Project title
Exploring new markers of late language development in young speakers and signers
Project description
A majority of deaf children are born into hearing families, resulting in delayed exposure to sign language and partial exposure to spoken language. This delay in language acquisition has been understudied, primarily due to the lack of specific language tests for sign language users.
Josep Quer aims to address important gaps in our knowledge of language development in hearing-impaired individuals and provide valuable insights for language therapy and intervention. He examines two phenomena as markers of delayed development in both hearing and hearing-impaired populations: the linguistic expression of counterfactual thoughts and the ascription of beliefs with the interaction of verbal mood.
This project is connected to the ATLAS-Think Language first initiative, born as a Lorentz-NIAS Theme group, which seeks to understand language development during the school years (ages 6-16) in different populations.
Selected publications
Quer, J., R. Pfau & A. Herrmann (eds.). 2021. Routledge Handbook of Theoretical and Experimental Sign Language Research. London: Routledge.
Quer, J. & M. Steinbach. 2019. Handling Sign Language Data: The Impact of Modality. Frontiers in Psychology. 10:483. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00483
Quer, J., C. Cecchetto, R. Pfau, C. Donati, M. Steinbach, C. Geraci & M. Kelepir (scientific directors). 2017. SignGram Blueprint. A Guide to Sign Language Grammar Writing. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.