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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 13, 2025

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm

Published on: May 15, 2019

Deaf Children's ASL Vocabulary and ASL Syntax Knowledge Supports English Knowledge.

Robert Hoffmeister¹, Jon Henner², Catherine Caldwell-Harris¹

¹Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.

Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education

|November 17, 2021

Summary

Knowledge of American Sign Language (ASL) syntax significantly improves reading comprehension and English syntax skills in deaf children. ASL proficiency supports English literacy development for bilingual and bimodal learners.

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Published on: December 14, 2012

Area of Science:

Linguistics
Developmental Psychology
Education

Background:

Deaf children often use both American Sign Language (ASL) and English print.
Understanding the relationship between ASL and English literacy is crucial for educational strategies.
Previous research suggests a link between ASL and English language skills.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how American Sign Language (ASL) syntax knowledge impacts English print reading abilities in deaf bilingual children.
To determine if specific ASL skills predict English reading comprehension and syntax knowledge.
To explore how these relationships vary across different English print ability levels.

Main Methods:

Conceptual replication of a previous study correlating ASL assessment with English reading and language tests.
Quantile regression analysis to predict English print abilities using ASL assessments.
Utilized the American Sign Language Assessment Instrument, Sanford Achievement Test-Reading Comprehension (SAT-RC), and Rhode Island Test of Language Structures (RITLS).

Main Results:

Performance on ASL assessments correlated with both English reading comprehension (SAT-RC) and English syntax (RITLS).
Specific ASL skills differentially predicted SAT-RC and RITLS scores.
The correlation between ASL skills and English print performance varied by student ability level.
ASL syntax knowledge showed a strong correlation with English syntax knowledge across all ability levels.

Conclusions:

ASL syntax knowledge is a significant predictor of English syntax proficiency in deaf children.
ASL proficiency positively impacts the development of English literacy, including reading comprehension and syntax.
Findings provide strong empirical evidence for the benefits of ASL in developing English literacy for bilingual, bimodal deaf learners.