The Acquisition of Synonyms in American Sign Language (ASL): Toward a Further Understanding of the Components of ASL Vocabulary Knowledge

A receptive, multiple-choice test of ASL synonyms was administered to Deaf children in order to determine both their vocabulary development and the metalinguistic skills necessary for them to identify synonyms. A total of 572 Deaf children who were 4; 0-18; 0 years of age were tested: 449 Deaf children of hearing parents (DCHP) and 123 Deaf children of Deaf parents (DCDP). The performance of both groups improved with age, with DCDP scoring higher than DCHP from 8-9 years old and up. An error analysis showed a decrease of phonological foil choices with increasing age in both groups. Learners in both groups relied more on semantic knowledge and less on phonological knowledge for this semantic task as they became older, which is the same pattern observed for typically developing hearing children acquiring a spoken language. This indicates that DCHP and DCDP resemble hearing children in the strategies they use to identify synonyms. In addition, DCHP follow the same developmental trajectory as DCDP but are delayed, which is consistent with the less than ideal levels of language input they receive.