Nonmanual Behaviors in L1 & L2 Learners of American Sign Language

When researchers investigate “transfer” in second language acquisition, they are often referring to the role that first language (L₁) structures play in second language (L₂) acquisition. Here we expand the discussion and look at transfer from another point of view, focusing on possible transfer of affective and communicative behaviors by both L₁ and L₂ learners, especially in facial behaviors. In ASL, facial expression functions in two distinct ways: to convey emotion as it does in spoken language, and to mark certain specific grammatical structures (e.g. topics, conditionals, relative clauses). Research on affective development suggests that specific facial expressions for emotion are universal, that children consistently use facial expression to convey emotional states by the end of their first year, and that deaf children begin to acquire the grammatical facial behaviors of ASL at about two years of age. The dual use in ASL of similar facial behaviors, to signal structure and emotion, presents a unique opportunity to explore the boundaries and interactions of two communicative systems: language and affect.