Deaf children creating written texts: Contributions of American sign language and signed forms of English

The objectives of this descriptive study were to investigate the ways in wh ich American Sign Language (ASL) and English-based sign allow for comprehen sion of text content, and to determine how these two avenues of communicati on might mediate the process of reconstructing "signed meaning" in a writte n text. The authors argue that comprehensible input in a visual mode is pos sible in either ASL or English-based sign. They further claim that English- based signing may be an effective means of bridging the gap between inner s peech and written text.