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Competition on the face: affect and language in ASL motherese*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Judy Snitzer Reilly  and
Ursula Bellugi
Judy Snitzer Reilly*
Affiliation:
San Diego State University
Ursula Bellugi
Affiliation:
Salk Institute for Biological Studies
*
Department of Psychology, 6363 Alvarado Court, No. 221, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92120, USA.
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Abstract

Research on early mother-child interaction has documented the crucial role affect plays in the content and modulation of early interactions. For hearing mothers, voice quality is considered to be the single most informative channel for affective expression. For deaf caregivers who use American Sign Language (ASL), the vocal channel is unavailable, and facial expression is critically important. Not only do facial behaviours signal affective and communicative information, but specific facial behaviours also function as obligatory grammatical markers. This multifunctionality of facial expression presents a dilemma for deaf parents signing to their toddlers as these two systems potentially compete for expression on the face. This study addresses how affective facial expression interacts with the linguistic forms in ASL motherese. To address this issue, we present data from both cross-sectional and longitudinal videotaped interaction from a total of 15 deaf mothers signing with their deaf toddlers (ages 0;9–2;8). Using Ekman & Friesen's Facial Action Coding System (FACS) (1978) we analysed child-directed maternal wh- questions. Because they are frequent in early discourse, AND they require furrowed brows which also signal anger and puzzlement, wh- questions represent an ideal context to address the potential conflict of grammatical and affective facial expression in ASL motherese. Our studies indicate a shift from affect to grammar at about the child's second birthday. These findings shed new insight on the nature and possible role of input on the language acquisition process.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , February 1996 , pp. 219 - 239
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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Footnotes

[*]

A portion of these data was presented at the International Conference for Infant Studies Montreal, April 1990. This research was supported by National Institutes of Health grants No. DC00539, to J. S. Reilly and Nos DC00146, DC00201 and HD 13249 to Ursula Bellugi. We thank Marina McIntire and Karen Emmorey for their helpful comments and Nathie Marbury and Joe Ochoa for assisting in data collection and transcription. We gratefully acknowledge the parents and children who have participated in this study.

References

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