The Truth about Sign Language Acquisition

Dr. Diane Lillo-Martin discusses modalities within sign language and how hearing parents can help their Deaf children learn.
About this Event

Wolf Humanities Center • University of Pennsylvania

2025–2026 FORUM ON TRUTH

The Truth about Sign Language Acquisition

Diane Lillo-Martin

Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, University of Connecticut, and Senior Scientist at Haskins Laboratories, Yale University

Presented in collaboration with ASL and Deaf Studies in Penn's Department of Linguistics

The natural sign languages used in deaf communities are rich and structured, in the same way that languages around the world are. Even still, there are many misconceptions about whether or not it is appropriate for hearing parents of deaf children to sign with them. This presentation will show what it looks like for a child to become a bimodal bilingual, using two languages in two modalities (speech and sign), and how hearing parents can be part of this journey.

More information: https://wolfhumanities.upenn.edu/events/lillo-martin

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received her Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of California, San Diego and joined the Department of Linguistics at the University of Connecticut in 1986. She is currently a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Linguistics and Head of the Linguistics Department. She is also an affiliated faculty member of the CT Institute for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and a former fellow of the UConn Humanities Institute. Dr. Lillo-Martin’s main research interest is to better understand the human language faculty. Primarily she examines this by studying the structure and acquisition of American Sign Language, and by looking at the process of language acquisition across different languages. Her current focus is language acquisition by deaf children in hearing families. She is a hearing L2 signer of ASL.

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This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

The Wolf Humanities Center values inclusivity and we aim to create a welcoming environment for people of all backgrounds. Please feel free to note any accessibility needs or concerns in your registration, or connect with us by email or phone (215.573.8280).