Native signers (children of at least one Deaf parent) outperform non-native signers on ASL syntactic judgment and analogical reasoning tasks¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 2 studies · 2 associationalr2·q3
Currency · newest study 2016 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i? Native vs. non-native signing status was a significant predictor of both syntactic judgment and analogical reasoning scores. → Henner J 2016
q3 i? Non-native signers scored on average 12–13 points lower than native signers across the two tasks. → Henner J 2016 (2)
Evidence¶
Henner J 2016¶
Henner J, Caldwell-Harris CL, Novogrodsky R and Hoffmeister R (2016) American Sign Language Syntax and Analogical Reasoning Skills Are Influenced by Early Acquisition and Age of Entry to Signing Schools for the Deaf. Front. Psychol. 7:1982. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01982
q3 · i? · associational · r2
In the mixed effects regression with age-of-entry groups and signing status, native vs. non-native status was significant for syntactic judgment [χ2(7)= 45.18, p < 0.001] and analogical reasoning [χ2(7)= 56.45, p < 0.001].
"Native vs. non-native status was also significant for syntactic judgment abilities [ χ2(7)= 45.18, p < 0.001] and analogical reasoning skills [ χ2(7)= 56.45, p < 0.001]."
Henner J 2016 (2)¶
Henner J, Caldwell-Harris CL, Novogrodsky R and Hoffmeister R (2016) American Sign Language Syntax and Analogical Reasoning Skills Are Influenced by Early Acquisition and Age of Entry to Signing Schools for the Deaf. Front. Psychol. 7:1982. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01982
q3 · i? · associational · r2
The regression results (Table 3) showed non-native signers scored 12 and 13 points lower on the syntactic judgment and analogical reasoning tasks respectively compared to native signers.
"Non-native signers on average scored 12 and 13 points lower on the syntactic judgment task and analogical reasoning tasks compared to native signers."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- The advantage of signing from birth holds for Deaf learners of all ages tested and all age-of-entry groupings — related
- Non-native signers entering a signing school before age 6 had better ASL abilities than those entering later, but did not equal native signers — related
- Later age of entry to a signing school for the Deaf is associated with lower ASL syntactic judgment and analogical reasoning scores, with a marked decline for entry after age 12 — related
- Native signers of ASL show more proficient bilingual abilities than non-native signers — related
- Family communication mode and hearing status at birth were not significantly related to bilingual abilities — related
- Deaf non-native signers scored lower than hearing children on executive-loaded non-verbal working memory tasks, while deaf native signers did not differ from hearing children — related
- Deaf parental hearing status, sign language use at home, and attendance at a school for the deaf are each associated with more positive perceptions of deaf children's social success — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
native-signers-outperform-non-native-asl |
title |
Native signers (children of at least one Deaf parent) outperform non-native signers on ASL syntactic judgment and analogical reasoning tasks |
description |
Native signers (children of at least one Deaf parent) outperform non-native signers on ASL syntactic judgment and analogical reasoning tasks |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2016 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-17 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
2 — henner-j-2016, henner-j-2016-2 |
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