Research
My projects:
Acquisition of Plural Classifier constructions: Effect of Early Language Deprivation.
Several studies have looked at the early acquisition of classifiers by deaf children from Deaf signing families and identified specific patterns. Acquisition of classifiers occurs relatively late (Kantor, 1980), although classifier-like forms start to appear in young signers very early (Slobin et al., 2003), and is not errorless (Supalla, 1983). Acquisition of morphologically complex forms, such as plural classifier constructions where the hold is combined with sweeping or stamping, can take even longer (Conlin-Luippold & Hoffmeister, 2013). The comprehension of complex constructions is also influenced by the quantity and quality of language input: it took longer for the deaf signing children from hearing families to acquire them, and the potential iconicity of these constructions does not facilitate their acquisition.
In this project, we investigate the impact of severe language deprivation on the acquisition of plural classifier constructions in ASL and the preferences for plural marking in production (picture description) and comprehension (picture matching task) by comparing thee groups of signers: deaf early childhood learners, deaf late learners, and hearing second language learners of ASL.
This project is supported by NSF doctoral dissertation research improvement awards.
Semushina, N., Keller, M.A., Mayberry, R.I. (Jan 2022) Age of Acquisition Effects in the Use of Plural Classifier Constructions in ASL. Talk at the 2022 Annual Linguistic Society of America Meeting, Washington DC, virtual) [Talk by Nina Semushina & Monica Keller (English/ASL)]
Semushina, N., Keller, M.A., Mayberry, R.I. (Nov 2020) Delayed language exposure and acquisition of plural classifier constructions in ASL: influence of complexity and frequency. Talk at the 14th High Desert Linguistic Society Conference (Albuquerque, New Mexico; virtual) [Talk by Nina Semushina & Monica Keller (English/ASL)]
Number Stroop Effect in ASL?
The ability to automatically recognize the quantitative values of numerals is hypothesized to play an important role in skilled calculation. It requires the acquisition of a symbolic number system and the conventional symbols it uses (both linguistic and mathematic). One way to test automatic magnitude estimation is with the Number Stroop Effect, or NSE (Henik & Tzelgov, 1982)
Participants judge which of two numbers presented on display is larger. "Larger" is defined by either physical size or numerical value, depending on the condition. Reaction times are usually faster for congruent stimuli (size dimension congruent with quantity dimension) and slower for incongruent stimuli (size dimension incongruent with quantity dimension). The fastest comparisons for the size dimension were affected by numerical information even when it was irrelevant to the task. This suggests that physical size and semantic quantity information are processed in a parallel fashion and that numerical quantity is computed automatically for Arabic numbers. Data on NSE when numbers are presented linguistically are controversial.
In this project, we investigated potential NSE in ASL in native signers of that language, but also look at the effect of language deprivation on automatic number activation. This project is supported by NSF doctoral dissertation research improvement awards. The paper is now submitted for publication.
Semushina, N., & Mayberry, R.I. (2022) Number Stroop Effects in Arabic Digits and ASL Number Signs: The Impact of Age and Setting of Language Acquisition, Language Learning and Development, DOI: 10.1080/15475441.2022.2047689 (open access!)
Semushina, N., Mayberry, R. (2019) Age of acquisition effects on automatic magnitude estimation in ASL number signs and Arabic digits. Poster presented at TISLR13. Hamburg, Germany [poster, video presentations in ASL and English]
Numeral Systems Across Sign Languages of the world
For this project we analyzed the most frequent strategies used to form numeral systems across sign languages, taking into consideration the modality-specific property of two articulators (the hands) and the relatively young age of sign languages. Using sign language dictionaries, tutorials, and educational materials, available online, we created a database of sign language numeral systems, which we combined with analyses of publications about particular sign languages. This project is supported by NSF doctoral dissertation research improvement awards.
Semushina, N., Fairchild, A. (2019) Counting with fingers symbolically: basic numerals across sign languages. San Diego Linguistic Papers, 7 (available on eScholarship)
Semushina, N., Fairchild., A, Mayberry, R.I. (2019) Counting with Fingers Symbolically: Basic Numerals Across Sign Languages. Poster presentation at the LSA 2020 Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA [poster]
Numeral Incorporation in Russian Sign Language
Numeral incorporation is the simultaneous combination of a numeral and a base sign into one sign. Incorporating forms typically use the numerical handshape combined simultaneously with the movement, location, and orientation of the base lexical sign: for example, “3 months” will be expressed through an incorporating form 3_MONTH. Analyses of Russian Sign Language (RSL) data collected through fieldwork in Russia, show that there is no general linguistic rule for numeral incorporation in RSL (unlike in ASL which has a one-handed numeral system). Instead, because of phonological constraints that govern the distribution of two-handed signs, incorporation of two-handed numerals in RSL depends upon the place of articulation and the hand orientation of the particular lexical sign.
Burkova, S., Filimonova, E., Kimmelman, V., Kopylova, V., & Semushina, N. (2018). Lexical Expressions of Time in Russian Sign Language. Sign Language Studies 19(2), 175-203. doi:10.1353/sls.2018.0031.
Semushina, N. and Rachel I. Mayberry. (2019). "Numeral Incorporation in Russian Sign Language: Phonological Constraints on Simultaneous Morphology." Sign Language Studies 20 (1), doi:10.1353/sls.2019.0015, Pubmed