Sign Linguistics and Language Acquisition Lab

University of Connecticut

Sign languages provide a distinctive window into what human languages share and what depends on the way they are expressed. Lillo-Martin studies the structure and acquisition of American Sign Language, alongside language development across languages. Her research includes ASL acquisition by Deaf children and the development of both ASL and spoken English in hearing children from Deaf parented families. Comparing signed and spoken language helps examine universal and modality specific properties, connecting linguistic structure with questions about how the human mind acquires language.