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Example research essay topic: Parallel Language Development In Deaf And Hearing Children - 1,451 words

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... regulation. Hearing children use private speech for all these activities. In another study, Jamieson (1995) examined the use of private speech between two groups of deaf children. One group consisted of three deaf children with hearing mothers, and one consisted of three deaf children with deaf mothers. All mother-child dyads that included hearing mothers came from homes where English was the primary language, while all dyads that included deaf mothers used ASL as the primary language in the home.

Jamieson presented each child with a task that was originally beyond his or her ability level. The mother was asked to teach the child how to complete the task, and then the child performed the task alone. Jamieson observed that children of deaf mothers used private speech in a signed form. Deaf children of hearing mothers also used private speech, but at only 20 percent of the frequency of those with deaf mothers. Jamieson (1995) also concluded that children of deaf mothers use S more mature form of private sign. Her study showed that their signs were more task oriented and were used to guide and monitor their performance.

In addition to the greatly reduced frequency of private sign among deaf children of hearing mothers, one-third of these signs were not task related, involving instead word play and repetition. Jamieson attributed this discrepancy between groups to differences in language exposure. Unlike children of hearing mothers, those with deaf mothers had been exposed to ASL from birth. Therefore, their signed language environment was richer and more conducive to development. A shared language between parent and child seems to facilitate the development and use of private sign. Types of Errors.

Another important aspect in the development of language is the type of errors children make when acquiring language. Crowson (1994) studied videotapes of six deaf children from hearing families to determine what types of errors they made in signing. Errors were divided into four categories. phonological, morphological (errors and omissions), overgeneralization's, and other types of errors.

Crowson found that phonological errors were the most common, with handshake, movement, and orientation being the most common. Although morphological errors and overgeneralization's were also made, most of the children had not yet reached the level of signing where those errors would have occurred. Crowson (1994) concluded that errors made by deaf children were parallel to errors made by hearing children at similar stages of language acquisition. The phonological errors in signing matched pronunciation errors made by hearing children. Handshape, movement, and orientation errors consisted of units from the sign language that the children were learning. Crowson also concluded that the overgeneralization's and morphological omissions matched semantic overgeneralization and morphological errors made by hearing children.

Thus, it can be concluded that deaf children tend to acquire language in approximately the same manner as hearing children. Just as parents of hearing children help their children develop language by using mother ease and by providing a rich language environment, parents of deaf children help their children in the same manner (Bark, 1997) Deaf parents tend to use a manual form of mother ease (Masataka, 1992) and parents who show a higher frequency of signing produce deaf children with better signing skills (Spencer, 1993). Deaf children exhibit sign babbling at the same time periods and with the same uses as bearing babies (Petitto & Marentette, 1991). In addition, deaf children use a form of private speech, termed private sign, that is similar to private speech in hearing children (Cook & Harrison, 1995; Jamieson, 1995). Differences between Deaf and Hearing Children Despite the parallels of language development between deaf and hearing children, there are also important differences. Deaf children as a whole have been shown to develop language skills at a slower rate than hearing children (Meadow, 1980).

Within the deaf-children group, there is a large difference between language acquisition of deaf children with deaf parents and that of deaf children of hearing parents. Deaf children of deaf parents are more similar to hearing children of hearing parents because the parents and child share a common form of language (Lane at al. , 1996). Deaf children of hearing parents, on the other hand, have a more difficult time learning language because they typically will not develop the same natural language as their parents. Thus, there is little or no parent-child linguistic communication (Lane at al. , 1998). These differences become more apparent when children reach school age. Deaf children of deaf mothers have higher reading and writing scores than their counterparts with hearing mothers (Meadow, 1980).

Although most deaf children score in the normal range on IQ tests, they perform below their potential in school. These children, most of whom have hearing parents, have not reached the level of language comprehension and usage that allows them to function well in academic settings (Meadow, 1980). Language also affects social and behavioral aspects of deaf children. Deaf children of hearing parents have less exposure to language, delaying language development. This limits their social interaction. They also have more behavioral problems than deaf children of deaf parents (Meadow, 1980).

Levine (1981) suggests that the shared language experienced by deaf children of deaf parents fosters better communication skills, producing fewer interpersonal difficulties. Deaf children of deaf parents are rated as more mature by their teachers than deaf children of hearing parents (Meadow, 1980). One other difference between language acquisition of deaf and hearing children relates to individual differences. Probably due to the language environment that the child is raised in, there are greater individual differences in language development of deaf children. It is vitally important that deaf children be exposed to some type of manual communication.

Deaf children need to be able to understand what is going on around them and to communicate their needs and feelings to others. Studies have shown that learning sign language does not inhibit learning oral language (Meadow, 1980), 50 parents should give their deaf children every opportunity to learn sign language. Also, to foster parent-child communication, parents should themselves learn sign language. Every child should be able to communicate with his or her own family. Future Research Future research into language development in deaf children should focus on obtaining larger sample sizes. Nearly all the studies reported in this paper used small sample sizes (usually six or seven children).

Since only 1 in 1000 children under the age of three is deaf, the sample population is reduced to begin with (Schein, 1989). Small sample sizes reduce generalizability and lead to questions about the general applicability of the results. Studies like that of Cook and Harrison (1995) that have examined private sign and like that of Petitto and Marentette (1991) that have examined sign babbling have valid designs that could be replicated and extended by using larger numbers of participants. Research into language development in deaf children has barely begun. It was not long ago that sign language was not considered to be a "natural language. " Hockett (1960) suggested that one linguistic universal, that is, one characteristic of all natural languages of the world, was use of sound and voice for communication. Recent research, pointing out the similarities between language development of deaf and hearing children, has clearly identified sign language as parallel to spoken language.

However, much yet remains to be discovered about the characteristics of sign language development. References Bark, L. F. (1997). Child development (4 th ad. ).

Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Cook, J. H. , & Harrison, M. (1995). Private sign & literacy development in preschoolers with hearing loss. Sion Language Studies, 88, 201 - 226. Crowson, K. (1994).

Errors made by deaf children acquiring sign language. Early Child Development and Care, 99, 63 - 78 Hockett, C. F. (1960). The origin of speech. Scientific American, 203, 89 - 96.

Jamieson, J. R. (1995). Visible thought: Deaf children's use of signed & spoken private speech. Sign Language Studies, 86, 63 - 80. Lane, H. , Hoffmeister, R. , & Began, B. (1996). A journey into the deaf-world.

San Diego: Dawn Sign Press. Levine, B. S. (1981). The ecology of early deafness: Guides to fashioning environments and psychological assessment. New York: Columbia University Press. Masataka, N. (1992).

Mothers in a signed language. Infant Behavior and Development, 15, 453 - 460. Meadow, K. P. (1980). Deafness and child development.

Los Angeles: University of California Press. Petitto, L. A. , & Marentette, P. F. (1991). Babbling in the manual mode: Evidence for the Ontogeny of language.

Science, 251, 1493 - 1496. Schein, J. D. (1989). At home among strangers. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.

Spencer, P. E. (1993). The expressive communication of hearing mothers and deaf infants. American Annals of the Deaf, 138, 275 - 283.


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Research essay sample on Parallel Language Development In Deaf And Hearing Children

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