I am a lecturer and researcher at Bar-Ilan University, Israel in the Department of English Literature and Linguistics.

 

My research focuses on variation and change in sign languages, from both a sociolinguistic perspective as well as a language emergence perspective.

 

In Israel, I have the unique opportunity to study young sign languages - including Israeli Sign Language, Kufr Qassem Sign Language, Al Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language, Ein Mahil Sign Language, and others - and to examine how language grows in complexity in the early stages of language emergence.

 

In recent years, like many societies, young deaf people are more mobile and are interacting with different deaf communities within and outside of Israel. Therefore, my research also explores the influence of contact between multiple languages.

 

Additionally, I'm particularly interested in how variations signals group membership and in the relationship between language and broader social factors, such as sexuality and gender, and whether the features we see in signers are also shared by hearing non-signers in the gestures they use.