THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPATIAL REFERENCE IN BRITISH SIGN LANGUAGE

British Sign Language relies extensively on the use of spatial locatio ns for reference in discourse. Locations may be conventional or arbitr ary or they may form part of a 'map' of the real world. Verbs in sign language are classified according to their use of space:'agreement ver bs' inflect for person and number using arbitrary spatial locations,'s patial verbs' use locations in a topographic representation of space, and 'plain verbs' use no spatial locations. The development of the spa tial reference system is discussed and some preliminary findings are p resented of a study investigating the use and development of the prono minal reference system in British Sign Language, and the interaction o f the system with verb class. Educational implications of the results are also considered.