Online lecture Dr. Anne E. Baker, University of Amsterdam

26 April 2021 14:00 - 15:30
Max Planck Institute
Online
Lecture
Anne Baker's research is in the field of psycholinguistics, specifically language acquisition of spoken and signed languages and developmental language pathologies. Her particular interest is in cross-linguistic investigation of acquisition and the relationship between language and cognition. Current projects involve the study of Specific Language Impairment in bilingual children, the acquisition of Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT) and the relationship between language acquisition and executive functions.

"Developing a sentence repetition test for the evaluation of deaf children’s use of South African Sign Language”

Abstract


Elicited imitation or sentence repetition tasks (SRT) are in common use in assessing linguistic (grammatical) ability, also for some sign languages. This talk will describe the creation and piloting of the first SRT for South African Sign Language (SASL). We specifically looked at the ability to perform the required task, lexical variation, and the appropriateness of particular grammatical structures of SASL.
The SRT was created with 20 sentences, organised into three categories, according to estimated grammatical complexity. Selection of grammatical structures was informed by SRTs developed for other sign languages.  Data from 40 deaf children (7-9yrs, with a minimum of one year of exposure to SASL) were collected from two schools for the deaf in the Western Cape. The data was scored using absolute scoring, with a complete match being determined on the basis of word order, lexical items used, and non-manual features. Sentences scored as incorrect included sentences skipped and those with extra elements added (unanalysable).
The percentages of correct responses showed an increase across the age range but were very low (2-18%). While the categorisation of sentence complexity was found to be relatively accurate, some adjustments are necessary for future use of the SRT in a broader context. Some grammatical structures were clearly too complex for the age groups tested. Sentence length also had an effect.  Despite previous checking of the lexicon, variation posed a challenge.  This factor is seldom mentioned in other SRTs. The length of exposure to SASL was a significant factor. Participants from one school performed significantly better on the test. Since they had fewer skipped and unanalysable utterances, this suggests greater familiarity with language testing in that school.
 

NGT interpreters available

For Zoom details, please send a short request to Ilse.vandenDobbelsteen [at] mpi.nl.

 

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