local needs of learners while giving teachers insights that they can use to inform their lessons, and opportunities to increase their own meta-linguistic awareness and analytical skills.