Almost everything we know about human language comes from the study of spoken languages. However, many of the world's languages are signed languages, which are perceived with the eyes rather than the ears and are produced with the hands rather than the tongue. With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Emmorey is investigating what signed languages can tell us about our uniquely human ability to communicate with language. Dr. Emmorey's experiments employ head-mounted eye tracking technology to study eye behaviors during the perception and production of American Sign Language (ASL). Unlike speech perception, eye gaze is critical to sign perception, and during sign production eye gaze serves several distinct linguistic functions. Dr. Emmorey's studies address theoretical claims regarding the grammatical functions of eye gaze in ASL and identify how signers co-ordinate their eye movements with the linguistic structure of signed sentences. In addition, the project investigates which eye gaze behaviors must be learned in order to perceive and produce ASL efficiently and effectively.
The study of signed languages is essential to our understanding of language universals and to the development of second language programs that train sign language interpreters, as well as instructors for deaf education programs. The use of eye gaze to mark linguistic structure is unique to signed languages, and the results of this project will provide insight into how language modality affects the nature of grammatical encoding. The project will also identify how second language learners must alter their eye gaze patterns during both sign language perception and while signing. Finally, deafness has a substantial impact on the ability of students to gain access to academic and scientific careers, and this project aims to promote the participation of deaf people in research by supporting deaf researchers and by providing a training environment accessible to deaf students.
