Signing ASL with babies
Is there manual babbling in sign language? Yes. Does signed language function in the same left cerebral regions as spoken language? Yes. Is a signed language (e.g. ASL, Auslan, etc) a real human language? Yes. Does sign language have linguistics? Yes. Research studies in the fields from neuroscience to linguistics can confirm these.
"The human brain does not discriminate between the hands and the tongue. People discriminate, but not our biological human brain." -- Neuroscientist Dr. Laura Petitto, 2012.
Studies show evidence that language development is maturationally brain-controlled, regardless of modality (speech or signlan). That is, brain has no preference for language modality.
Studies show that acquiring a signed language from birth is on the same language developmental timeline as acquiring a spoken language.
Language acquisition: a case study
The documentary online "Baby Talk in ASL" follows a baby's language acquisition and literacy development in ASL (American Sign Language) week by week from her birth to her first birthday in a natural native-ASL environment and visual culture.
Observe the baby's development from eye contact and gazing behaviors to the emergence of finger pointing. Watch a language process from the babbling stage to the first ASL words week by week.
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ASL milestones (L1)
- 0;0,0: Raising a bilingual child
- 0;0,1: Making first eye contact
- 0;0,2: Imitating movements and cooing
- 0;0,3: Using senses and technology
- 0;0,4: Acquiring language via interaction
- 0;1,1: Manual cooing
- 0;1,2: Following objects or people with eyes
- 0;1,3: First smiles
- 0;1,4: Using ASL nursery rhymes
- 0;2,1: Gaining more control over her body
- 0;2,2: Observing and listening to parentese
- 0;2,3: Exploring the world
- 0;2,4: Eye-hand coordination beginning; Exploring hands and objects
- 0;2,5: Communicating through body language
- 0;3,1: Gaze shifting between picture and ASL word
- 0;3,2: Communicating with eyes; Visually tracking 180 degrees
- 0;3,3: Bringing hands together
- 0;3,4: Grabbing objects within reach; gaze shifting
- 0;4,1: Gaze shifting between face and fingerspelling
- 0;4;2: Bringing hands to mouth; turn-taking
- 0;4,3: Playing contact eye game
- 0;4,4: Playing with hands, the precursor to babbling
- 0;5,1: Communicating by patting or tapping
- 0;5,2: The emergence of marginal babbling
- 0;5,3: Gaze-following turn-taking conversation
- 0;5,4: Distinguishing ASL words from animal visues
- 0;5,5: Paying attention to details
- 0;6,1: Learning the concept of object permanence
- 0;6,2: Beginning to understand what is being said
- 0;6,3: The emergence of razzy visues
- 0;6,4: The emergence of canonical babbling
- 0;7,1: Developing intentional communication
- 0;7,2: Developing an association of concept with word
- 0;7,3: Manipulating objects back and forth
- 0;7,4: The emergence of other syllabic babbles
- 0;8,1: Demonstrating constraints in syllabic babbling
- 0;8,2: The emergence of variegated babbling
- 0;8,3: Waving bye-bye
- 0;8,4: The emergence of pointing for direction
- 0;8,5: Connecting word to object or picture
- 0;9,1: The emergence of pointing for names
- 0;9,2: The emergence of finger babbling
- 0;9,3: Pointing at pictures for names
- 0;9,4: The early emergence of recognizable words
- 0;10,1: Emerging referential words: finish + music
- 0;10,2: Emerging ASL words: mother + music
- 0;10,3: Emerging ASL words: eat + more
- 0;10,4: Categorizing a group of referents
- 0;11,1: Responding to simple requests
- 0;11,2: Recognizing an ASL word in the video
- 0;11,3: Producing ASL words on torso; multipointing
- 0;11,4: Combining gestural pointing with ASL words
- 0;11,5: Combining an ASL word with razzy
