Based mostly on anecdotal evidence and personal experience, it does delay verbal speech somewhat. Probably because it reduces the frustration associated with not communicating one’s needs, and thus the incentive of learning speech.
Interestingly, the kids probably switch to speech once they cannot express their wishes and desires using gestures and signing anymore—not because they are incapable of adapting more complex rules for signing, but because their parents typically wouldn’t understand them anymore. Those complex wishes that necessitate complex signing rules—or speech—develop at a later time, thus delaying speech if signing is available.
I think that bilingualism also delays speech somewhat. (But I am not sure about this information.) If that is correct, then spoken + sign languages are simply another instance of bilingualism.
Not quite. The difference is that bilingualism (which also has a host of other cognitive advantages and has been associated with e.g. being a protective factor against dementia) will lead to both languages being delayed, while sign language will develop even earlier than spoken language, and then delay the appropriation of spoken language.
Also, not any sort of a communication should be categorized as “language” as far as our brains are concerned, we have specialized areas associated e.g. with coordinating spoken speech and mapping concepts to speech, as opposed to hand motions (i.e. Broca’s area).
A coworker of mine had some problems to get her son admitted to a top school here in Chile. The kid lives in a bilingual home and speaks both English and Spanish at a level below the level of a monolingual kid.
This looks like a positive data point for your hypothesis.
Based mostly on anecdotal evidence and personal experience, it does delay verbal speech somewhat. Probably because it reduces the frustration associated with not communicating one’s needs, and thus the incentive of learning speech.
Interestingly, the kids probably switch to speech once they cannot express their wishes and desires using gestures and signing anymore—not because they are incapable of adapting more complex rules for signing, but because their parents typically wouldn’t understand them anymore. Those complex wishes that necessitate complex signing rules—or speech—develop at a later time, thus delaying speech if signing is available.
I think that bilingualism also delays speech somewhat. (But I am not sure about this information.) If that is correct, then spoken + sign languages are simply another instance of bilingualism.
Not quite. The difference is that bilingualism (which also has a host of other cognitive advantages and has been associated with e.g. being a protective factor against dementia) will lead to both languages being delayed, while sign language will develop even earlier than spoken language, and then delay the appropriation of spoken language.
Also, not any sort of a communication should be categorized as “language” as far as our brains are concerned, we have specialized areas associated e.g. with coordinating spoken speech and mapping concepts to speech, as opposed to hand motions (i.e. Broca’s area).
A coworker of mine had some problems to get her son admitted to a top school here in Chile. The kid lives in a bilingual home and speaks both English and Spanish at a level below the level of a monolingual kid.
This looks like a positive data point for your hypothesis.