The role of Manually Coded English in language development of deaf children

Abstract

Introduction A pressing question related to the well-being of deaf children is how they develop a strong language base (e.g. Liben 1978). First or native language proficiency plays a vital role in many aspects of their development, ranging from social development to educational attainment to their learning of a second language. The target linguistic system should be easy to learn and use. A natural signed language is clearly a good choice for deaf children. While spoken English is a natural language, it is less obvious that a signed form of English is also a natural language. At issue is the development of Manually Coded English (MCE), which can be described as a form of language planning aimed at making English visible for deaf children (Ramsey 1989). MCE demonstrates a living experiment in which deaf children are expected to learn signed English as well as hearing children do spoken English. If MCE is a natural language, learning it should be effortless, with learning patterns consistent with what we know about natural language acquisition in general. American Sign Language (ASL) is a good example of how a sign system is defined as a natural language with the capacity of becoming a native language for deaf children, especially those of deaf parents who use ASL at home (Newport and Meier 1985; Meier 1991). However appropriate ASL is for deaf children of deaf parents, it is not the case that all deaf children are exposed to ASL.