Health emergency services are a critical aspect of any health care system. They need to respond quickly and efficiently, especially in life-threatening situations. In a 2019 scoping study on health and access to health care services in the Deaf community in Wales, we noted the poor perception of health emergency services by this community. In this perspective article, we present reflections and opinions on health emergency services expressed by members of the Welsh Deaf community, with a focus on texting 999 and the availability of British Sign Language interpreters on short notice. We also present our viewpoint to deal with the issues in both settings.

This corpus-based study examines the diachronic development of the

This corpus-driven study seeks to explain the choice between the zero complement and the that complement constructions, when occurring with the mental state predicate think. Previous studies have identified a range of factors that are argued to explain the alternation patterns. Such studies have also proposed that there is a diachronic drift towards zero complementation. Based on a sample of 9,720 think tokens, from both spoken and written corpora, from between 1560–2012, we test the hypothesis of diachronic change and the effect of eleven proposed factors on the constructional alternation. Using logistic regression, we demonstrate that, contrary to previous studies, there is in fact a diachronic decrease in zero complementation. Moreover, the study also demonstrates the importance of understanding the interaction of the various factors that explain the near-synonymous relation, including, especially, between the spoken and written modes.

This corpus-based study examines the diachronic development of the that/zero alternation with nine verbs of cognition, viz. think, believe, feel, guess, imagine, know, realize, suppose and understand by means of a stepwise logistic regression analysis. The data comprised a total of (n=5,812) think, (n=3,056) believe, (n=1,273) feel, (n=1,885) guess, (n=2,225) imagine, (n=1,805) know, (n=1,244) realize, (n=2,836) suppose and (n=3,395) understand tokens from both spoken and written corpora from 1580–2012. Taking our cue from previous research suggesting that there has been a diachronic increase in the use of the zero complementizer form from Late Middle / Early Modern to Present-day English, we use a large set of parallel spoken and written diachronic data and a rigorous quantitative methodology to test this claim with the nine aforementioned verbs. In addition, we also investigate the impact of eleven structural features, which have been claimed to act as predictors for the use or presence of the zero complementizer form for ‘panchronic’ (i.e. effects are aggregated over all time periods) and diachronic effects. The objectives of this study are to examine the following: (i) whether there is indeed a diachronic trend towards more zero use; (ii) whether the conditioning factors proposed in the literature indeed predict the zero form; (iii) to what extent these factors interact; and (iv) whether the predictive power of the conditioning factors becomes stronger or weaker over time. The analysis shows that, contrary to the aforementioned belief that the zero form has been on the increase, there is in fact a steady decrease in zero use, but the extent of this decrease is not the same for all verbs. In addition, the analysis of interactions with verb type indicates differences between verbs in terms of the predictive power of the conditioning factors. Additional significant interactions emerged, notably with verb, mode (i.e. spoken or written data) and period. The interactions with period show that certain factors that are good predictors of the zero form overall lose predictive power over time.

Parenting support services and programs develop and strengthen existing parenting skills. However, in the UK and despite the 2010 UK Equality Act’s provisions, these programs are generally not accessible for Deaf parents whose first and/or preferred language is British Sign Language (BSL) because the medium of instruction is typically spoken and written English. This small-scale qualitative interview study gauged North Walian Deaf parents’ needs and preferences for accessing parenting classes. A structured interview assessed a small group of North Walian Deaf parents’ language practices, their perceptions of parenting support and accessibility, and their needs and preferences when it comes to parenting classes. An additional case study of a Deaf parent’s experience of participating in an 11-week-long parenting course with an English-BSL interpreter provides further insight into how such classes can be made accessible to Deaf parents. The main interview findings were that the participants had substantially lower English skills than BSL skills, that face-to-face delivery was preferred over online BSL support, and that all materials should be made available in BSL. The case study further uncovered several small adjustments that should be made to face-to-face classes to make them accessible to Deaf parents. In conclusion, materials from already existing parenting classes should be translated into BSL, interpreters should be available, and small adjustments to face-to-face classes should be made, so that Deaf parents can access and participate in already existing parenting programs.