Here are my Wug Test results:

1. Wugs
2. Gutches
3. Spowed
4. Kazhs
5. Ricked
6. a tiny WUG and a house
7. Tors
8. Quirky
9. Luns
10.Nizes
I enjoyed taking the WUG test and wish it was longer! ! Its always fun for
me to do puzzles like this one and coding. I thought it was pretty easy until I
got to #6, which felt like a trick question. I would be curious to compare my
answers with kids answers, and what factors would differentiate them. It is
fascinating how kids demonstrate their ability to add endings (plurals, past
tense) to non-sense words at such a young age. This shows that language is
not just about memorizing words, and that kids have generalized patterns
from the language theyre exposed to. Is their intricate working system an
evidence of the innatist theory or interactionist theory? On a different note, I
wonder if linguistic tools have been formed to test grammatical morphemes
in ASL using pseudo signs.
Watching Patricia Kuhls Ted Talk lecture entitled The Linguistic Genius
of Babies reaffirms the importance of the critical period. The critical period
or window of opportunity is something Ive been familiar with for a while
since my husband is a Deaf Ed teacher, and he shares frustration about his
students who missed the critical period for language acquisition. Kuhls
video provided a new lens on this concept. What I did not know was that
babies can discriminate sounds of any language before they become
language/culture-bound listeners by the time they turn one. What babies
brains are capable of is mindblowing and is often underappreciated. I was
especially surprised by the data showing no difference in the test scores
between an American baby who received only 12 Mandarin language
sessions and a monolingual Taiwanese baby who has been speaking
Mandarin, both at the same age of 10.5 months old. Does this mean that if I
want my baby to be fluent in German, the baby would only need 12 sessions
of German instruction before they reach the age of 1!? I loved that towards

the end, data showed that babies are social humans and reap no benefits
from sitting in front of the tv. I agree with Keely Holder-why is that many
parents think it is okay to put a child in front of the tv!? This presentation
was enjoyable to watch.
Steve Pinkers Human Nature and The Blank State video was, on the other
hand, tedious to watch! I dont know if it was my web browser, but the
captioning was not aligned with the video, so I referred to the transcript at
least 3 times. My husband and I tried to navigate through his gibberish,
and we think that the takeaway message is that we are genetically
predisposed (not born with a blank state), uninfluenced by parenting and that
we all enjoy arts regardless the culture we grow up in. I can understand the
part about us being born with a certain temperament and talent-this explains
why my parents and I are strikingly different. However, Im having a hard
time understanding how all of these are connected in the context of language
learning and the point he was making, so any clarification from the
classmates and Dr. Carlson would be greatly helpful!
If Steves premise is that nature is superior to nurture, how do you explain
the language delay that many Deaf children experience? They are not
predisposed to be linguistically delayed, so the interaction of the
environment (such as parent involvement) seems to make more sense. I want
to know how much the role of genetics and parenting actually shape the
kids behavior. All in all, Steve Pinkers lecture left me with too many
questions.

RachelBlythe
TASL501
10/8/14
ApplicationActivity#2

IselectedtheAdaptedQuickMotivationBatterytestfromVivianCookswebsite
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/SLA/MotTest.htm)andadaptedtoAmericanSignLanguage
(ASL)asmodernlanguage.ItwaseasytoadaptittomatchASL,andnowlookingoverthetest,I
couldhavemadesomemodificationssuchassubstitutingspeakwithsigninthefirstquestion.I
believeitisagreattestandwoulduseitinmyfutureASLclasses.
ItfeltabitstrangegivingthetesttomyclassmatesbecausetheyarealreadynativeASLusers
andarealreadyworkingand/orhavegoalsofbecominganASLteacher.Iquotedthenativepart
becausesomedidnotgrowupusingASLbutnowuseASLastheirprimarylanguage.Asaresultof
theirbackgrounds,Icantsaythattheresponsesrelatedtotheirmotivationarevalid.Thistestis
appropriateforL2usersstudyingASL,andIwouldbeinterestedincollectingtheirresponsesandsee
howtheycomparewiththecurrentresponses.Also,Iwouldbeinterestedinadaptingthetesttofitthe
ASLteachersthatarealreadyteachingandfindoutwhattheirmotivationlevelisinteachingASLasa
profession.
TheresponsesthatIcollectedaremostlysimilaracrosstheboard.Igotvariedanswerstotwo
questionsrelatedtogettingajobandgettingrespectforhavingincreasedknowledgeinaforeign
language.Itwasinterestingtonotethisvarietyaswellasthesimilarityamongsttheresponsesrelatedto
participatingmorefreelyintheactivitiesintheDeafCommunity.Iassumerespondersmayhavefeltit
wasconsequentialconsideringtheyarealreadymembersoftheDeafCommunityandparticipateinthe
activities.AnotherquestiontoconsideristheirlevelofparticipationintheDeafCommunitydoes
studyingASLasaprofessionincreasetheirparticipationintheDeafCommunityorisitirrelevant?This
canbecomeimportantbecauselanguageiseversochanging,andtheyneedtostayupdatedwiththeir
signing.AnotherthoughtIhaveiswhetherthewordingofthequestionaffectstheirresponses.Question
#3isalmostsimilartoquestion#7,yettheiranswersweredifferent,anditmademewonderwhy.

Studying ASL can be

important to me because Studying ASL can be
Studying ASL can be
it will enable me to better important to me because
important to me because understand and
I think it will someday be
it will make me a more appreciate ASL art and useful in getting a good
knowledgable person.
literature.
job.

Studying ASL can be

important to me because
I will be able to
participate more freely in
the activities in the Deaf
Community.

Studying ASL can be

important to me because
other people will respect
me more if I have a
knowledge of a foreign
language.

Timestamp

Studying ASL can be important to

me because it will allow me to be
more at ease with people who
speak ASL.

Studying ASL can be

important to me only
because I'll need it for
my future career.

Studying ASL can be

important to me because
it will allow me to meet
and converse with more
and varied people.

#1

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Moderately Agree

Moderately Agree

Moderately Agree

#2

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Moderately Agree

Strongly Agree

#3

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Agree

Moderately Agree

Moderately Agree

Strongly Agree:3

Strongly Agree: 3

Strongly Agree: 3

Strongly Agree: 3

Strongly Agree: 3

Moderately Agree: 1

Moderately Agree: 3

Moderately Agree: 2

Strongly Agree: 2

Strongly Agree: 1