In an examination of the acquisition of the spatial syntax of American Sign Language (ASL), 43 children aged 3-10 years were given a range of comprehension and elicitation tests designed to analyze the subsystems involved in the corrrect use of ASL syntax. The subsystems were nominal establishment, verb agreement, and consistency of reference. The…

Considers the acquisition of language by deaf children of deaf parents and by deaf children of hearing parents in the light of such linguistic theories as Andersen's "nativization-denativization" and Bickerton's "bioprograms." Findings both support the theories and bring to light complexities that the theories do not exactly explain. (SED)

Study indicates that hearing impaired residential students are more proficient users of American Sign Language than are hearing impaired children enrolled in local, public school programs, and older such residential students are more proficient in the language than are younger students. (SL)

This collection of original papers draws upon work in linguistics, psychology, and education to highlight the relationship between language acquisition in deaf and hearing populations. The book's 11 chapters are divided into 2 sections, Theoretical Issues and Research Reports. Titles and authors are as follows: "Language Varieties in the Deaf…