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Why Sign Language Research Is Essential for Understanding Language and Language Disorder
1Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Miami University, Oxford, OH.
Summary
Sign language research is crucial for understanding the human language faculty and its disorders. Studying signed languages offers unique insights into linguistic and clinical phenomena, transforming theoretical models and clinical approaches.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Psycholinguistics
- Clinical Linguistics
Background:
- Sign language research has historically been considered secondary to spoken language studies.
- This perspective limits a comprehensive understanding of the human language faculty.
Purpose of the Study:
- To argue for the essential value of sign language research in understanding language and its disorders.
- To highlight how sign language research can advance linguistic theory and clinical practice.
Main Methods:
- Presenting three key arguments for the significance of sign language research.
- Utilizing research on deaf children with autism and language disorders as case studies.
Main Results:
- Sign language research reveals phenomena not observable in spoken languages.
- It enables the testing of previously untestable hypotheses in linguistics.
- It aids in distinguishing language from speech, particularly in clinical contexts.
Conclusions:
- Sign languages offer a unique empirical perspective for obscured linguistic and clinical phenomena.
- Integrating sign language research is vital for a complete understanding of language and its impairments.
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