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ERIC Number: EJ1270069
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0302-1475
EISSN: N/A
Young Bimodal Bilingual Development of Referent Tracking in Signed Narratives: Further Justification of Heritage Signer Status
Reynolds, Wanette
Sign Language Studies, v18 n3 p328-354 Spr 2018
A number of language acquisition patterns have been identified in the signing of a newly designated population of bimodal bilingual individuals--"heritage signers." This article examines subject-referent tracking forms in the ASL (American Sign Language) narratives of six elementary-school-aged, native-signing, bimodal bilinguals made at different ages (5;02-6;09 and 6;07-8;02). These narratives are compared to those created by six Deaf counterparts (5;05-7;10) in a video-retelling task. The results show that, just as their Deaf peers, early bimodal bilinguals prefer nominal forms (for referent introduction and reintroduction) and null forms (for maintenance). However, the bimodal bilingual children increasingly diverge from their Deaf counterparts in the use of overt and fingerspelled forms. The increasing use of overt forms for maintenance and reintroduction is similar to patterns previously documented for heritage speakers, young unimodal bilinguals, and late bimodal bilinguals. Four of the six bimodal bilinguals showed an increased use of fingerspelled nominal forms for all discourse functions, yet these forms were rarely used by the Deaf children and instead were reserved for referent introduction. The greater prevalence of fingerspelled forms by the young bimodal bilinguals appears to resemble code switching, signaling both a shift in language dominance and an emergent literacy in their spoken language. The results suggest that early bimodal bilinguals are more similar to heritage speakers than to their Deaf-signing peers, providing further justification for reserving heritage signer status for Deaf-parented bimodal bilinguals who can hear.
Gallaudet University Press. 800 Florida Avenue NE, Denison House, Washington, DC 20002-3695. Tel: 202-651-5488; Fax: 202-651-5489; Web site: http://gupress.gallaudet.edu/SLS.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: R01DC009263