The acquisition of conditionals in American Sign Language: Grammaticized facial expressions

1990 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy Snitzer Reilly ◽  
Marina Mcintire ◽  
Ursula Bellugi
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expression ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Deaf Parents ◽  
Manual Signs ◽  
Children First

ABSTRACTAn unusual facet of American Sign Language (ASL) is its use of grammaticized facial expression. In this study, we examine the acquisition of conditional sentences in ASL by 14 deaf children (ages 3;3–8;4) of deaf parents. Conditional sentences were chosen because they entail the use of both manual signs and grammaticized non-manual facial expressions. The results indicate that the children first acquire manual conditional signs, e.g., SUPPOSE, before they use the obligatory grammaticized conditional facial expression. Moreover, the children acquire the constellation of obligatory non-manual behaviors component by component, rather than holistically.

The puzzle of negation: How children move from communicative to grammatical negation in ASL

1997 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane E. Anderson ◽  
Judy S. Reilly
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Data ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Primary Language ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Developmental Relationship ◽  
Manual Signs

ABSTRACTIn American Sign Language (ASL), in addition to manual signs, specific nonmanual behaviors play a crucial role in the grammar of the language. For example, conditionals and relative clauses are signaled by obligatory nonmanual markers. This study focuses on the acquisition of negation in ASL, which is signaled by manual signs as well as an obligatory headshake. In particular, we address the developmental relationship between the communicative and grammatical (or linguistic) headshakes for negation. Study 1 includes naturalistic data from a cross-sectional sample of 51 deaf children, ranging in age from 1: 0 to 4: 11, who are acquiring ASL as their primary language. Study 2 includes longitudinal data from 16 of these children.

The Acquisition of Question Formation in Spoken English and American Sign Language by Two Hearing Children of Deaf Parents

1979 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Jones ◽  
Stephen P. Quigley
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Deaf Parents ◽  
Question Formation ◽  
Hearing Children ◽  
Parallel Fashion

This longitudinal study investigated the acquisition of question formation in spoken English and American Sign Language (ASL) by two young hearing children of deaf parents. The linguistic environment of the children included varying amounts of exposure and interaction with normal speech and with the nonstandard speech of their deaf parents. This atypical speech environment did not impede the children’s acquisition of English question forms. The two children also acquired question forms in ASL that are similar to those produced by deaf children of deaf parents. The two languages, ASL and English, developed in parallel fashion in the two children, and the two systems did not interfere with each other. This dual language development is illustrated by utterances in which the children communicated a sentence in spoken English and ASL simultaneously, with normal English structure in the spoken version and sign language structure in the ASL version.

The Development of American Sign Language–Based Analogical Reasoning in Signing Deaf Children

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-105
Author(s):  
Jon Henner ◽  
Rama Novogrodsky ◽  
Catherine Caldwell-Harris ◽  
Robert Hoffmeister
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Analogical Reasoning ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Reasoning Abilities ◽  
Development Of Language

Purpose This article examines whether syntactic and vocabulary abilities in American Sign Language (ASL) facilitate 6 categories of language-based analogical reasoning. Method Data for this study were collected from 267 deaf participants, aged 7;6 (years;months) to 18;5. The data were collected from an ongoing study initially funded by the U.S. Institute of Education Sciences in 2010. The participants were given assessments of ASL vocabulary and syntax knowledge and a task of language-based analogies presented in ASL. The data were analyzed using mixed-effects linear modeling to first see how language-based analogical reasoning developed in deaf children and then to see how ASL knowledge influenced this developmental trajectory. Results Signing deaf children were shown to demonstrate language-based reasoning abilities in ASL consistent with both chronological age and home language environment. Notably, when ASL vocabulary and syntax abilities were statistically taken into account, these were more important in fostering the development of language-based analogical reasoning abilities than were chronological age and home language. We further showed that ASL vocabulary ability and ASL syntactic knowledge made different contributions to different analogical reasoning subconstructs. Conclusions ASL is a viable language that supports the development of language-based analogical reasoning abilities in deaf children.

Lending a helping hand: Linguistic input and sign language acquisition in deaf children

1985 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip M. Prinz ◽  
Louise Masin
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Sentence Structure ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Spontaneous Production ◽  
Linguistic Input ◽  
Teachers And Parents ◽  
The One

ABSTRACTThis study examined the effects of adult “recasting” in sign language on the acquisition of specific syntactic-semantic structures by six deaf children between 9 and 76 months who were primarily at the one-sign utterance stage of development. In “recast” replies in conversation, the child's utterance is redisplayed in an altered sentence structure that still refers to the central meanings of the first sentence. Syntactic-semantic structures targeted for input intervention by teachers and parents using recasts included subject–verb relations, attribution, negation, subject–verb–object relations, conjunction, and conditionality. Recasting triggered the acquisition of new syntactic-semantic structures in American Sign Language and English which were evident in the spontaneous production of previously non-used sign utterances.

Young children's acquisition of the handshape aspect of American Sign Language signs: Parental report findings

1997 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore Siedlecki ◽  
John D. Bonvillian
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Home Visit ◽  
Ordinal Position ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Parental Report ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Deaf Parents ◽  
Parental Reports

ABSTRACTThe acquisition of the handshape aspect of American Sign Language signs was examined longitudinally in nine young children of deaf parents. In monthly home visit sessions, the parents demonstrated on videotape how their children formed the different signs in their lexicons. According to these parental reports, handshapes were produced accurately in 49.8% of the children's different signs. Accuracy of handshape production typically improved with the children's increasing age and vocabulary size. Four basic handshapes (/5, G, B, A/) predominated in the children's early sign productions. Measures of the children's handshape production accuracy, ordinal position of initial production, and frequency of production were used to describe the order in which handshapes were most often acquired. It was also observed that the part of the hand involved in contacting a sign's location often affected the accuracy of the handshapes being produced.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document