Language Acquisition in Deaf Children

Denna kartläggning är en uppföljning av Språkrådets kartläggning 2010 där det undersöktes hur många förskolor som tar emot döva och hörselska- dade barn och erbjuder en teckenspråkig miljö. Resultatet sammanfattas i nedanstående punkter.
• Antalet förskolor som erbjuder en teckenspråksmiljö var ungefär lika många 2020 som 2010.
• 9 av 20 av förskolor som tog emot döva eller hörselskadade barn våren 2020 bedömdes erbjuda en teckenspråksmiljö.
• Antalet döva eller hörselskadade barn i de förskolor som erbjuder teckenspråkig miljö var ungefär lika många 2020 som vid kartlägg- ningen 2010.
• Antalet hörande barn till teckenspråkiga föräldrar eller syskon är förhållandevis få i de undersökta förskolorna.
• Många förskolor använder både svenskt teckenspråk och tecken som alternativ och kompletterande kommunikation, TAKK, i sin verksamhet.

The purpose of this research is to examine the Malaysian Sign Language competency of deaf children of deaf parents. Many deaf parents believe that their deaf children would be able to acquire language competency in any environment without the need for proper early language acquisition intervention. In reality, this is not the case. Therefore, it is appropriate that deaf children receive assistance in language learning, especially from their parents in acquiring both sign and spoken languages, via early intervention education so that they will be sufficiently competent in at least one language by the time they reach school age. The children in this study were observed in three individual learning activity sessions for their responses to the Early Intervention Programme worker. Their responses were analysed together with supplementary data obtained from their parents’ interview and observation reports. The investigation into the effect of input on sign language acquisition would involve comparing and describing the development of the Malaysian Sign Language in deaf children from two different linguistic environments. One is an environment where the child is exposed to constant sign language input on a daily basis, and the other is an environment where sign language input is limited. The findings revealed that the deaf children who had early intervention on sign language acquisition have acquired better Malaysian Sign Language in terms of expressive and receptive skills.