ERIC Number: EJ1465738
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Apr
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1081-4159
EISSN: EISSN-1465-7325
Available Date: 2024-11-14
The Macrostructure of Narratives Produced by Children Acquiring Finnish Sign Language
Heta Pietarinen1; Laura Kanto1
Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, v30 n2 p158-168 2025
This article investigates the narrative skills of children acquiring Finnish Sign Language (FinSL). Producing a narrative requires vocabulary, the ability to form sentences, and cognitive skills to construct actions in a logical order for the recipient to understand the story. Research has shown that narrative skills are an excellent way of observing a child's language skills, for they reflect both grammatical language skills and the ability to use the language in situationally appropriate ways. This study was conducted using the FinSL Narrative Skills Production Test assessment to observe how narrative skills develop in children between the ages of 4 and 11 who acquire FinSL in their natural language environments. The results show that the narrative skills of children acquiring FinSL develop following the same guidelines found in other signed and spoken languages. Narrative structure and content increase with age.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Sign Language, Vocabulary, Cognitive Ability, Sentences, Language Skills, Grammar, Language Usage, Language Acquisition, Children, Preadolescents, Story Telling, Deafness
Oxford University Press. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, UK. Tel: +44-1865-353907; Fax: +44-1865-353485; e-mail: jnls.cust.serv@oxfordjournals.org; Web site: http://jdsde.oxfordjournals.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Finland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Department of Language and Communication Studies, University of Jyväskylä, Seminaarinkatu 15, PO Box 35, FI-40014, Jyväskylä, Finland