Colmare le distanze: strategie traduttive per giovani segnanti emergenti

Young emergent signers are intended as Deaf children, born into hearing non-signing families, who have not yet developed a full linguistic competence in sign language. Our research goal is to investigate how a text translated into Italian Sign Language (LIS) can be adapted in order to help these lower-proficiency signers access informative contents. We present an analytical comparison between translated texts designed for Deaf adults, fluent in LIS, and adapted texts designed for Deaf children whose sign language is still at a developing stage. Data annotation has been conducted with the software ELAN. The comparative analysis shows that the texts for young non-native signers contain specific translation strategies and adaptations aiming at bridging the linguistic, cognitive, and cultural gap due both to the young age of children and their limited linguistic competence in sign language. In support of these findings, both quantitative and qualitative data are shown and discussed.