Unlocking the Secrets of Word Learning in Signing Deaf Toddlers

Have you ever wondered how deaf toddlers learn to recognize and understand words in American Sign Language (ASL)? A recent study conducted by researchers from Boston University, Purdue University, and Rochester Institute of Technology, titled "Word recognition and learning in signing deaf toddlers" sheds light on this fascinating process and offers valuable insights for parents and professionals working with deaf children.

The study explored how deaf children aged 18 to 71 months recognize familiar signs and learn new ones. Using eye-tracking to measure children’s gaze, the researchers showed children a simple sentence in ASL (”Where’s the apple?”) as well as pictures of familiar objects (like an apple and a glass of milk).

Children also learned new signs through the study. The researchers showed them videos where a signer would point to an unfamiliar object, and say ‘Hey! What’s that? A glorp. Cool!’. Children were tested on these new signs alongside the familiar signs.

An example of a new sign trial.

The researchers then measured children’s gaze behaviors: How long do they look at the video of the signer? Do they look at the correct picture? How quickly do they change what they’re looking at?

So what did the study find? First, as deaf children grow older, they become more and more accurate in recognizing familiar signs. This mirrors the development seen in children learning spoken languages, suggesting that word recognition follows similar patterns, regardless of whether children are learning speech or sign.

Unlike children learning English, however, signing children didn’t get faster as they get older. As English-speaking children get older, they’ll look at the picture before the word is over. Signing children tended to watch the entire video of the signer before looking to one of the pictures.

Interestingly, for children learning ASL, the faster they were at recognizing familiar signs, the more accurate they were at learning new signs.

For parents and professionals, understanding these developmental milestones can enhance support strategies for deaf children. Knowing that word recognition skills improve with age and experience can guide expectations and help tailor learning environments to nurture these abilities.

How can parents and teachers use this study?

1. Encourage visual attention: Deaf signing children take in so much information through vision. Help facilitate visual attention by making sure they have clear sight lines and catching their attention with a wave or tap before starting to sign. It might take a second before they look, and that’s okay!

2. Use a mix of familiar signs and new signs: Children use words they know to learn new words. Exposing them to a mix of new and familiar words can help reinforce the words they know and scaffold the words they don’t know yet.

3. Sign early and often: The more exposure children have to sign language, the more signs they learn, and the better they become at learning new signs. Frequent language input is critical!

   
   

Stay connected with our organization for more evidence-based insights and strategies to support the growth and development of deaf children. Sharing this information with other parents and professionals can help build a community of informed and empowered advocates for deaf children.

"Children who recognize familiar signs more quickly also learn new signs more effectively."