Sign Vocabulary in Deaf Toddlers Exposed to Sign Language Since Birth

Rinaldi, Pasquale; Caselli, María Cristina; Renzo, Alessio Di; Gulli, Tiziana; Volterra, Virginia

doi:10.1093/deafed/enu007

Cited by 27 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Crucially, if modification of iconic signs bootstraps referential mapping, this differential pattern of results suggests different rates of acquisition in children. As such, our results are consistent with previous research that has shown that children learning a sign language acquire a greater proportion of predicates (than nominals) early on compared to children learning a spoken language (for whom the pattern is reversed) (Anderson & Reilly, , for American Sign Language (ASL); Hoiting, , for Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT); Rinaldi, Caselli, Di Renzo, Gulli, & Volterra, , for Italian Sign Language (LIS).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Mapping language to the world: the role of iconicity in the sign language input

Perniss

Morgan

et al. 2017

Developmental Science

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Most research on the mechanisms underlying referential mapping has assumed that learning occurs in ostensive contexts, where label and referent co-occur, and that form and meaning are linked by arbitrary convention alone. In the present study, we focus on iconicity in language, that is, resemblance relationships between form and meaning, and on non-ostensive contexts, where label and referent do not co-occur. We approach the question of language learning from the perspective of the language input. Specifically, we look at child-directed language (CDL) in British Sign Language (BSL), a language rich in iconicity due to the affordances of the visual modality. We ask whether child-directed signing exploits iconicity in the language by highlighting the similarity mapping between form and referent. We find that CDL modifications occur more often with iconic signs than with non-iconic signs. Crucially, for iconic signs, modifications are more frequent in non-ostensive contexts than in ostensive contexts. Furthermore, we find that pointing dominates in ostensive contexts, and suggest that caregivers adjust the semiotic resources recruited in CDL to context. These findings offer first evidence for a role of iconicity in the language input and suggest that iconicity may be involved in referential mapping and language learning, particularly in non-ostensive contexts.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Mapping language to the world: the role of iconicity in the sign language input

Perniss

Morgan

et al. 2017

Developmental Science

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“…By age five, hearing children essentially master the sound system and grammar of their language and acquire a vocabulary of thousands of words. Rinaldi et al [30] found similar patterns of vocabulary acquisition in the deaf children of deaf signing parents.…”

Section: Language Development In Generalmentioning

confidence: 80%

Language and Literacy: Issues and Considerations

2019

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This article provides background on the major perspectives involving the development of English language and literacy with respect to the evolving demography of d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing children and adolescents. It synthesizes research and controversies on the developmental similarity hypothesis—that is, whether the acquisition of English language and literacy of d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing students is developmentally similar to that of typical language/literacy learners. The outcomes of this discussion have instructional implications and proffer guidelines for teacher preparation programs. The article concludes with directions for further research.

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“…(). Children acquiring LIS also acquire signs for action earlier than for objects (Rinaldi, Caselli, Di Renzo, Gulli, & Volterra, ). Children acquiring Turkish Sign Language are more likely to use signs depicting action than those depicting perceptual features of objects (Ortega, Sümer, & Özyürek, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gesture and Symbolic Representation in Italian and English‐Speaking Canadian 2‐Year‐Olds

Marentette

Pettenati²,

Bello

et al. 2016

Child Development

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Analyses of elicited pantomime, primarily of English-speaking children, show that preschool-aged children are more likely to symbolically represent an object with gestures depicting an object's form rather than its function. In contrast, anecdotal reports of spontaneous gesture production in younger children suggest that children use multiple representational techniques. This study examined the spontaneous gestures of sixty-four 2-year-old Italian children and English-speaking Canadian children, primarily from middle-class Caucasian families. The Italian children produced twice as many gestures as Canadian children in a picture-naming task but produced a similar range of representational techniques. Two-year-olds were equally likely to produce gestures depicting function as form. These data suggest young children's communicative skills are supported by a symbolic capacity that reflects contextual communicative demands.

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Sign Vocabulary in Deaf Toddlers Exposed to Sign Language Since Birth

Cited by 27 publications

References 24 publications

Mapping language to the world: the role of iconicity in the sign language input

Mapping language to the world: the role of iconicity in the sign language input

Language and Literacy: Issues and Considerations

Gesture and Symbolic Representation in Italian and English‐Speaking Canadian 2‐Year‐Olds

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