Projects

Sign Language Syntax and Acquisition (SiLSA)

This project aims at filling the gap in describing (French) Sign Language Syntax and its Acquisition (SiLSA). A first necessary step in this direction will be descriptive, as a lot is still unknown regarding French Sign Language (Langue des Signes Française, LSF)’s syntax, especially when it comes to complex sentences . Comprehension of complex sentences poses difficulties to typically developing hearing children aged 6/7 y.o. (Bowerman, 1979), and native deaf children as well (Reilly et al., 1990). But native deaf signers, exposed from birth to a sign language (SL), are a minority (5-10% only, Kushalnagar et al., 2010). Most deaf children receive linguistic exposure at a variety of ages, through institutions or associations. A delayed age of acquisition has consequences on their language proficiency that remain in adulthood, especially when facing complex sentences (Boudreault & Mayberry, 2006; Mayberry & Lock, 2003; Hauser et al., 2021; Aristodemo et al., 2021; Zorzi et al., 2021). Thus, we expect the acquisition path of complex structures to vary depending on whether the children are native, early (exposed before 6 y.o.) or late signers (exposed after 6 y.o.). To verify this, the second step of SiLSA aims at investigating LSF’s acquisition, across the variety of linguistic profiles that exists in deaf children.