scholarly journals Abnormal Use of Personal Pronouns in Sign Language of Autistic Deaf Children

Author(s):  
Yangyang Li

<p>Abnormal use of personal pronouns is an important feature of autistic children's oral development. After comparing autistic deaf children with autistic children and deaf children respectively, it is found that pronoun avoidance also exists in the sign language development of autistic deaf children, but pronoun reversal rarely occurs. In pronoun avoidance, the sign language performance of autistic deaf children is more similar to that of autistic children than deaf children, which is more likely to be due to autistic children's own disorders than differences in language forms.  Different from autistic children and deaf children, autistic deaf children have their own unique performance in pronoun reversal: palm reversal. The reason may be that the disorder of personal pronoun reversal in autistic children may have different performance due to differences in language forms.</p>

Author(s):  
Yangyang Li

<p>Abnormal use of personal pronouns is an important feature of autistic children's oral development. After comparing autistic deaf children with autistic children and deaf children respectively, it is found that pronoun avoidance also exists in the sign language development of autistic deaf children, but pronoun reversal rarely occurs. In pronoun avoidance, the sign language performance of autistic deaf children is more similar to that of autistic children than deaf children, which is more likely to be due to autistic children's own disorders than differences in language forms.  Different from autistic children and deaf children, autistic deaf children have their own unique performance in pronoun reversal: palm reversal. The reason may be that the disorder of personal pronoun reversal in autistic children may have different performance due to differences in language forms.</p>


Author(s):  
Marc Marschark ◽  
Harry G. Lang ◽  
John A. Albertini

To understand the complex relations between language and learning, we have to look at both how children learn language and what it is that they learn that allows them to communicate with others. To accomplish this, we need to distinguish between apparent differences in language that are related to the modality of communication and actual differences in language fluencies observed among deaf children. It also will help to examine some relevant differences between deaf children and hearing children. We have already pointed out that the distinction between spoken language and sign language, while a theoretically important one for researchers, is an oversimplification for most practical purposes. It is rare that deaf children are exposed only to spoken language or sign language, even if that is the intention of their parents or teachers. According to 1999 data, approximately 55 percent of deaf children in the United States are formally educated in programs that report either using sign language exclusively (just over 5 percent) or signed and spoken language together (just over 49 percent) (Gallaudet University, Center for Applied Demographic Statistics). Because almost half of all deaf children in the United States are missed in such surveys, however, these numbers only should be taken as approximate. Comparisons of the language abilities of deaf children who primarily use sign language with those who primarily use spoken language represent one of the most popular and potentially informative areas in research relating to language development and academic success. Unfortunately, this area is also one of the most complex. Educational programs emphasizing spoken or sign language often have different educational philosophies and curricula as well as different communication philosophies. Programs may only admit children with particular histories of early intervention, and parents will be drawn to different programs for a variety of reasons. Differences observed between children from any two programs thus might be the result of a number of variables rather than, or in addition to, language modality per se. Even when deaf children are educated in spoken language environments, they often develop systems of gestural communication with their parents (Greenberg et al., 1984).


2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 798-809 ◽  
Author(s):  
PASQUALE RINALDI ◽  
MARIA CRISTINA CASELLI

To address the negative effects of deafness on spoken language acquisition, many clinicians suggest using cochlear implant (CI) and oral education and advise against sign language, even when combined with spoken language (i.e., bilingualism), believing that it may slow down spoken language development. In a deaf child with CI who was exposed at an early age to Italian Sign Language and spoken Italian, we evaluated language development and the relationship between the two languages. The number of words/signs produced by the child consistently increased with age, and the vocabulary growth rate in spoken Italian was equivalent to that of hearing peers. Before CI, the child relied almost exclusively on sign language; after CI, he gradually shifted to spoken Italian yet still used sign language when unable to retrieve words in spoken Italian. We conclude that bimodal bilingualism may scaffold the development of spoken language also in deaf children with CI.


Per Linguam ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-27
Author(s):  
Annemarie Le Roux ◽  
Marga Stander

Language development is often hampered by the fact that 90 per cent of deaf children are born into hearing families who do not know Sign language (SL) or haven't had any previous contact with the deaf world. Such parents often use only spoken language to communicate with the child, which results in no or very little language exposure. Many deaf children only start to learn a language, signed or spoken, when they start attending school, usually between the ages of three and seven. As a result, the deaf child has a delay in cognitive and language development and finds it hard to learn a SL, like South African Sign Language (SASL), as well as a written language (e.g., English). This late exposure to SL proves to be a serious cognitive problem for deaf children when compared to those children who acquired language from birth. This problem led to the research question namely, whether deaf children’s language and cognition can still develop to the required level for school readiness if early language intervention (ELI) takes place within the critical period of language acquisition. To answer the question, a case study was done at a school for the deaf and blind with a small group of deaf learners in the foundation phase. The results show that the little language exposure these children received in only one year of school already made a huge difference to their language and cognitive development. This article also makes recommendations to the various stakeholders in deaf education.


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