Homesign refers to any gesture-based communication system ('signing') which is not a conventional sign language, commonly invented by deaf children who grow up with parents who are not fluent in a conventional sign language. A pidgin becomes a creole when it becomes a language learned by the children of the next generation (when it has become a native language).

Pidgins are language systems which develop when communication is needed between groups of people who do not share the same native language system. Some examples of languages whose development is unconventional are pidgins, creoles, and homesign. To gain insight into the development of language, some researchers take advantage of exceptional situations in which language acquisition does not progress in a conventional way. One of the challenges of studying language acquisition is that it is an internal process that is difficult to observe, especially when most of those who are actively acquiring language are infants and toddlers.

3.2.3 Case Study: Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL).

3.1.2 The Language Bioprogram Hypothesis.

3.1.1.1 Some Criticisms of Relexification.3.1 Pidgins, Creoles, and Language Acquisition.

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