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Cognitive pragmatics: Insights from homesign conversations.

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Homesign, a communication system developed without formal sign language, offers insights into pragmatic competence. This study suggests pragmatic skills may be innate rather than learned through language.

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Area of Science:

  • Linguistics
  • Cognitive Science
  • Developmental Psychology

Background:

  • Homesign emerges in deaf individuals lacking access to conventional sign language.
  • It represents a unique window into communication system development.
  • The relationship between pragmatic competence and linguistic abilities is debated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether pragmatic competence is foundational or derived from linguistic abilities.
  • To analyze homesign conversations as a test case for this inquiry.
  • To explore the origins of communicative understanding in the absence of formal language.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of naturally occurring homesign conversations.
  • Observation of interactional patterns and meaning negotiation.
  • Comparative study with conventional sign language acquisition where applicable.

Main Results:

  • Homesign conversations demonstrate the emergence of sophisticated pragmatic skills.
  • Evidence suggests that the ability to understand and use context-dependent meaning (pragmatics) is present even without a fully developed conventional language system.
  • Findings support the hypothesis that pragmatic competence may be a foundational aspect of human communication.

Conclusions:

  • Pragmatic competence appears to be a fundamental component of human communication, potentially predating or developing independently of formal linguistic structures.
  • Homesign provides compelling evidence for the innate capacity for complex social communication.
  • This research has implications for understanding language acquisition and the cognitive underpinnings of social interaction.