Deaf Students’ Knowledge of Subtle Lexical Properties of Transitive and Intransitive English Verbs

Deaf Learners’ Acquisition of fundamental lexical properties of high-frequency English verbs related to transitivity and intransitivity was examined, including the subtle distinction between unergative and unaccusative verbs. A 140-item sentence acceptability rating scale was used to assess this lexical knowledge in deaf college students at two English proficiency levels, plus a control group of hearing native English speakers. Hypotheses addressed the influence of relative derivational complexity and overall English proficiency on verb acquisition. Though the hearing group showed greater accuracy in sentence acceptability judgments and greater accuracy tied to overall English proficiency, the two deaf groups displayed fairly robust knowledge of targeted verbs’ fundamental transitive and intransitive lexical properties. Nevertheless, verb acquisition remains a formidable challenge. Further research should assess deaf students’ knowledge of these lexical properties in lower-frequency English verbs, including unaccusative verbs prevalent in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) and other academic discourse.