Language development in deaf bilinguals: Deaf middle school students co-activate written English and American Sign Language during lexical processing

The time course of Cantonese and Hong Kong Sign Language phonological activation: An ERP study of deaf bimodal bilingual readers of Chinese

This study investigated Cantonese and Hong Kong Sign Language (HKSL) phonological activation patterns in Hong Kong deaf readers using the ERP technique. Two experiments employing the error disruption paradigm were conducted while recording participants' EEGs. Experiment 1 focused on orthographic and speech-based phonological processing, while Experiment 2 examined sign-phonological processing. ERP analyses focused on the P200 (180-220 ms) and N400 (300-500 ms) components. The results of Experiment 1 showed that hearing readers exhibited both orthographic and phonological effects in the P200 and N400 windows, consistent with previous studies on Chinese reading. In deaf readers, significant speech-based phonological effects were observed in the P200 window, and orthographic effects spanned both the P200 and N400 windows. Comparative analysis between the two groups revealed distinct spatial distributions for orthographic and speech-based phonological ERP effects, which may indicate the engagement of different neural networks during early processing stages. Experiment 2 found evidence of sign-phonological activation in both the P200 and N400 windows among deaf readers, which may reflect the involvement of sign-phonological representations in early lexical access and later semantic integration. Furthermore, exploratory analysis revealed that higher reading fluency in deaf readers correlated with stronger orthographic effects in the P200 window and diminished effects in the N400 window, indicating that efficient orthographic processing during early lexical access is a distinguishing feature of proficient deaf readers.

Orthographic and Phonological Code Activation in Deaf and Hearing Readers

Grainger et al. (2006) were the first to use ERP masked priming to explore the differing contributions of phonological and orthographic representations to visual word processing. Here we adapted their paradigm to examine word processing in deaf readers. We investigated whether reading-matched deaf and hearing readers (n = 36) exhibit different ERP effects associated with the activation of orthographic and phonological codes during word processing. In a visual masked priming paradigm, participants performed a go/no-go categorization task (detect an occasional animal word). Critical target words were preceded by orthographically-related (transposed letter - TL) or phonologically-related (pseudohomophone - PH) masked non-word primes were contrasted with the same target words preceded by letter substitution (control) non-words primes. Hearing readers exhibited typical N250 and N400 priming effects (greater negativity for control compared to TL or PH primed targets), and the TL and PH priming effects did not differ. For deaf readers, the N250 PH priming effect was later (250-350 ms), and they showed a reversed N250 priming effect for TL primes in this time window. The N400 TL and PH priming effects did not differ between groups. For hearing readers, those with better phonological and spelling skills showed larger early N250 PH and TL priming effects (150-250 ms). For deaf readers, those with better phonological skills showed a larger reversed TL priming effect in the late N250 window. We speculate that phonological knowledge modulates how strongly deaf readers rely on whole-word orthographic representations and/or the mapping from sublexical to lexical representations.

Sensitivity to orthographic vs. phonological constraints on word recognition: An ERP study with deaf and hearing readers

The role of phonology in word recognition has previously been investigated using a masked lexical decision task and transposed letter (TL) nonwords that were either pronounceable (barve) or unpronounceable (brvae). We used event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate these effects in skilled deaf readers, who may be more sensitive to orthotactic than phonotactic constraints, which are conflated in English. Twenty deaf and twenty hearing adults completed a masked lexical decision task while ERPs were recorded. The groups were matched in reading skill and IQ, but deaf readers had poorer phonological ability. Deaf readers were faster and more accurate at rejecting TL nonwords than hearing readers. Neither group exhibited an effect of nonword pronounceability in RTs or accuracy. For both groups, the N250 and N400 components were modulated by lexicality (more negative for nonwords). The N250 was not modulated by nonword pronounceability, but pronounceable nonwords elicited a larger amplitude N400 than unpronounceable nonwords. Because pronounceable nonwords are more word-like, they may incite activation that is unresolved when no lexical entry is found, leading to a larger N400 amplitude. Similar N400 pronounceability effects for deaf and hearing readers, despite differences in phonological sensitivity, suggest these TL effects arise from sensitivity to lexical-level orthotactic constraints. Deaf readers may have an advantage in processing TL nonwords because of enhanced early visual attention and/or tight orthographic-to-semantic connections, bypassing the phonologically mediated route to word recognition.

Electrophysiological patterns of visual word recognition in deaf and hearing readers: An ERP mega-study

Deaf and hearing readers have different access to spoken phonology which may affect the representation and recognition of written words. We used ERPs to investigate how a matched sample of deaf and hearing adults (total n = 90) responded to lexical characteristics of 480 English words in a go/no-go lexical decision task. Results from mixed effect regression models showed a) visual complexity produced small effects in opposing directions for deaf and hearing readers, b) similar frequency effects, but shifted earlier for deaf readers, c) more pronounced effects of orthographic neighborhood density for hearing readers, and d) more pronounced effects of concreteness for deaf readers. We suggest hearing readers have visual word representations that are more integrated with phonological representations, leading to larger lexically-mediated effects of neighborhood density. Conversely, deaf readers weight other sources of information more heavily, leading to larger semantically-mediated effects and altered responses to low-level visual variables.

Somatosensory processing in deaf and deafblind individuals: How does the brain adapt as a function of sensory and linguistic experience? A critical review

How do deaf and deafblind individuals process touch? This question offers a unique model to understand the prospects and constraints of neural plasticity. Our brain constantly receives and processes signals from the environment and combines them into the most reliable information content. The nervous system adapts its functional and structural organization according to the input, and perceptual processing develops as a function of individual experience. However, there are still many unresolved questions regarding the deciding factors for these changes in deaf and deafblind individuals, and so far, findings are not consistent. To date, most studies have not taken the sensory and linguistic experiences of the included participants into account. As a result, the impact of sensory deprivation vs. language experience on somatosensory processing remains inconclusive. Even less is known about the impact of deafblindness on brain development. The resulting neural adaptations could be even more substantial, but no clear patterns have yet been identified. How do deafblind individuals process sensory input? Studies on deafblindness have mostly focused on single cases or groups of late-blind individuals. Importantly, the language backgrounds of deafblind communities are highly variable and include the usage of tactile languages. So far, this kind of linguistic experience and its consequences have not been considered in studies on basic perceptual functions. Here, we will provide a critical review of the literature, aiming at identifying determinants for neuroplasticity and gaps in our current knowledge of somatosensory processing in deaf and deafblind individuals.

Bi-directional cross-language activation in Chinese Sign Language (CSL)-Chinese bimodal bilinguals

In bilingual word recognition, cross-language activation has been found in unimodal bilinguals (e.g., Chinese-English bilinguals) and bimodal bilinguals (e.g., American Sign language-English bilinguals). However, it remains unclear how signs' phonological parameters, spoken words' orthographic and phonological representation, and language proficiency affect cross-language activation in bimodal bilinguals. To resolve the issues, we recruited deaf Chinese sign language (CSL)-Chinese bimodal bilinguals as participants. We conducted two experiments with the implicit priming paradigm and the semantic relatedness decision task. Experiment 1 first showed cross-language activation from Chinese to CSL, and the CSL words' phonological parameter affected the cross-language activation. Experiment 2 further revealed inverse cross-language activation from CSL to Chinese. The Chinese words' orthographic and phonological representation played a similar role in the cross-language activation. Moreover, a comparison between Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that language proficiency influenced cross-language activation. The findings were further discussed with the Bilingual Interactive Activation Plus (BIA+) model, the deaf BIA+ model, and the Bilingual Language Interaction Network for Comprehension of Speech (BLINCS) model.

Ongoing Sign Processing Facilitates Written Word Recognition in Deaf Native Signing Children

Signed and written languages are intimately related in proficient signing readers. Here, we tested whether deaf native signing beginning readers are able to make rapid use of ongoing sign language to facilitate recognition of written words. Deaf native signing children (mean 10 years, 7 months) received prime target pairs with sign word onsets as primes and written words as targets. In a control group of hearing children (matched in their reading abilities to the deaf children, mean 8 years, 8 months), spoken word onsets were instead used as primes. Targets (written German words) either were completions of the German signs or of the spoken word onsets. Task of the participants was to decide whether the target word was a possible German word. Sign onsets facilitated processing of written targets in deaf children similarly to spoken word onsets facilitating processing of written targets in hearing children. In both groups, priming elicited similar effects in the simultaneously recorded event related potentials (ERPs), starting as early as 200 ms after the onset of the written target. These results suggest that beginning readers can use ongoing lexical processing in their native language - be it signed or spoken - to facilitate written word recognition. We conclude that intimate interactions between sign and written language might in turn facilitate reading acquisition in deaf beginning readers.

Predictive Processing in Sign Languages: A Systematic Review

The objective of this article was to review existing research to assess the evidence for predictive processing (PP) in sign language, the conditions under which it occurs, and the effects of language mastery (sign language as a first language, sign language as a second language, bimodal bilingualism) on the neural bases of PP. This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework. We searched peer-reviewed electronic databases (SCOPUS, Web of Science, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and EBSCO host) and gray literature (dissertations in ProQuest). We also searched the reference lists of records selected for the review and forward citations to identify all relevant publications. We searched for records based on five criteria (original work, peer-reviewed, published in English, research topic related to PP or neural entrainment, and human sign language processing). To reduce the risk of bias, the remaining two authors with expertise in sign language processing and a variety of research methods reviewed the results. Disagreements were resolved through extensive discussion. In the final review, 7 records were included, of which 5 were published articles and 2 were dissertations. The reviewed records provide evidence for PP in signing populations, although the underlying mechanism in the visual modality is not clear. The reviewed studies addressed the motor simulation proposals, neural basis of PP, as well as the development of PP. All studies used dynamic sign stimuli. Most of the studies focused on semantic prediction. The question of the mechanism for the interaction between one’s sign language competence (L1 vs. L2 vs. bimodal bilingual) and PP in the manual-visual modality remains unclear, primarily due to the scarcity of participants with varying degrees of language dominance. There is a paucity of evidence for PP in sign languages, especially for frequency-based, phonetic (articulatory), and syntactic prediction. However, studies published to date indicate that Deaf native/native-like L1 signers predict linguistic information during sign language processing, suggesting that PP is an amodal property of language processing.

Research on Open Oral English Scoring System Based on Neural Network

This study designs and implements a scoring system for open-spoken English using NN technology. The system scores the oral recording from the phonetic level and the text level, respectively, and can comprehensively evaluate its oral level. The system will separately score the spoken speech and the spoken content through different scoring models and add the scoring results as the final score, in which the spoken content is obtained by text transcription of the recording by an external speech recognition engine. An acoustic sensor is adopted to collect pronunciation signals of spoken English. Modern signal processing and automatic pattern recognition technology are used to distinguish the quality of spoken pronunciation. Similar semantic units are marked between acoustic feature sequences, which make use of the parallel algorithm processing mode of multi-computing cores of modern GPU and allow multiple units to independently execute the comparison algorithm at the same time. Experiments show that the model in this study achieves better comprehensive scoring performance. The scoring model is of great significance to the development of educational informatization and intelligence, and it also provides a reference for the construction of intelligent oral scoring system.

Predictors of Word and Text Reading Fluency of Deaf Children in Bilingual Deaf Education Programmes

Reading continues to be a challenging task for most deaf children. Bimodal bilingual education creates a supportive environment that stimulates deaf children’s learning through the use of sign language. However, it is still unclear how exposure to sign language might contribute to improving reading ability. Here, we investigate the relative contribution of several cognitive and linguistic variables to the development of word and text reading fluency in deaf children in bimodal bilingual education programmes. The participants of this study were 62 school-aged (8 to 10 years old at the start of the 3-year study) deaf children who took part in bilingual education (using Dutch and Sign Language of The Netherlands) and 40 age-matched hearing children. We assessed vocabulary knowledge in speech and sign, phonological awareness in speech and sign, receptive fingerspelling ability, and short-term memory at time 1 (T1). At times 2 (T2) and 3 (T3), we assessed word and text reading fluency. We found that (1) speech-based vocabulary strongly predicted word and text reading at T2 and T3, (2) fingerspelling ability was a strong predictor of word and text reading fluency at T2 and T3, (3) speech-based phonological awareness predicted word reading accuracy at T2 and T3 but did not predict text reading fluency, and (4) fingerspelling and STM predicted word reading latency at T2 while sign-based phonological awareness predicted this outcome measure at T3. These results suggest that fingerspelling may have an important function in facilitating the construction of orthographical/phonological representations of printed words for deaf children and strengthening word decoding and recognition abilities.