Differentiating the use of gaze in bilingual-bimodal language acquisition: a comparison of two sets of twins with deaf parents.

Signed languages make unique demands on gaze during communication. Bilingual children acquiring both a spoken and a signed language must learn to differentiate gaze use for their two languages. Gaze during utterances was examined for a set of bilingual-bimodal twins acquiring spoken English and American Sign Language (ASL) and a set of monolingual twins acquiring ASL when the twins were aged 2;0, 3;0 and 4;0. The bilingual-bimodal twins differentiated their languages by age 3;0. Like the monolingual ASL twins, the bilingual-bimodal twins established mutual gaze at the beginning of their ASL utterances and either maintained gaze to the end or alternated gaze to include a terminal look. In contrast, like children acquiring spoken English monolingually, the bilingual-bimodal twins established mutual gaze infrequently for their spoken English utterances. When they did establish mutual gaze, it occurred later in their spoken utterances and they tended to look away before the end.

Signs as pictures and signs as words: effect of language knowledge on memory for new vocabulary.

The role of sensory attributes in a vocabulary learning task was investigated for a non-oral language. Deaf and hearing individuals, more or less skilled in the use of sign language, were asked to learn the English meanings of 22 invented signs which followed the rules of formation for signs in American Sign Language. Each sign stimulus was highly similar in formation to another sign in the set. It was expected that skilled signers would be less affected by this formational similarity because of their greater familiarity with the linguistic structure of sign language. Furthermore, it was suggested that skilled signers would form a visual-linguistic code for the signs while unskilled signers would produce a code from general visual-pictorial processes. These representation differences were expected to lead to qualitatively different error patterns in response to sign similarity. All expectations were confirmed. Skilled signers encoded invented signs in terms of linguistic structure, while unskilled individuals approached the signs as visual-pictorial events. Although both codes are sensory, one reflects linguistic abstraction, and the other does not.

Behavioral problems in deaf children: methodologic and theoretical considerations.

Problems in methodologic and theoretical approaches to the study of behavioral problems in deaf children are discussed. The most serious and prevalent methodologic deficiencies include inaccurate definitions, poor operationalization of "deafness," and the use of inadequate comparison groups. Many of the theories developed to explain findings in this area fail to consider individual differences among the children and/or their environments. Suggestions are presented with the goal of encouraging more exactness in methodology and the development of an electric theoretical approach to research in this area. It is argued that a valid understanding of the occurrence and "causes" of behavioral problems in this group, based on sound methodology, is essential to logical decision making and to any attempts at intervention.