Perceiving Grammar Through Ideology: Exploring Deaf Perspectives on ASL Word Order Acceptability
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: This quantitative study explores divergent beliefs about word order in American Sign Language (ASL) within the U.S. Deaf community. Although the academic literature commonly characterizes ASL as following a Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) structure, certain Deaf individuals maintain that ASL predominantly uses a Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) order. This perception reflects an ideological positioning of ASL as fundamentally distinct from English and may align with community norms that have historically emphasized SOV structures. Data were collected through an acceptability judgment task with 53 varied sentence structures presented via video. Among 86 Deaf participants, distinct preferences emerged based on ASL acquisition background. Participants with early ASL exposure from Deaf parents preferred the SOV structure, while those with early ASL exposure from hearing parents preferred the SVO structure. This finding suggests that variability in beliefs about acceptable ASL word order, along with factors such as early language exposure and parental input, influences judgments of acceptability.
Source: Languages
Authors: Emily Jo Noschese, Chao Wang
Institution: Wayne State University
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,689
OpenAlex ID: W7204100822