Stuttering-Like Behaviors in ASL
Cripps et al.
clinicians to understand the historical background associated with the use of ASL. In the eyes of
society, deaf people’s language was once widely thought to be atypical and consequently
marginalized for most of the two centuries of existence. For example, the field of deaf education
reflected the social values with debate raging over whether deaf students should sign in the
classroom or not (Van Cleve & Crouch, 1989).
The outlook for ASL started to improve in the 1970s and 1980s in light of the civil rights
movement. From that time to present, many linguists have become involved in studying and
validating ASL as a full-fledged human language (see Meier, 2002 for the history of signed
language research). The present level of understanding ASL is strong, including recognition for its
possession of linguistic features, such as phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and
pragmatics (Klima & Bellugi, 1979; Sandler & Lillo-Martin, 2006; Stokoe, 1960; Valli, Lucas,
Mulrooney, & Villanueva, 2011; Wilbur, 1979). Researchers should perhaps now shift to
understanding the nature of stuttering-like behaviors in the signed language modality.
Snyder (2009) addressed the theoretical question of stuttering and how it may occur as a
result of cognitive processing and production errors, regardless of the type of language modality
used, such as speaking or signing. Put another way, perhaps Snyder is questioning if stuttering
occurs only in the spoken mode, but previous literature and case studies appear to reflect that there
are stuttering-like behaviors exhibited by individuals who use signed language. Thus, he concluded
that stuttering might be based on overall cognitive processing rather than the modality used to
communicate. This counters (or adds to) the popular belief by language professionals (and society
at large) that stuttering occurs only in speech and through spoken language. Therefore, further
study of signed stuttering is much needed. A small number of scholarly publications have reported
that stuttering-like behaviors may occur in ASL and other signed languages must not be
overlooked.
Previous Research of Stuttering-like Behaviors in Sign Languages
The earliest studies assessing stuttering-like behaviors among deaf individuals were
conducted using surveys, which date back to the late 1930s (Backus, 1938; Harms & Malone
1937). However, these findings were based on the use of spoken English. It is plausible that some
deaf individuals may develop some skills while speaking as a result of what is known as oralism,
which was used for deaf education at the time when these studies were published. For deaf
individuals, especially those who are profoundly deaf since birth, learning how to speak is a very
difficult task. The impact of hearing loss is immense, which includes deaf individuals who do not
have control over linguistic input. However, researchers during the 1930s managed to generate
findings about the existence of stuttering for orally trained deaf individuals.
It is interesting to note that the first study to assess stuttering-like behaviors in ASL
coincides with how signed language was noted to possess linguistic properties (i.e., Silverman &
Silverman, 1971). The findings for ‘signed stuttering’, at that time, have been cited and discussed
routinely. Cosyns, Van Herreweghe, Christiaens, and Van Borsel (2009), Snyder (2009), and
Whitebread (2004) are recent researchers who examined the phenomenon of ‘signed stuttering’.
The scope of this research now expands to include Flemish Sign Language (of Belgium) and a list
of characteristics related to stuttering-like behaviors in the signed language modality has been
formed and reported.
For example, Whitebread (2004) reported a list of eight characteristics (and descriptions):
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