Goodwyn S W, Acredolo L P
University of California, Davis 96515.
Child Dev. 1993 Jun;64(3):688-701.
Researchers have hypothesized in the past that children learning sign languages develop signs at an earlier age than is typically expected for vocal words. This assumption, however, has recently been questioned on the grounds that researchers have not always guaranteed that words and gestures are being used in a comparable fashion. The present study was designed to shed light on this controversy by comparing the onset of symbolic use of signs and words in a group of 22 hearing children exposed to symbolic gestures from 11 months onward. Bimonthly interviews emphasizing contexts of use of gestures and vocal words indicated a smaller modality difference than early research had predicted, thus providing support for the hypothesis that strides in cognitive abilities such as memory, categorization, and symbolization underlie this milestone in both modalities. At the same time, however, the data also indicated that the small difference in onset time was reliable, thus providing support for the notion that the gestural modality is, in fact, easier for many infants to master once the requisite cognitive skills are in place.
过去，研究人员曾提出假设，学习手语的儿童比学习有声语言的儿童更早地掌握手势。然而，最近这一假设受到了质疑，原因是研究人员并不总能确保单词和手势的使用方式具有可比性。本研究旨在通过比较一组从11个月起接触象征手势的22名听力正常儿童对手势和单词的象征使用开始时间，来阐明这一争议。每两个月进行一次强调手势和有声语言使用情境的访谈，结果表明，与早期研究预测的相比，两种方式之间的差异较小，从而为以下假设提供了支持：记忆、分类和符号化等认知能力的进步是这两种方式中这一里程碑的基础。然而，与此同时，数据也表明开始时间的微小差异是可靠的，从而为以下观点提供了支持：事实上，一旦具备了必要的认知技能，手势方式对许多婴儿来说更容易掌握。
