In Sweden, many deaf migrants are enrolled in education programs that teach them Swedish Sign Language (STS) and Swedish. Within our 4-year research project on deaf migrants' multilingual situation in Sweden (Mulder), we have collected STS linguistic data from 39 migrants with different linguistic experiences and backgrounds. Among those, we could identify two groups of learners with two separate but similar backgrounds: 1) those who have undergone formal education and have an appropriate language development background (n=9), and 2) those with limited education experience and delayed language acquisition background (n=9). Participants of group 1 (L2 learners) have resided in Sweden for an average of 4,5 months. Group 2 (late learners) has lived there for an average of 5,4 years. Both groups are enrolled in non-formal adult education programs learning STS in an STS-rich and deaf-friendly environment. In addition, we have comparison data consisting of 9 Swedish L1 signers.
In previous studies on late sign language learners, their syntactic patterns are known to differ from L1 sign language users, specifically regarding basic word order (e.g., Lillo-Martin & Berk, 2003; Cheng & Mayberry, 2019). While these studies have focused on late vs. native ASL users, our study includes late learners, L2 learners, and L1 signers. The aim is to examine the two groups' syntactic constructions in STS, focusing on syntactic arguments and word order patterns. For this, we used data from an elicitation task. The participants watched a short video clip from "The Plank" and retold the story in STS. The data were transcribed using ELAN software and coded for sign glosses, clause units, and syntactic arguments (subject, verb, object, etc.). The arguments and word order patterns were analyzed and compared across the groups. The preliminary findings revealed that group 2's word order pattern is more basic, consisting of SV. In contrast, group 1's word order is more complex, consisting of more advanced word order, similar to Swedish L1 signers. This is interesting concerning the difference in length of STS exposure between group 1 and group 2. Thus, our findings support previous general findings linked to AoA effects on language learning, i.e., the importance of a robust language acquisition background for further learning an additional language. Furthermore, we suggest that the deaf migrant group cannot be treated and educated following a "one size fits all"-model. Still, more resources must be given to those with limited education and language background to promote language learning for better social integration.
References
Cheng, Q., & Mayberry, R. I. (2019). Acquiring a first language in adolescence: the case of basic word order in American Sign Language. Journal of child language, 46(2), 214-240.
Lillo-Martin, D., & Berk, S. (2003). Acquisition of constituent order under delayed language exposure. In B. Beachley, A. Brown, & F. Conlin (Eds.), Proceedings of the 27th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (Vol. 2, pp. 484–95). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.
