THE TRANSITION FROM NONREFERENTIAL TO REFERENTIAL LANGUAGE IN CHILDREN ACQUIRING AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE

This longitudinal study examined the early language productions of 9 children of deaf parents. Monthly home visits and parental diary reports revealed that these children, on the average, produced their initial recognizable sign at 8.2 months of age, attained a lexicon of 10 recognizable signs at 13.5 months of age, and combined signs at 16.1 months of age. Analysis of the context of these early signs showed that the children did not use signs referentially (i.e., to name new things) until a mean age of 12.6 months, typically after they had demonstrated communicative pointing. Signs acquired earlier were primarily imitations of parental sign models, signs used in interactive routines, and requests for familiar items. Most of the children's early signs were not iconic.