How Deaf Teens Process Speech, Sign, and Both Together
Deaf adolescents primarily look at a speaker's mouth to capture speech and signs simultaneously, but combining signs with spoken language does not boost their overall text comprehension.
Source
An Eye Tracking Study on the Perception and Comprehension of Unimodal and Bimodal Linguistic Inputs by Deaf Adolescents
What they did
Researchers compared how 25 deaf students and 25 hearing students comprehended short stories. The deaf participants watched stories presented in different formats: spoken Spanish, Spanish Sign Language (LSE), and Sign-Supported Speech (SSS), which combines both. While they watched, an eye-tracking system monitored whether they looked at the speaker's eyes, mouth, or body.
What they found
Hearing students understood spoken stories better than deaf students understood any format, though deaf teens with early cochlear implants scored similarly to hearing peers. Deaf participants focused on the speaker's face 95.83% of the time during SSS and 95.93% during LSE. They attended the lower face area 72.2% of face-viewing time, compared to 51.4% for hearing participants, though looking at the speaker's body increased slightly when spatial details were signed.
The limits
What it doesn't show
The study cannot prove that sign-supported speech is universally unhelpful, as the small subgroups (such as only five participants with early implants or five participants with native LSE sign language knowledge) limit statistical power. It also evaluated complex story comprehension rather than single words, meaning memory and attention demands might have masked the benefits of dual input. Additionally, the small screen representation of the speaker might have restricted natural eye movements.
Key terms
- Sign-supported speech (SSS)
- A communication method where spoken language is accompanied by signs from a natural sign language, following the word order of the spoken language.
- Bimodal bilingualism
- The ability to communicate using both a spoken language and a signed language.
- Peripheral vision
- The ability to see and process visual information outside of the direct line of sight or central focus.
- Mouthings
- The silent articulation of spoken words or parts of words that accompany signs in sign language.
- Dwell time
- The total amount of time a participant's gaze remains fixed within a specific visual area of interest.
- Total Communication (TC)
- An educational approach that incorporates all means of communication, including speech, signs, gestures, and writing.
Flashcards
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Quiz yourself
How does sign-supported speech (SSS) differ from natural code-blends produced by bimodal bilinguals?
Common questions
Does combining signs and speech help deaf teens understand stories better?
Surprisingly, no. The study found no significant difference in comprehension scores between the bimodal (Sign-Supported Speech) and unimodal (spoken-only or sign-only) conditions for the deaf participants as a whole.
Why do deaf adolescents look at the mouth more than hearing adolescents do?
Deaf adolescents looked at the lower face area for 72.2% of their face-gaze time compared to 51.4% for hearing participants. This focus allows them to lip-read spoken words while using their peripheral vision to capture signs made lower down on the body.
Did cochlear implants make a difference in comprehension?
Yes. A small subgroup of five participants who received cochlear implants at an early age performed at a level equivalent to their hearing peers across all communication formats.
How did spatial information affect eye movements?
When spatial information (like directions or locations) was described, deaf participants temporarily shifted their gaze from the face to the hands/body where the spatial signs were articulated, though this did not translate to better map task scores.
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