Sign language learners with a spoken language background face the challenge of acquiring a second language in a different modality. In the course of this endeavor, one of the modality-specific phenomena they encounter is the use of classifier predicates, also known as depicting signs. Classifier predicates contain a meaningful hand configuration that refers to an entity, denoting a salient characteristic of this entity (Zwitserlood, 2003). The use of a classifier predicate allows the signer to indicate the location, motion and orientation of a referent. If two classifier predicates are used simultaneously, the signer can represent the spatial arrangement of both referents (Schembri, Jones and Burnham, 2001). This visual representation is new for learners with a spoken language background. Since there is a paucity of literature on second language (L2) sign language acquisition, there is no empirical evidence on the developmental stages that L2 learners go through in acquiring the devices to produce such visual representations. In this study, we followed 14 novel learners of Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT) over a period of two years. The learners were asked to produce sign language descriptions of prompts containing various objects (e.g. cars, bicycles, trucks, human beings and animals) that could be depicted by a classifier predicate. Analyses show that after a year of instruction, the majority of learners are capable of producing scene descriptions featuring two classifier predicates to denote the spatial layout of the objects. The first classifier predicates appear in the data at an early stage, suggesting that the strategy of denoting an object with a meaningful handshape representing the object is not difficult to learn. Furthermore, the data show that learners initially struggle with the orientation of objects and handshape selection. This study is the first to systematically elicit classifier predicates from novel learners for an extended period of time. The results have important implications for the field of sign language pedagogy and teaching.

具有口语背景的手语学习者面临着以不同的方式学习第二语言的挑战。在此过程中，他们遇到的特定于模式的现象之一是使用分类器谓词（也称为描绘符号）。分类器谓词包含一个有意义的手配置，该配置引用一个实体，表示该实体的显着特征（Zwitserlood，2003年）。使用分类器谓词可以使签名者指示参考对象的位置，运动和方向。如果同时使用两个分类器谓词，则签名者可以代表两个对象的空间排列（Schembri，Jones和Burnham，2001）。对于具有口语背景的学习者来说，这种视觉表示是新的。由于关于第二语言（L2）手语习得的文献很少，因此没有关于L2学习者在获取设备以产生这种视觉表示上所经历的发展阶段的经验证据。在这项研究中，我们在两年的时间内追踪了14名荷兰手语（NGT）的新颖学习者。要求学习者生成提示的手语描述，其中包含可以由分类器谓词描述的各种对象（例如汽车，自行车，卡车，人类和动物）。分析表明，经过一年的教学，大多数学习者都能够生成具有两个分类谓词的场景描述，以表示对象的空间布局。第一个分类器谓词出现在数据的早期，这表明用一个有意义的手形来表示一个对象的策略并不难于学习。此外，数据显示，学习者最初在对象的方向和手形选择上遇到困难。这项研究是首次在较长的一段时间内系统地从新学习者中得出分类器谓词。结果对手语教学法和教学领域具有重要意义。