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Some researchers do not agree to the universality of the leftward WH-movement in American sign language (ASL) and stress that it should be to the right. Others, however, claim that the use of WH-elements in sentence- or discourse-final positions proves that the WH-movement is a leftward specifier of CP and is not rightward. This is also validated by cross-linguistic generalizations and the use of direct and indirect WH-questions in ASL.

Recent research has examined the early stages of language development in signed and spoken language. In this paper we discuss claims that, in the timing of early language milestones, there is an advantage for the acquisition of signed languages. In particular, we will review the evidence that the emergence of the first signs and of the first two-sign combinations is precocious in signing children as compared to the appearance of the first words and of the first two-word strings in speaking children. We conclude that the evidence for early emergence of the first signs deserves continued attention, but that the evidence for early syntax in signing children is not at all compelling. Finally, we discuss the import of a short-lived sign advantage in early language acquisition, in terms of understanding maturational timing mechanisms more generally. Specifically, we address the question of whether or not a single timing mechanism underlies early milestones in the acquisition of both vocabulary and syntax.

The critique by Petronio and Lillo-Martin 1997 of the argument that, in American sign language (ASL), WH-phases move rightward to a specifier CP position, proposes a leftward WH-movement. A new study suggests that Petronio and Lillo-Martin incorrectly interpreted the data and their analysis does not account for the facts of the language. Therefore, the argument that ASL WH-phases move to the right in ASL holds good.