American Sign Language: Receptive and Expressive Relations

• In Event: Language and Literacy Learning of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children

Abstract

Objectives or purposes
This study documents receptive and expressive American Sign Language (ASL) skills and correlations among skills for 98 students who were deaf/hard of hearing (D/HH), 6 to 22 years of age.

Perspective(s) or theoretical framework
Educators must know the current receptive and expressive language levels of their students to ensure both access to the language of instruction and individualized instruction using a research-based sequence of ASL development.

Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry
Students were assessed on the ASL Receptive Test (Enns & Herman, 2011) and the Ozcaliskan Motion Stimuli (OMS; Ozcailskan, 2011) in a one-on-one setting at school. The receptive measure was coded for 42 items across 8 grammatical areas. The expressive measure was coded for the elements of classifiers (i.e., figure and ground identification, handshape, movement). Correlations were calculated among sub-areas of the measures to investigate developmental language patterns.

Data sources, evidence, objects, or materials
The ASL Receptive Test was developed for deaf children ages 3-13 years with early exposure to ASL. This assessment was administered to all students in the present sample, including those outside of the intended age range, those who learned ASL at later ages, and those with documented secondary disabilities. The OMS are a collection of 18 brief animated clips presented in PowerPoint format that show a character in action events. These stimuli previously were administered to 18 deaf adults as comparison data for the students.

Results and/or substantiated conclusions or warrants for arguments/point of view
Receptive results indicate that children with deaf parents (n=10) had the highest range and mean overall score, followed by the middle school group (n=21), the high school group (n=58), students in the 6 to 13 year-old range (n=35), elementary students (n=19), and finally, students with special needs (n=13) (although these groups are not mutually exclusive). The receptive and expressive measures had a moderate correlation (Pearson’s r = 0.452). Receptive scores for noun-verb identification, spatial verbs, and classifier comprehension had moderate correlations with expressive classifier productions and with students’ total number of classifiers produced, which supports the relation between a receptive language foundation and one’s ability to manipulate that foundation expressively. Additionally, there were moderate correlations between receptive comprehension of SASS classifiers and student’s expressive identification of the figure and ground and between their receptive comprehension of spatial verbs and their expressive use of figure and ground handshapes and movement. Finally, weak or no correlations were found among receptive comprehension of conditionals and receptive role shift, two of the most complex areas of ASL, and all other receptive and expressive language areas.

Scientific or scholarly significance of the study or work
These current data add to the limited literature on ASL development and expand upon the relations between receptive and expressive ASL skills for children who varied in age and language experiences. The OMS appears to be a promising tool for assessing expressive ASL syntax. These data also compare student performance on an expressive measure to that of deaf adults, the target language models of their community.

Author

• Jennifer Beal-Alvarez, Valdosta State University