Young Children's Acquisition of the Formational Aspects of American Sign Language: Parental Report Findings

The early sign language acquisition of nine young children of sign- using parents was examined in a longitudinal study. In monthly home visits, the parents demonstrated on videotape how their children formed the signs that they had acquired since the previous visit. Each of these signs was transcribed, using the notation system developed by Stokoe, into its formational aspects of location, handshape, and movement. The location, handshape, and movement cheremes (sign phonemes) of the children’s signs were then analyzed for accuracy of production, order of onset, production frequency, and patterns of errors or systematic substitutions. The results of these analyses are interpreted as indicating several distinct trends in young children’s acquisition of sign formational aspects.

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