LANGUAGE AND LITERACY ACQUISITION IN SIGN LANGUAGE: THEORIZING ABOUT THE APPLICABILITY OF THE CRITICAL PERIOD HYPOTHESIS FOR DEAF CHILDREN'S LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

For several decades now, research on the acquisition of ASL and other signed languages has contributed to our understanding of language acquisition and of age effects in particular. A strong decline in learning capacity with age has been shown in numerous studies with ASL as L1, and the age range for this critical period phenomenon appears to be very similar to what has been observed in even more studies in L2 (for both spoken and signed languages). Mayberry and Kluender (Mayberry & Kluender) argue that the two phenomena are quite different, however, to such an extent that the concept of a critical period is not applicable to L2. Their two main arguments are that L2 learners are less affected by late acquisition than L1 learners and that some L2 studies have not shown the kind of discontinuity in the age-proficiency function that is predicted by the concept of a critical period. As space is very limited, I will limit my comments to these two issues.

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10. Ultimate Attainment and the Critical Period Hypothesis: Some Thorny Issues

Comparative Perspectives on Language Acquisition ◽

10.21832/9781847696045-012 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 188-203 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

David Singleton

Keyword(s):

Critical Period ◽

Critical Period Hypothesis ◽

Ultimate Attainment

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3. The Critical Period Hypothesis: L1-related Evidence

Language Acquisition ◽

10.21832/9781853597596-004 ◽

2004 ◽

pp. 31-60

Keyword(s):

Critical Period ◽

Critical Period Hypothesis

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Bolstering Content by Promoting Language and Literacy in the Urban Science Classroom

Advances in Early Childhood and K-12 Education - K-12 STEM Education in Urban Learning Environments ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-7814-7.ch005 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 121-160

Author(s):

Jennifer E. Renn ◽

Annie Laurie Duguay

Keyword(s):

Middle School ◽

Language Development ◽

Teacher Educators ◽

Academic Language ◽

Science Classroom ◽

School Science ◽

Middle School Science ◽

Language And Literacy ◽

Program Participant ◽

Language Of Science

This chapter focuses on the creation and implementation of lesson modules related to developing language skills in the middle school science classroom. These modules, which focus on academic language development for students who are English learners or speakers of non-standard dialects, are part of the curriculum in a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program for middle school science educators at a large urban U.S. university. Drawing on the literature surrounding the academic language of science and language development, the content of these modules is appropriate for teacher educators and science teachers at all levels. The module content was designed around three components, linguistic understandings, critical language awareness, and pedagogical modeling, and exemplifies the Standards of Professional Development Excellence established by the Center for Applied Linguistics. This chapter describes the module creation, observations from the module delivery, and program participant responses to the materials and content.

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