Second language acquisition across modalities: Production variability in adult L2 learners of American Sign Language

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison I Hilger ◽  
Torrey MJ Loucks ◽  
David Quinto-Pozos ◽  
Matthew WG Dye
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Linear Trend ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Experience Levels ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Production Variability ◽  
Deaf Signers

A study was conducted to examine production variability in American Sign Language (ASL) in order to gain insight into the development of motor control in a language produced in another modality. Production variability was characterized through the spatiotemporal index (STI), which represents production stability in whole utterances and is a function of variability in effector displacement waveforms (Smith et al., 1995). Motion capture apparatus was used to acquire wrist displacement data across a set of eight target signs embedded in carrier phrases. The STI values of Deaf signers and hearing learners at three different ASL experience levels were compared to determine whether production stability varied as a function of time spent acquiring ASL. We hypothesized that lower production stability as indexed by the STI would be evident for beginning ASL learners, indicating greater production variability, with variability decreasing as ASL language experience increased. As predicted, Deaf signers showed significantly lower STI values than the hearing learners, suggesting that stability of production is indeed characteristic of increased ASL use. The linear trend across experience levels of hearing learners was not statistically significant in all spatial dimensions, indicating that improvement in production stability across relatively short time scales was weak. This novel approach to characterizing production stability in ASL utterances has relevance for the identification of sign production disorders and for assessing L2 acquisition of sign languages.

Second language acquisition of American Sign Language influences co-speech gesture production

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-482
Author(s):  
Jill Weisberg ◽  
Shannon Casey ◽  
Zed Sevcikova Sehyr ◽  
Karen Emmorey
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
One Year ◽  
Gesture Production

AbstractPrevious work indicates that 1) adults with native sign language experience produce more manual co-speech gestures than monolingual non-signers, and 2) one year of ASL instruction increases gesture production in adults, but not enough to differentiate them from non-signers. To elucidate these effects, we asked early ASL–English bilinguals, fluent late second language (L2) signers (≥ 10 years of experience signing), and monolingual non-signers to retell a story depicted in cartoon clips to a monolingual partner. Early and L2 signers produced manual gestures at higher rates compared to non-signers, particularly iconic gestures, and used a greater variety of handshapes. These results indicate susceptibility of the co-speech gesture system to modification by extensive sign language experience, regardless of the age of acquisition. L2 signers produced more ASL signs and more handshape varieties than early signers, suggesting less separation between the ASL lexicon and the co-speech gesture system for L2 signers.

scholarly journals Cross-modal translation priming and iconicity effects in deaf signers and hearing learners of American Sign Language

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 1032-1044 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Mott ◽  
Katherine J. Midgley ◽  
Phillip J. Holcomb ◽  
Karen Emmorey
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Lexical Access ◽  
Time Window ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Translation Priming ◽  
Beginning Learners ◽  
Iconic Signs ◽  
Deaf Signers

AbstractThis study used ERPs to a) assess the neural correlates of cross-linguistic, cross-modal translation priming in hearing beginning learners of American Sign Language (ASL) and deaf highly proficient signers and b) examine whether sign iconicity modulates these priming effects. Hearing learners exhibited translation priming for ASL signs preceded by English words (greater negativity for unrelated than translation primes) later in the ERP waveform than deaf signers and exhibited earlier and greater priming for iconic than non-iconic signs. Iconicity did not modulate translation priming effects either behaviorally or in the ERPs for deaf signers (except in a 800–1000 ms time window). Because deaf signers showed early translation priming effects (beginning at 400ms-600ms), we suggest that iconicity did not facilitate lexical access, but deaf signers may have recognized sign iconicity later in processing. Overall, the results indicate that iconicity speeds lexical access for L2 sign language learners, but not for proficient signers.

Phonological substitution errors in L2 ASL sentence processing by hearing M2L2 learners

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Williams ◽  
Sharlene Newman
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
English Learners ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Movement Parameter ◽  
Native Signer ◽  
Production Variability ◽  
Translation Errors

In the present study we aimed to investigate phonological substitution errors made by hearing second language (M2L2) learners of American Sign Language (ASL) during a sentence translation task. Learners saw sentences in ASL that were signed by either a native signer or a M2L2 learner. Learners were to simply translate the sentence from ASL to English. Learners’ responses were analysed for lexical translation errors that were caused by phonological parameter substitutions. Unlike previous related studies, tracking phonological substitution errors during sentence translation allows for the characterization of uncontrolled and naturalistic perception errors. Results indicated that learners made mostly movement errors followed by handshape and location errors. Learners made more movement errors for sentences signed by the M2L2 learner relative to those by the native signer. Additionally, high proficiency learners made more handshape errors than low proficiency learners. Taken together, this pattern of results suggests that late M2L2 learners are poor at perceiving the movement parameter and M2L2 production variability of the movement parameter negatively contributes to perception.

Can experience with co-speech gesture influence the prosody of a sign language? Sign language prosodic cues in bimodal bilinguals

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 402-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
DIANE BRENTARI ◽  
MARIE A. NADOLSKE ◽  
GEORGE WOLFORD
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Prosodic Structure ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Prosodic Cues ◽  
Hearing Status ◽  
Native Signers

In this paper the prosodic structure of American Sign Language (ASL) narratives is analyzed in deaf native signers (L1-D), hearing native signers (L1-H), and highly proficient hearing second language signers (L2-H). The results of this study show that the prosodic patterns used by these groups are associated both with their ASL language experience (L1 or L2) and with their hearing status (deaf or hearing), suggesting that experience using co-speech gesture (i.e. gesturing while speaking) may have some effect on the prosodic cues used by hearing signers, similar to the effects of the prosodic structure of an L1 on an L2.

Perception of Iconicity in American Sign Language by Hearing and Deaf Subjects

1981 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 388-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penny L. Griffith ◽  
Jacques H. Robinson ◽  
John M. Panagos
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Real World ◽  
First Grade ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Deaf Adults ◽  
Definition Of

Three groups of subjects differing in age, language experience, and familiarity with American Sign Language were compared on three tasks regarding the perception of iconicity in signs from American Sign Language. Subjects were asked to guess the meaning of signs, to rate signs for iconicity, and to state connections between signs and their meaning in English. Results showed that hearing college students, deaf adults, and hearing first-grade children perform similarly on tasks regarding iconicity. Results suggest a psycholinguistic definition of iconicity based on association values, rather than physical resemblances between signs and real-world referents.

Phonological variation and change in Australian and New Zealand Sign Languages: The location variable

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Schembri ◽  
David McKee ◽  
Rachel McKee ◽  
Sara Pivac ◽  
Trevor Johnston ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Phonological Variation ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Place Of Articulation ◽  
Citation Form ◽  
Deaf Signers

AbstractIn this study, we consider variation in a class of signs in Australian and New Zealand Sign Languages that includes the signs think, name, and clever. In their citation form, these signs are specified for a place of articulation at or near the signer's forehead or above, but are sometimes produced at lower locations. An analysis of 2667 tokens collected from 205 deaf signers in five sites across Australia and of 2096 tokens collected from 138 deaf signers from three regions in New Zealand indicates that location variation in these signs reflects both linguistic and social factors, as also reported for American Sign Language (Lucas, Bayley, & Valli, 2001). Despite similarities, however, we find that some of the particular factors at work, and the kinds of influence they have, appear to differ in these three signed languages. Moreover, our results suggest that lexical frequency may also play a role.

scholarly journals Effects of language experience on the perception of American Sign Language

Cognition ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill P. Morford ◽  
Angus B. Grieve-Smith ◽  
James MacFarlane ◽  
Joshua Staley ◽  
Gabriel Waters
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Language Experience

scholarly journals An Exploratory Study of ASL Demonstratives

Languages ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill P. Morford ◽  
Barbara Shaffer ◽  
Naomi Shin ◽  
Paul Twitchell ◽  
Bettie T. Petersen
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Preliminary Analysis ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Completion Task ◽  
Deaf Signers

American Sign Language (ASL) makes extensive use of pointing signs, but there has been only limited documentation of how pointing signs are used for demonstrative functions. We elicited demonstratives from four adult Deaf signers of ASL in a puzzle completion task. Our preliminary analysis of the demonstratives produced by these signers supports three important conclusions in need of further investigation. First, despite descriptions of four demonstrative signs in the literature, participants expressed demonstrative function 95% of the time through pointing signs. Second, proximal and distal demonstrative referents were not distinguished categorically on the basis of different demonstrative signs, nor on the basis of pointing handshape or trajectory. Third, non-manual features including eye gaze and facial markers were essential to assigning meaning to demonstratives. Our results identify new avenues for investigation of demonstratives in ASL.

scholarly journals ERP Evidence for Co-Activation of English Words during Recognition of American Sign Language Signs

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany Lee ◽  
Gabriela Meade ◽  
Katherine J. Midgley ◽  
Phillip J. Holcomb ◽  
Karen Emmorey
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Distinct Pattern ◽  
American Sign ◽  
N400 Effect ◽  
Co Activation ◽  
English Translations ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Deaf Signers

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to investigate co-activation of English words during recognition of American Sign Language (ASL) signs. Deaf and hearing signers viewed pairs of ASL signs and judged their semantic relatedness. Half of the semantically unrelated signs had English translations that shared an orthographic and phonological rime (e.g., BAR–STAR) and half did not (e.g., NURSE–STAR). Classic N400 and behavioral semantic priming effects were observed in both groups. For hearing signers, targets in sign pairs with English rime translations elicited a smaller N400 compared to targets in pairs with unrelated English translations. In contrast, a reversed N400 effect was observed for deaf signers: target signs in English rime translation pairs elicited a larger N400 compared to targets in pairs with unrelated English translations. This reversed effect was overtaken by a later, more typical ERP priming effect for deaf signers who were aware of the manipulation. These findings provide evidence that implicit language co-activation in bimodal bilinguals is bidirectional. However, the distinct pattern of effects in deaf and hearing signers suggests that it may be modulated by differences in language proficiency and dominance as well as by asymmetric reliance on orthographic versus phonological representations.

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