THINGS TO CONSIDER IN L1 SIGN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION RESEARCH

Abstract

This paper provides a brief overview of good practices for research on sign language acquisition and L1 sign language development. The possibilities of combining words and signs are briefly touched upon, and how modality characteristics influence bimodal bilingual acquisition, and how this in turn effects methodology and research. The responsibilities of linguists in disseminating their results amongst professionals and stakeholders such as parents of deaf children are discussed. The influence of implicit attitudinal effects on the discourse used by professionals in intervention areas is shown to have a major impact on the decision making process of parents of deaf children, which has major consequences for the future of deaf children.