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The article cites a study related to the role of children in the development of a new sign language. Deaf children and adults in Nicaragua have historically been isolated from each other. Over the past 25 years, a deaf elementary and vocational school has caused a sizable population of deaf adults and children to interact, and in this setting a new sign language, Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL), has emerged. Researcher Ann Senghas and colleagues argue that this language demonstrates the development from a gestural form into a linguistic system. In examining the signing of cohorts of NSL signers, they focused on two hallmark traits of language in distinguishing true language from other forms of communication: discreteness, in which elements are broken down into minimal units, and hierarchical combinatorial patterning, in which these discrete units are used to build larger units.