How children acquire a sign language and the stages of sign language development are extremely important topics in sign linguistics and deaf education, with studies in this field enabling assessment of an individual child’s communicative skills in comparison to others. In order to do research in this area it is important to use the right methodological tools. The contributions to this volume address issues covering the basics of doing sign acquisition research, the use of assessment tools, problems of transcription, analyzing narratives and carrying out interaction studies. It serves as an ideal reference source for any researcher or student of sign languages who is planning to do such work. This volume was originally published as a Special Issue of Sign Language & Linguistics 8:1/2 (2005)

This is the second volume in the series 'Trends in language acquisition research'. The unusual combination in one volume of reports on various different sign languages in acquisition makes this book quite unique.

"Language Learning in Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing, 2nd Edition: Theory to Classroom Practice is the long-awaited revision of the only textbook on primary language instruction written with classroom teachers of deaf and hard-of-hearing children (TODs) in mind. It builds on the work of the previous version while providing the reader with access to the entire first version on a supplemental website. An important feature of this book is that it describes four real TODs and demonstrates application of concepts discussed to the DHH children on their caseloads. Up-to-date chapters on theory of language learning, assessment, and evidence-based practice replace removed chapters. Chapters on English and American Sign Language (ASL) structure and on the three major approaches (listening and spoken language, bilingual-bimodal instruction, and ASL instruction) are updated. The chapters on teaching vocabulary and morphosyntax, how to ask and answer questions, and writing language objectives for Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) are expanded DHH. Specific examples of real cases are incorporated throughout the book. Finally, after a theoretical base of information on language instruction, many of the chapter provide language teachers with specific examples of how to answer the question: "What should I do on Monday." It avoids promotion of one or another philosophy, presenting all and demonstrating the commonalities across classroom language instruction approaches for DHH children"--

In 21 essays on communicative gesturing in the first two years of life, this vital collection demonstrates the importance of gesture in a child's transition to a linguistic system. Introductions preceding each section emphasize the parallels between the findings in these studies and the general body of scholarship devoted to the process of spoken language acquisition. Renowned scholars contributing to this volume include Ursula Bellugi, Judy Snitzer Reilly, Susan Goldwin-Meadow, Andrew Lock, M. Chiara Levorato, and many others.

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject American Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2,3, University of Bonn, language: English, abstract: Giving a first impression of how the system of sign language works, this term paper starts off with the formal and grammatical structure of American Sign Language. Subsequently, a comparison with the structure of British Sign Language gives insights into similarities and differences between those two sign languages. In its main part, the term paper focuses on the acquisition of sign language in the deaf child. The development of “speech” is presented chronologically and compared to the linguistic development of hearing children. The vocabulary of hearing and deaf children is compared and different scientific opinions on the issue are being discussed. The last chapter tries to answer the central questions of this term paper: How does the acquisition of sign language differ from language acquisition of hearing children? Are deaf children therefore handicapped? And if yes, to what extent?

Contributors present the latest information on both the new world evolving for deaf & hard-of-hearing children & the improved expectations for their acquisition of spoken language.

A mother whose child has had a cochlear implant tells Laura Mauldin why enrollment in the sign language program at her daughter’s school is plummeting: “The majority of parents want their kids to talk.” Some parents, however, feel very differently, because “curing” deafness with cochlear implants is uncertain, difficult, and freighted with judgment about what is normal, acceptable, and right. Made to Hear sensitively and thoroughly considers the structure and culture of the systems we have built to make deaf children hear. Based on accounts of and interviews with families who adopt the cochlear implant for their deaf children, this book describes the experiences of mothers as they navigate the health care system, their interactions with the professionals who work with them, and the influence of neuroscience on the process. Though Mauldin explains the politics surrounding the issue, her focus is not on the controversy of whether to have a cochlear implant but on the long-term, multiyear undertaking of implantation. Her study provides a nuanced view of a social context in which science, technology, and medicine are trusted to vanquish disability—and in which mothers are expected to use these tools. Made to Hear reveals that implantation has the central goal of controlling the development of the deaf child’s brain by boosting synapses for spoken language and inhibiting those for sign language, placing the politics of neuroscience front and center. Examining the consequences of cochlear implant technology for professionals and parents of deaf children, Made to Hear shows how certain neuroscientific claims about neuroplasticity, deafness, and language are deployed to encourage compliance with medical technology.