The acquisition of conditionals in American Sign Language: Grammaticized facial expressions
- 1 June 1990
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Applied Psycholinguistics
- Vol. 11 (4) , 369-392
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0142716400009632
Abstract
An unusual facet of American Sign Language (ASL) is its use of grammaticized facial expression. In this study, we examine the acquisition of conditional sentences in ASL by 14 deaf children (ages 3;3–8;4) of deaf parents. Conditional sentences were chosen because they entail the use of both manual signs and grammaticized non-manual facial expressions. The results indicate that the children first acquire manual conditional signs, e.g., SUPPOSE, before they use the obligatory grammaticized conditional facial expression. Moreover, the children acquire the constellation of obligatory non-manual behaviors component by component, rather than holistically.Keywords
This publication has 9 references indexed in Scilit:
- Nonmanual Behaviors in L 1 & L 2 Learners of American Sign LanguageSign Language Studies, 1988
- On ConditionalsPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,1986
- Head Thrust in ASL Conditional MarkingSign Language Studies, 1986
- The Units of Language AcquisitionLanguage, 1985
- The Signs of LanguageLanguage, 1980
- Facial Expressions of EmotionAnnual Review of Psychology, 1979
- The Acquisition of MorphophonologyMonographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 1978
- Facial Action Coding SystemPublished by American Psychological Association (APA) ,1978
- A First LanguagePublished by Harvard University Press ,1973