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Metalinguistic awareness in young deaf children: A preliminary study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Judith M. Zorfass
Judith M. Zorfass*
Affiliation:
Harvard University
*
Judith M. Zorfass, Graduate School of Education, Reading Department, Larsen Hall, Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138
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Abstract

This study explores the metalinguistic abilities of prelingually deaf children aged 4–7, who are users of Signed English, with regard to their explicit segmentation of Signed English sentences into words. Subjects exhibited varying metalinguistic abilities that generally increased with age and that were similar to the developmental pattern found in hearing populations. Based upon performance with respect to four factors (i.e., explicit segmentation, omissions of function words, content words, and inflectional morphemes), subjects were grouped into four classes. In Class 1, sentences or groups of words were not segmented. in Class 2, major constituents of the sentences were segmented. In Class 3, major constituents and some function words were segmented. In Class 4, the entire sentence was segmented. Patterns of omissions found throughout the classes for function words and inflectional morphemes are discussed. Also addressed are implicit segmentation skills found to develop prior to the development of explicit abilities.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 2 , Issue 4 , November 1981 , pp. 333 - 352
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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