Utilizing a controlled elicitation sampling (C.E.S.) method used earlier with a single child (Ivimey, 1976a), the written syntax of a group of young English profoundly deaf children is analysed. The data on which the analysis is performed closely resemble those reported by earlier investigators, and the structured nature of the syntax of deaf children is demonstrated and described. Contamination of the syntax by manual media of communication is rejected, and it is shown that there are similarities between the syntax of 11-year-old profoundly deaf children and 2-2½-year-old hearing children. However, the deaf children appear to be using their syntactic skills for communication more appropriate to their chronological ages.
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