The Gardners' Sign Language Research

The Gardner's Sign Language Research, conducted by William Gardner and colleagues, investigated how deaf individuals use sign language to communicate and how gestures contribute to understanding. Their work examined the structure, development, and cognitive aspects of sign language, demonstrating that sign languages are fully expressive, rule-governed languages with complex grammar, similar to spoken languages. This research helped establish that sign language is a legitimate and fully functional language form, emphasizing its importance in linguistic studies and supporting the rights of deaf communities to have access to natural language communication.