Can a Deaf Child Learn to Sign From Hearing Parents?

该项目的目的是记录和比较30个关于15至36个月年龄段的荷兰聋儿最初获得手语的个案研究。这些数据包括在家庭和学龄前环境中制作的纵向视频记录，从父母那里收集的词汇检查表，以及运动和认知发展的量表。比较了听力正常父母的两个聋儿样本：13个使用自然手语(SLN：荷兰手语)和13个使用非自然手语系统(SSD：手语支持荷兰语)。在这两个样本中，父母在孩子足够大的年龄开始语言交流之前就开始学习一门手工语言。控制组的四名儿童从聋人父母那里学习SLN。这些视频记录将被转录并在许多语言、手势和交流维度上进行编码。转录和编码将包括儿童、家长和幼儿教师的交流行为。将进行定量和定性的分析，将编码维度与词汇和非语言表现的测量以及父母输入的类型联系起来。将为每种类型的投入建立发展模式。四个主要的预测是：(1)如果有听力的父母的输入是自然手语(SLN)，那么如果输入的是自然手语(SLN)，充分的手语发展是可能的。(2)SLN是一种自然语言，其习得方式与其他所说和手语的自然语言相似。(3)SSD没有提供足够的输入来获得足够的母语习得。(4)自然手语(SLN)可以成功地作为听力父母与聋儿互动的第二语言。(在所考虑的年龄范围内，关于SLN的研究结果预计将与美国手语的研究结果非常接近。)如果这些预测得到证实，那么就有必要进行早期干预计划，让听力正常的父母学习自然的手语，如SLN或ASL，以便在聋儿中建立正常的语言和交流发展。预计这项研究将导致对SLN和其他自然手语的语言结构的新的见解，并对语言学理论和聋儿的评估和教育产生影响。本课程将引出儿童语言习得的理论，包括人类语言的认知、交际和生物学基础。调查结果和影响将对美国以及荷兰和其他国家的聋哑儿童及其家庭产生直接影响。

The aim of the project is to document and compare 30 individual case studies of initial acquisition of sign language in Dutch deaf children in the age range from 15 to 36 months. The data consist of longitudinal video recordings made in home and preschool settings, vocabulary checklists gathered from parents, and scales of motor and cognitive development. Two samples of deaf children of hearing parents are compared: 13 using a natural sign language (SLN: Sign Language of the Netherlands) and 13 using a nonnatural sign system (SSD: Sign Supported Dutch). In both samples, the parents began to learn a manual language before the child was old enough to begin linguistic communication. A control group of four children learned SLN from deaf parents. The video recordings will be transcribed and coded on a number of linguistic, gestural, and communicative dimensions. Transcription and coding will include the communicative behavior of children, parents, and preschool teachers. Quantitative and qualitative analyses will be carried out, relating coded dimensions with each other, with measures of vocabulary and nonlinguistic performance, and with types of parental input. Developmental patterns will be established for each type of input. Four major predictions are made: (1) Adequate sign language development is possible with "imperfect input" from hearing parents provided the input is a natural sign language (SLN). (2) SLN is a natural language, and is acquired in similar fashion to other natural languages spoken and signed. (3) SSD does not provide sufficient input for adequate primary language acquisition. (4) A natural sign language (SLN) can successfully function as a second language for hearing parents in interacting with a deaf child. (Findings with regard to SLN, in the age range considered, are expected to closely match findings with regard to American Sign Language.) Confirmation of these predictions would argue for early intervention programs in w hich hearing parents are taught a natural sign language, such as SLN or ASL, in order to establish normal language and communicative development in a deaf child. It is expected that the study will lead to new insights into the linguistic structure of SLN and other natural sign languages with consequences for linguistic theory and for the assessment and education of deaf children. Implications will be drawn for theories of child language acquisition, including the cognitive, communicative, and biological foundations of human language. The findings and implications will be of immediate relevance to deaf children and their families in the United States, as well as the Netherlands and other countries.