Doctoral Dissertation Research: The role of iconicity and gradience in children's acquisition of American Sign Language

语言不仅具有单词到意义的任意映射的特征，而且还包含图像映射。由于象似性在手语中很普遍，人们可能会认为聋哑儿童在学习新的标志性手语方面具有优势。然而，情况似乎并非如此，至少对于一些标志性标志来说是如此。例如，用手语描绘结构 (DC) 是标志性的，但相对于其他符号，儿童习得这些符号的时间较长。这项研究探究了原因，因此对语言发育迟缓的聋哑儿童的早期干预具有重要意义。非常需要手语测试来评估儿童的手语知识，该项目可以为这些测试的开发提供信息。描绘结构（DC）具有非离散、梯度特性，这对于儿童来说可能难以理解。一种假设是，年轻学习者倾向于将语言系统内的所有运动解释为分类的，导致难以解释符号中的梯度映射，从而导致 DC 中的错误。儿童可能不会将这种相同的语言偏见应用于非语言刺激（例如没有语言类别的手势），如果是这样，应该能够解释手势内的梯度。另一种假设是，年轻的学习者可以解释手势和手势中的梯度映射，但不知道形成 DC 的语音限制，从而过度使用梯度，从而导致 DC 中的错误。这项研究有三个目的：（1）检查母语手语儿童在制作 DC 时所犯的错误类型； (2) 了解这些学习者如何解释语言（符号）和非语言领域（例如手势）内的标志性梯度运动； (3) 通过测试接触过手语和未接触过手语的儿童，了解特定的语言体验如何塑造儿童对手势和手语的假设。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Language is not only characterized by arbitrary mappings of words to meaning, but also contains iconic mappings. As iconicity is prevalent in sign languages, one might think that deaf children would have an advantage in learning new iconic signs. However, this does not appear to be the case, at least for some iconic signs. For example, depicting constructions (DCs) in sign language are iconic, yet children acquire these signs at a prolonged timescale relative to other signs. This research asks why, and thus has implications for early intervention in deaf children with language delays. There is a great need for sign language tests to assess children's sign language knowledge, and this project can inform the development of these tests.Depicting constructions (DCs) have non-discrete, gradient properties, which may be difficult for children to understand. One hypothesis is that young learners are biased to interpret all movements within a linguistic system as categorical, resulting in difficulty in interpreting gradient mappings in sign, which leads to errors in DCs. Children might not apply this same linguistic bias to non-linguistic stimuli (such as gesture, which has no linguistic categories) and, and if so, should be able to interpret gradience within gesture. The alternative hypothesis is that young learners can interpret gradient mappings in both sign and gesture, but do not know the phonological constraints on forming DCs and thus overuse gradience, which leads to errors in DCs. This research has three aims: (1) examine the types of errors native signing children form when producing DCs; (2) understand how these learners interpret iconic, gradient movements within linguistic (sign) and non-linguistic domains (e.g., gesture); and (3) understand how specific language experiences shape children's assumptions about gesture and sign by testing children exposed to sign language and those not exposed to sign.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.