Abstract
Previous research has shown that spatial language is sensitive to the effects of delayed language exposure. Locative encodings of late-signing deaf adults varied from those of early-signing deaf adults in the preferred types of linguistic forms. In the current study, we investigated whether such differences would be found in spatial language use of deaf children with deaf parents who are either early or late signers of Turkish Sign Language (TİD). We analyzed locative encodings elicited from these two groups of deaf children for the use of different linguistic forms and the types of classifier handshapes. Our findings revealed differences between these two groups of deaf children in their preferred types of linguistic forms, which showed parallels to differences between late versus early deaf adult signers as reported by earlier studies. Deaf children in the current study, however, were similar to each other in the type of classifier handshapes that they used in their classifier constructions. Our findings have implications for expanding current knowledge on to what extent variation in language input (i.e., from early vs. late deaf signers) is reflected in children’s productions as well as the role of linguistic input on language development in general.
Highlights
Unlike hearing children who most of the time have early input from their speaking parents, only a small proportion of deaf children (5–10%) receive language input in a sign language mainly from their deaf parents, while the rest does not receive linguistic input accessible to them mainly because they have non-signing hearing parents (Mitchell and Karchmer, 2004)
Another deaf child, encodes the lexical sign for the apple, and shows its location without mentioning the box, which makes the description too vague to understand the location of the apple
We have presented evidence for both similarities and differences in the language use of two groups of deaf children with deaf parents, who were first exposed to a sign language at different ages
Summary
Unlike hearing children who most of the time have early input from their speaking parents, only a small proportion of deaf children (5–10%) receive language input in a sign language mainly from their deaf parents ( becoming early signers of their language), while the rest does not receive linguistic input accessible to them mainly because they have non-signing hearing parents (Mitchell and Karchmer, 2004). They may start learning a sign language later in their lives (e.g., at 6 years of age or later, becoming late signers), usually after meeting other deaf people at school or in other social environments such as deaf clubs/cafes. We do not know much about whether and how language use in deaf children with late-signing deaf parents and deaf children with early-signing deaf parents parallels to the patterns observed in deaf adults who are early-versus late-signers
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
