John D. Bonvillian

The Transition from Nonreferential to Referential Language in Children Acquiring American Sign Language.

This longitudinal study examined the early language productions of 9 children of deaf parents. Monthly home visits and parental diary reports revealed that these children, on the average, produced their initial recognizable sign at 8.2 months of age, attained a lexicon of 10 recognizable signs at 13.5 months of age, and combined signs at 16.1 months of age. Analysis of the context of these early signs showed that the children did not use signs referentially (i.e., to name new things) until a mean age of 12.6 months, typically after they had demonstrated communicative pointing. Signs acquired earlier were primarily imitations of parental sign models, signs used in interactive routines, and requests for familair items. Most of the childrens early signs were not iconic

Concepts and words in the 18-month-old: Acquiring concept names under controlled conditions

Abstract The young childs use of available evidence in acquiring words was examined longitudinally. In comparison with previous work on early word meaning, two essential departures in design were employed — word use by the children was exhaustively detailed in an experimental setting, and this setting permitted systematic control and limitation in patterns of referent object encounter and of adult naming for the objects (toys). Although the children (n = 10) were presented relatively few examples from which to learn word and concept meanings, they succeeded in learning to use many of the words appropriately. Variations in the course of learning for different children are discussed, with special attention to the ways in which nonverbal action or mother-child interaction could have influenced the childs progress.

Sign language and autism

Research findings and issues in teaching sign language to nonspeaking autistic children are reviewed. Data on over 100 children indicate that nearly all autistic children learn receptive and expressive signs, and many learn to combine signs. These children also exhibit marked improvement in adaptive behaviors. Speech skills are acquired by fewer children and may be developed through simultaneous speech and sign training. Possible explanations for these results are given, together with suggestions for future research and data collection. Recommended innovations include exposure to fluent signers and training in discourse and code-switching. Different sign language teaching methods need to be investigated more fully, including emphasis on training sign language within the childrens total environment and with greater staff and parental participation.

Psycholinguistic and Educational Implications of Deafness

The linguistic abilities, cognitive abilities, and educational achievements of the deaf are reviewed. The reviewed indicates three conclusions about the abilities of deaf persons relative to hearing p

Location, Handshape & Movement: Young Children's Acquisition of the Formational Aspects of American Sign Language

The acquisition of the formational aspects of American Sign Language signs was examined in nine young children of deaf parents. Videotape records of early sign language development were made during monthly home visits. The study focused on the acquisition of the three principal formational components of any ASL sign: location, movement, and handshape. Beginning with the children’s initial sign productions, the location aspect was produced correctly in most instances. The movement aspect was produced significantly less accurately than locations, and handshapes were the least accurate formational aspect. There was little change over time in production accuracy for sign locations and movements. In contrast, the children’s accuracy of handshape production improved significantly over the ages included in this study (5–18 months).

Early Sign Language Acquisition and the Development of Hand Preference in Young Children

Hand preference for signing and for nonsign actions was examined longitudinally in 24 young children (3 deaf, 21 hearing) with deaf parents. Most of these children showed a strong preference for their right hands in their sign production. This preference emerged early in their development, was relatively consistent over time, and predicted mature hand preference. Although most of the children also preferred to use their right hands in nonsign actions, their right-hand preference for signing was much stronger. Hand preference scores for two types of nonsign actions, communicative gestures and object actions, were significantly correlated with those for signing. Hand preference also was linked to rate of motor development but not to sign language acquisition. These findings are discussed with regard to current conceptualizations about the interrelationships among language, motor processes, and laterality.

Handedness patterns in deaf persons.

The handedness patterns of 226 deaf high-school and college students were compared to those of 210 college students with normal hearing. Both groups evidenced many more right-handed than left-handed members, as determined by responses to a hand preference questionnaire and performance on an activity test battery. There was, however, a significantly higher incidence of left-handedness among the deaf subjects than among the hearing. Moreover, the left-handed deaf students were found to be less likely to have deaf relatives, and to have been introduced to sign language later in their development than the deaf student population as a whole. These findings were interpreted as showing that age of acquisition of language was related to the development of handedness patterns, whereas auditory processing experience probably was not.

Sign language, pantomime, and gestural processing in aphasic persons: A review☆

Many aphasic individuals who fail to reacquire spoken language skills may retain the ability to acquire aspects of a manual communication system. This conclusion is reached after reviewing the results of studies of pantomime recognition and production, spontaneous gestural production, and manual language training in a wide range of aphasic subjects. Overall, the aphasic subjects appeared to be less impaired in their visuomotor processing than in their auditory-vocal processing. The results, however, are not definitive enough to resolve the long-standing debate as to whether or not a central symbolic deficit is present in aphasia.

Young children's acquisition of the location aspect of American Sign Language signs: Parental report findings

The acquisition of the location aspect of American Sign Language signs was examined in 9 young children of deaf parents. In monthly home visits, the parents demonstrated on videotape how their children formed each newly-acquired sign in their lexicons; these videotaped records served as the basis for the present analyses. Sign locations, overall, were produced with relatively high accuracy: 83.5% were correct on average across the different signs in the childrens early lexicons. Certain sign locations were found to be more easily or readily acquired than others. Highly contrasting locations (forehead, chin, on and in front of the trunk) were acquired first. Among the locations typically acquired later were those that involved complex handshapes, provided a small area for a point of contact, or required the active signing hand to cross the bodys midline. The location aspect was interpreted as playing a central role in young childrens early sign language acquisition.

Young Children's Acquisition of the Formational Aspects of American Sign Language: Parental Report Findings

The early sign language acquisition of nine young children of sign- using parents was examined in a longitudinal study. In monthly home visits, the parents demonstrated on videotape how their children formed the signs that they had acquired since the previous visit. Each of these signs was transcribed, using the notation system developed by Stokoe, into its formational aspects of location, handshape, and movement. The location, handshape, and movement cheremes (sign phonemes) of the children’s signs were then analyzed for accuracy of production, order of onset, production frequency, and patterns of errors or systematic substitutions. The results of these analyses are interpreted as indicating several distinct trends in young children’s acquisition of sign formational aspects.