The use of constructed action and its relationship with age and sign language development among children acquiring Finnish Sign Language

Abstract Children’s use of constructed action (CA) has been linked to language as well as cognitive and social development, but the relationship among these aspects is not yet well understood. This research explores children’s use of CA in their produced narratives and how its use relates to children’s age and Finnish Sign Language (FinSL) skills. Twenty-one children aged 4 to 10 years who had acquired FinSL from early childhood onwards participated in the study. The children’s use of CA was elicited and analysed in still-image story pictures and video-based materials. The association between children’s use of CA and FinSL skills was analysed in terms of comprehension and production of FinSL vocabulary, grammatical structures, and narrative skills assessed with different assessment tools. The results revealed that children’s use of CA was associated with their age and all aspects of FinSL skills. The more the children combined enactment with co-occurring lexicalised elements, the greater proficiency was required in different aspects of language skills. These findings offer a deeper understanding of how CA and FinSL skills are related, thereby supporting previous suggestions on CA’s role in language acquisition.