Deaf Children Are Verb Attenders: Early Sign Vocabulary Development in Dutch Toddlers

2005 ◽  
pp. 161-188
Author(s):  
Nini Hoiting
Keyword(s):  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Early Sign ◽  
Deaf Children

scholarly journals The impact of input quality on early sign development in native and non-native language learners

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 537-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
JENNY LU ◽  
ANNA JONES ◽  
GARY MORGAN
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Early Sign ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Hearing Parents ◽  
Deaf Parents ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThere is debate about how input variation influences child language. Most deaf children are exposed to a sign language from their non-fluent hearing parents and experience a delay in exposure to accessible language. A small number of children receive language input from their deaf parents who are fluent signers. Thus it is possible to document the impact of quality of input on early sign acquisition. The current study explores the outcomes of differential input in two groups of children aged two to five years: deaf children of hearing parents (DCHP) and deaf children of deaf parents (DCDP). Analysis of child sign language revealed DCDP had a more developed vocabulary and more phonological handshape types compared with DCHP. In naturalistic conversations deaf parents used more sign tokens and more phonological types than hearing parents. Results are discussed in terms of the effects of early input on subsequent language abilities.

Sign Language and Deaf Education: A new tradition

2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 233-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ljubica Pribanić
Keyword(s):  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Deaf Education ◽  
Early Sign ◽  
Social Adaptation ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Deaf Parents ◽  
Slow Progress ◽  
The University ◽  
New Tradition

Deaf education in Croatia still continues to use a predominantly auditory-speech approach, spoken Croatian only, and simultaneous communication (SC). In the last few years a few changes in tradition have been made: most importantly, educational interpreting is now available in high schools and at the university level. Given the lack of bilingual deaf education and early sign language exposure, deaf children make very slow progress in literacy, compared with deaf children of deaf parents. Benefits of early sign language acquisition can be seen in deaf children of deaf parents not only in better social adaptation skills, but also in their better academic achievement compared with other deaf children. The cultural approach to deaf education views sign language as the most natural linguistic form of deaf people, and a powerful means of communication for all purposes and in all circumstances. Here, we discuss case studies of Sweden and Denmark, with 20 years of tradition in deaf bilingual education; the Netherlands, with about 10 years of deaf bilingual education; and Spain, where deaf bilingual education is in the process of implementation. These examples (Sweden, Spain, Netherlands) demonstrate the processes of policy changes and the shift to deaf education that is aimed at taking care of the needs of deaf children and their families, as well as implementing the human rights protections for linguistic minorities.

Sign Language and Deaf Education

2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 233-254
Author(s):  
Ljubica Pribanić
Keyword(s):  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Deaf Education ◽  
Early Sign ◽  
Social Adaptation ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Cultural Approach ◽  
Deaf Parents ◽  
Slow Progress ◽  
The University

Deaf education in Croatia still continues to use a predominantly auditory-speech approach, spoken Croatian only, and simultaneous communication (SC). In the last few years a few changes in tradition have been made: most importantly, educational interpreting is now available in high schools and at the university level. Given the lack of bilingual deaf education and early sign language exposure, deaf children make very slow progress in literacy, compared with deaf children of deaf parents. Benefits of early sign language acquisition can be seen in deaf children of deaf parents not only in better social adaptation skills, but also in their better academic achievement compared with other deaf children. The cultural approach to deaf education views sign language as the most natural linguistic form of deaf people, and a powerful means of communication for all purposes and in all circumstances. Here, we discuss case studies of Sweden and Denmark, with 20 years of tradition in deaf bilingual education; the Netherlands, with about 10 years of deaf bilingual education; and Spain, where deaf bilingual education is in the process of implementation. These examples (Sweden, Spain, Netherlands) demonstrate the processes of policy changes and the shift to deaf education that is aimed at taking care of the needs of deaf children and their families, as well as implementing the human rights protections for linguistic minorities.

Using the Adapted Flemish Sign Language Visual Communication and Sign Language Checklist

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-198
Author(s):  
Beatrijs Wille ◽  
Thomas Allen ◽  
Kristiane Van Lierde ◽  
Mieke Van Herreweghe
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Visual Communication ◽  
Early Sign ◽  
The Other ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Profound Hearing Loss ◽  
Language Support ◽  
Standardization Process ◽  
Detailed Picture

Abstract This study addresses the topic of visual communication and early sign language acquisition in deaf children with a Flemish Sign Language (Vlaamse Gebarentaal or VGT) input. Results are obtained through a checklist focusing on sign-exposed deaf children’s visual communication and early sign language acquisition: the adapted VGT Visual Communication and Sign Language checklist. The purpose is to obtain the first detailed picture of these children’s visual and early VGT acquisition and to determine the optimal support for the checklist’s ongoing standardization process. At the time of testing, all children were 24-months old and had been diagnosed with a severe or profound hearing loss before the age of 6 months. Half of the children were being raised in deaf families with native VGT exposure, while the other half were from hearing families with no prior VGT knowledge. All parents declared VGT accessibility to the child and that they used VGT in the home. Resulting from this study is the identification of five early visual communication items as being potentially good indicators of later (sign) language development. Further, concerns were put forward on the lack of ongoing visual, communication, and language support for deaf children and their parents in Flanders.

The Role of Iconicity in Early Sign Language Acquisition

1984 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Orlansky ◽  
John D. Bonvillian
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Vocabulary Development ◽  
Early Sign ◽  
Very Young Children ◽  
Deaf Parents ◽  
Iconic Signs

A longitudinal study of sign language acquisition was conducted with 13 very young children (median age 10 months at outset of study) of deaf parents. The children's sign language lexicons were examined for their percentages of iconic signs at two early stages of vocabulary development. Iconic signs are those that clearly resemble the action, object, or characteristic they represent. Analysis of the subjects' vocabularies revealed that iconic signs comprised 30.8% of the first 10 signs they acquired. At age 18 months, the proportion of iconic signs was found to be 33.7%. The finding that a majority of signs in the subjects' early vocabularies were not iconic suggests that the role of iconicity in young children's acquisition of signs may have been overrated by some investigators, and that other formational features may be of greater importance in influencing young children's ability to acquire signs.

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