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Bimodal bilingual language development in a hearing child of deaf parents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Jeanne M. Johnson ,
Ruth V. Watkins  and
Mabel L. Rice
Jeanne M. Johnson*
Affiliation:
Washington State University
Ruth V. Watkins
Affiliation:
University of Texas
Mabel L. Rice
Affiliation:
University of Kansas
*
Jeanne M. Johnson, Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-2420
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Abstract

This study examined the spoken English development of a hearing child of deaf parents who used American Sign Language (ASL). The child first learned ASL in interactions with his parents and later developed spoken English outside the home environment. It was hypothesized that the child's acquisition of spoken English would systematically reflect both expected monolingual developmental patterns and interlinguistic transfer. Four areas of mismatch between ASL and spoken English were identified. Language sample data from ages 2;9–5;2 were examined for evidence to evaluate the hypotheses. Features that reflected the simultaneous versus sequential mismatch between ASL and English, undifferentiated versus differentiated aspects, free versus bound morpheme mechanisms, and word-order differences provided evidence of ASL influence on spoken English acquisition. Although not extensive, ASL appears to have exerted consistent influence on several areas of the child's spoken English development.

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Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , January 1992 , pp. 31 - 52
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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