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Competition on the face: affect and language in ASL motherese
1Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, CA 92120, USA.
Journal of Child Language
|February 1, 1996
Summary
Deaf mothers use facial expressions for both emotion and grammar when signing to their babies. Around age two, their signing shifts to prioritize grammar over affect, aiding language acquisition.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
- Sign Language Studies
Background:
- Affective expression is crucial in early mother-child interactions.
- Hearing mothers use voice quality for affect; deaf mothers using American Sign Language (ASL) rely on facial expressions.
- Facial expressions in ASL serve dual roles: conveying affect and marking grammar, creating a potential conflict.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the interplay between affective facial expressions and linguistic forms in ASL motherese.
- To understand how deaf mothers balance grammatical and affective facial cues when signing to toddlers.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of videotaped interactions between 15 deaf mothers and their deaf toddlers (ages 0;9-2;8).
- Utilized the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) to analyze maternal facial behaviors.
- Focused on child-directed wh- questions due to their frequent use and facial demands (furrowed brows).
Main Results:
- A developmental shift was observed around the child's second birthday.
- Maternal facial expressions transitioned from prioritizing affect to emphasizing grammatical markers.
Conclusions:
- Deaf mothers adjust their use of facial expressions in ASL motherese as the child develops linguistically.
- This shift from affect to grammar demonstrates a dynamic adaptation in sign language input, potentially influencing language acquisition.