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September 27, 2005
Genie's word sequencing
Although I did learn some new things about Genie's case from the internet, instead of repeating the facts that everyone has already mentioned, I wan't to mention something that came to mind as I was watching the video.
Genie was eventually taught American Sign Language and although the words signed (for ASL) are English words, the grammar is different. Although I am a native signer, I am honestly not an expert on explaining why exactly the grammar is different. The information below is from a the sign language university website. The reason why I wanted to bring up this idea is because although Genie's sequencing of vocabulary was not similar to that of English, some of her phrases could be accepted when signed in ASL. Perhaps Genie was jumping a bit between both languages? Despite some of Genie's phrases being accepted, I still don't think Genie's progress was actual language acquisiton. But I think this is an interesting thought.
*American Sign Language has its own grammar system, separate from that of English.
What this means is ASL grammar has its own rules for phonology, morphology, syntax, and pragmatics.
In general, ASL sentences follow a "TOPIC" "COMMENT" arrangement. Another name for a "comment" is the term "predicate." A predicate is simply a word or phrase that says something about a topic. In general, the subject of a sentence is your topic. The predicate is your comment.
When discussing past and future events we tend to establish a time-frame before the rest of the sentence.
That gives us a "TIME" "TOPIC" "COMMENT" structure.
For example: or "WEEK-PAST Pro1 WASH MY CAR "
[The "Pro1" term means to use a first-person pronoun. A first-person pronoun means "I or me." So "Pro1" is just a fancy way of saying "I" or "me." In the above example you would simply point at yourself to mean "Pro1."]
Quite often ASL signers will use the object of their sentence as the topic. For example:
"MY CAR, I WASH WEEK-PAST" [Note: The eyebrows are raised and the head is tilted slightly forward during the "MY CAR" portion of that sentence.]
Using the object of your sentence as the topic of the sentence is called "topicalization." In this example, "my car" becomes the subject instead of "me." The fact that "I washed it last week" becomes the comment.
There is more than one sign for "WASH." Washing a car or a window is different from the generic sign for "WASH" to wash-in-a-machine, or to wash a dish. The real issue here isn't so much the order of the words as it is choosing appropriate ASL sign to accurately represent the concept.
There are a number of "correct" variations of word order in American Sign Language (Humphries & Padden, 1992).
For example you could say: "I STUDENT I" or, "I STUDENT" or even, "STUDENT I."
Note: The concept of "I" in these sentences is done by pointing an index finger at your chest and/or touching the tip of the index finger to your chest.*
Posted by lcissearls at September 27, 2005 05:20 PM
Comments
Lauren--
That is really interesting about ASL. I remember when I asked you how to sign "My name is Christina." I knew the signs for "my name" and "Christina" but I didn't know the sign for the verb. You told me that it wasn't necessary. Intially, I was confused because I though of Sign language as a direct translation from English. Now, I realize that Sign Language is truly its own language, not just a method for translation. This was just my own ignorance. I am so glad that you wrote this blog and just explained to everyone the differences. It is important that we recognize that ASL is truly its own language with its own syntax. Good blog!
Posted by: Christina at September 27, 2005 06:08 PM
Wow Lauren, you really put a new spin on the Genie case! I wonder if anyone on the research team even thought of the possibility of her mixing up English and ASL grammar. It seems like they all just assumed she had gone past the critical point for acquiring language, but maybe this wasn't the case. Great work Lauren!
Posted by: Brenna S. at September 27, 2005 08:22 PM
Lauren, That was very interesting. Out of my own ignorance, I didn't know there was a unique and special language for sign language. I, too, thought it was just a literal translation from the english words spoken to the signs. That is so amazing. If you didn't notice in class, I'm always watching the interpretor or you at times becuase I'm so amazed. I wish I could learn it. It truly just...I don't know how else to put it...amazes me. (I hope you don't mind me watching! :) )
Posted by: Rachel at September 28, 2005 05:02 PM