ASL for infants

[Mark Mandel]

In response to my post, Onno <o.a.crasborn at let.leidenuniv.nl> writes:

>>>>>
David Corina questioned the 'sign mirror problem'. I'm also curious
about the claims for speech, which I haven't come across before.

Long before their first word stage, hearing children have had the
opportunity to get accustomed to the fact that every adult (or child)
they hear has a different voice. I can imagine that babies try to
mimic adults, but does the perception of their own speech really
hinder their speech development? If that's not the claim, then how
does the phenomenon fit in the discussion?
<<<<<

The claim, as I'm applying it, goes like this. I am not familiar with any
of the research involved and am reporting, interpreting, and applying it as
I remember it. No warranties.

1. The difference between (one's own) speech heard through bone conduction
and (one's own or others') speech heard through air does not per se hinder
hearing children's acquisition of speech.

2. However, in their early attempts to replicate adults' speech they are
comparing [their speech as heard through BONE] with [adults' speech as
heard through air], rather than comparing [their speech as heard through
AIR] with [adults' speech as heard through air]. This difference is of a
different order than the differences between individual voices heard
through air.

3. Before the adults can recognize the child's speech, the child must learn
to equate [her own phonemes/words as heard through bone] with [the same
phonemes/words as heard through air]: i.e., create a "conversion algorithm"
by which to compare her own output with adults' output in the same way
adults do.

4. This learning process takes time, which delays the onset of
recognizeable speech.

5. In contrast, a signing child of signing parents has no such conversion
to learn, or only a slight one, and hence can produce recognizeable signs
at an average younger age than a hearing child of hearing parents produces
recognizeable words.

(6. Independently, other differences between the media may add to the
difference in age at onset of language output: more complex articulatory
system, and a complex, invisible mapping from articulation [gestures in the
lungs, larynx, and mouth] to output [sound waves].)

   Mark A. Mandel : Dragon Systems, a Lernout & Hauspie company
          Mark_Mandel at dragonsys.com : Senior Linguist
 320 Nevada St., Newton, MA 02460, USA : http://www.dragonsys.com
                     (speaking for myself)