Sign Language Exposure & Language Deprivation LIN381 Fall 2024 PDF

Sign Language Exposure & Language Deprivation LIN381 Fall 2024  Announcements Memoir Paper is due Monday Nov 25th by 3:30 pm (upload into Brightspace) Spoken Language as privileged Even though Sign Languages meet all characteristics of Human Languages, there ar...

Sign Language Exposure & Language Deprivation LIN381 Fall 2024  Announcements Memoir Paper is due Monday Nov 25th by 3:30 pm (upload into Brightspace) Spoken Language as privileged Even though Sign Languages meet all characteristics of Human Languages, there are still biases held that human speech is privileged (phonocentrism), and SLs are considered as “secondary communication approaches” only to be offered if speech acquisition fails. Over 129 Deaf Community Sign Languages Communication Approaches with DHH infants/children Speech Only (Oral); no signs Speech (e.g., Spoken English) PLUS Gesture (Pointing, iconic gestures) & Homesign (invented signs within a family) Cued Speech (handshapes produced around the mouth to disambiguate speech sounds) Simple ASL signs for basic needs (EAT, SLEEP, MORE, ALL-DONE, POTTY); Examples: “Baby Signs” Note: Official Baby Signs program created by researchers Acredolo & Goodwyn using modified ASL signs is actually intended for hearing children as a “bridge to speech” Communication Approaches with DHH infants/children Speech (e.g., Spoken English) PLUS… Simultaneous Communication/Manually Coded English (MCE)/Sign Supported Speech An invented communication approach (in 1970s) where one attempts to speak and sign at the same time, signing in English word order Mostly incorporates ASL sign vocabulary, but adds invented signs for certain English structures (e.g., suffixes or determiners) But the reality is that either the speech signal or sign signal omits forms or is distorted, resulting in the input being neither English nor ASL. And, because mostly its hearing people using this system, the speech remains intact, but signing is inconsistent (Scott & Henner, 2020) American Sign Language (ASL) Used in US, Canada; It is estimated that there are between 360,000 to 512,000 Deaf ASL speakers in the U.S. (Mitchell, 2005) Historically related to French Sign Language; passed along among Deaf children attending residential schools for the Deaf (typically one in each state) over decades (since early 1800s) ASL is a complete language (not based on English) in the visual- gestural modality with its own grammatical structures Acquired easily by children when they are just immersed in the language (“early and accessible input”); following similar trajectory as children acquiring a spoken language, and mastering most of the grammar by age 4-5  As 90-95% of DHH children have hearing parents (who do not typically know how to sign), they will often try an oral/spoken language approach with their DHH child first But if that child’s hearing loss prevents adequate access to the spoken signal, and if they are not exposed to any signed communication, they will be at risk for language deprivation Estimated that less than 8% of DHH children get signed input in the home. The DHH child is also “up against” a critical/sensitive window for language exposure Critical/Sensitive Period for Language Hypothesis: Window of opportunity for language acquisition to be acquired easily; if language is acquired after that window, language outcomes may not be “native-like” Evidence in support of a critical/sensitive period for language? Case studies of spoken language deprivation among hearing children (e.g., Genie) are rare; they have also involved serious child maltreatment which could also account for persistent language difficulties after language exposure Studies of Deaf individuals have provided cases of loving family, but delay in accessible language exposure (“an experiment of nature”) Evidence for a Critical Period for language? Case studies of late acquisition in childhood: two deaf individuals, Mei and Cal (Berk & Lillo-Martin, 2012), entered ASL residential school around age 5-6 with virtually no prior language exposure Sign acquisition process: began with single sign utterances (skipping babbling?) progressed to two-sign utterances very quickly semantic content of their initial signing was considered to be more advanced than a native signing 2 year-old. Long term: Most utterances remained at 2-sign length with fixed order (SV and VO) They omitted verb directionality for person agreement frequently (e.g., I-GIVE-HER, SHE-GIVES-ME); but could produce location marking (like DOG-loca, CAT-locb) Case studies of teenagers with delayed language exposure Cases of Maria & Marcus (Morford, 2003) 2 teenagers (Maria & Marcus) followed for 2.5 years after first ASL exposure. some use of classifiers and some directionality, but did not reach 100% accuracy. 7 years later: M&M showed “chance level performance” on sign sentence comprehension at normal speed (they improved if allowed to review several times); this suggests long-lasting effects of delayed language on language processing. Cases of Shawna, Cody, Carlos (Ferjan Ramirez, Lieberman, & Mayberry, 2013; Cheng & Mayberry, 2019) First acquired ASL in their teens. After 2 years exposure, their ASL vocabulary was more advanced than a native 2 year old. Average sentence length remained at about 2 sign utterances (like Mei and Cal) Shawna & Carlos also had brain imaging done; found that they used a different part of their brain when learning a new sign (compared to native signers and even L2 Hearing ASL learners) Found that they used a mixture of word orders in first 1-2 years, but after that they settled on canonical word order in ASL (SV, VO) Comparing Late Learners of ASL: Newport (1990) evaluated ASL skills of 30 Deaf adults who have been signing for 20-30 years, but who were exposed to ASL starting at different ages (compared to native ASL signers) Native ASL signers (exposed from birth) Early ASL learners (age 4-6) Late ASL learners (after age 12) All participants had no difficulty mastering basic SVO word order of ASL Production and comprehension of ASL morphology (classifier constructions & verb agreement marking) was affected by age of first exposure to ASL  Language Deprivation Syndrome (Hall, Levin & Anderson, 2017) Language deprivation occurs when a child experiences lack of full access to a natural language during the critical period (appx. first 5 years of life). Estimate less than 8% of deaf children receive regular access to SL in the home; it is often postponed as a last resort option to deaf children who have failed to develop speech. Deaf individuals experience a higher prevalence of behavioral health concerns than general population; elevated reports of emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexual violence in large community sample (p. 3); challenges in communication with parents and peers; barriers to behavioral health care Language Deprivation Syndrome…(cont) Proposed characteristics of Language Deprivation Syndrome (not deafness): language dysfluency, fund of knowledge deficits, disruptive thinking/mood/behavior (more prevalent in individuals with less language) Policy implications: Early childhood intervention should focus on language and cognitive development, not solely on auditory deprivation, speech or spoken language outcomes. Language Deprivation Syndrome is preventable Does signing impede speech development in DHH children? One research group (Geers et al, 2017) studied spoken language outcome by DHH children who have cochlear implants. They argued that the group who continued to sign post-implant did not fare as well as the Oral-only group. Several researchers (e.g., Caselli et al, 2017) immediately critiqued Geers et al.’s claim. It was not evident that the CI children who had sign exposure were exposed to ASL, a natural language, in its entirety. Rather, they may have seen only Manual Codes for English presented simultaneously with speech (Sign Supported Speech), where the sign signal is inconsistent.  Challenges with accessing consistent exposure to ASL for DHH in all-hearing families. Where might families find ASL for their DHH child? Early Intervention Team may have Deaf Mentor visit home to help create a language-rich environment for the DHH child; find other opportunities for meaningful interaction with other Deaf adults Parent-Infant and preschool programs at Schools for the Deaf Caselli et al. (2022) found that if hearing parents started learning to sign when DHH child is 6 months old, that child does not show language delay in ASL (their signing appears similar to natively-exposed DHH children with Deaf parents)  But hearing parents are often presented with an either-or choice; or the suggestion is made that signing is incompatible with a spoken language approach (or post-Cochlear Implant approach) Davidson et al. (2014) found that native signing DHH children who received cochlear implants AND hearing coda native ASL signers performed within age-appropriate levels on measures of spoken English vocabulary, morpho-syntax, speech articulation, phonological awareness, and overall language proficiency (Lillo- Martin et al, p. 5)  If natively exposed ASL signers are signing an average of 61 signs between 12-17 months… it does not seem too onerous a task for a hearing parent to learn some 60 signs in the child’s first year; 150 signs by the end of their second year. 110 Deaf ASL native signers (age 8-35 mos) Age 8-11 mos = 8 mean signs (2-17) Age 12-17 mos = 61 (7-107) Age 18-23 mos = 149 (39- 348) Age 24-29 mos = 152 (102- 417) Age 30-35 mos = 380 (249-