American Sign Language for Hearing Children
by Dr. Birgit Schwickert
The original research into the use of signing language with hearing, preverbal babies was done almost simultaneously by two parties: Dr. Joseph Garcia – the founder of Sign2Me - and Drs. Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn.
Dr. Joseph Garcia began his extensive research to use American Sign Language (ASL) with hearing babies of hearing parents in his graduate thesis at the Alaska Pacific University in 1987. With the help of the seventeen families in his study, he learned that babies who are exposed to signs regularly and consistently at six to seven months of age can begin using signs effectively by the eighth or ninth month. During the last 20 years, Joseph Garcia was principal investigator for 109 private research grants. He began developing a practical system for teaching the process to parents, a program that first reached store shelves in 1999 in the form of the SIGN with your BABY® Complete Learning Kit. He has continued to be active in the Deaf community.
To read more about Dr. Joseph Garcia’s research and programs, visit: www.sign2me.com
Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn conducted a longitudinal study founded by the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development at the University of CA at Davis. The study, being performed during the first three years of 140 signing and non-signing babies, showed that signing babies understood more words, had larger vocabularies and engaged in more sophisticated play than non-signing babies.
More information on Dr. Linda Acredolo’s and Dr. Susan Goodwyn’s study can be found at:
http://www.babysigns.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/institute.research/research.cfm
Dr. Kimberlee Whaley started a longitudinal study in November 1999 to research the use of ASL signs with preverbal babies in a preschool environment. After her pilot study conducted at Ohio State 's A. Sophie Rogers Infant-Toddler Laboratory School, she noted "It is so much easier for our teachers to work with 12-month olds who can sign that they want their bottle, rather than just cry and have us try to figure out what they want. This is a great way for infants to express their needs before they can verbalize them."
To read more about Dr. Whaley’s research, visit:
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/?id=SIGNLANG.OSU
Dr. Marilyn Daniels, a professor of speech communication at Penn State University , has found that hearing students in pre-kindergarten classes who receive instruction in both English and ASL score significantly higher on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test than hearing students in classes with no sign instruction. Her studies demonstrate that adding visual and kinesthetic elements to verbal communication helps enhance a preschool child's vocabulary, spelling and reading skills.
To read more about Dr. Daniels’ research, visit:
http://www.handspeak.com/tour/kids/index.php?kids=signbabysign
Daniels, M. (October, 1994). The effects of sign language on hearing children's language development. Communication Education, 43, 291-298.
Daniels, M. (1996). Seeing language: The effect over time of sign language on vocabulary development in early childhood education. Child Study Journal, 26, 193-208.
Daniels, M. (2001). Dancing with Words: Signing for Hearing Children's Literacy. Westport, Connecticut: Bergin and Garvey.
“People have always thought that the human capacity to learn language simply disappears as the brain ages," said Rachel Mayberry, director of McGill's School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, in a release. "Our research shows that when the young brain learns language, it develops a lifelong capacity to learn language. When the young brain does not experience language, this language-learning capacity does not fully develop."
To read more about Rachel Mayberry’s research, visit:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/news/national/2002/05/01/lang_learn020501.html
Dr. Nicole Grove states, “There is evidence that signing can facilitate the development of speech. Signs may mediate the learning of spoken words when they are consistently paired in teaching. In addition, the neurologically based links between manual activity and speech suggest that there is a natural affinity between the two modes of communication.”
To read more about Nicole Grove’s research, visit:
www.makaton.org
click on “research” – scroll half way down, click on “Grove, N (1980)”
More research studies on Signs with Hearing Babies of Deaf Parents can be found under:
Griffith, P.L. (1985). Mode-switching and mode-finding in a hearing child of deaf parents. Sign Language Studies, 48, 195-222.
Wilbur, R. and Jones, M. (1974). Some aspects of the acquisition of American Sign Language and English by three hearing children of deaf parents. In La Galy, Fox, & Bruck (Eds.), Papers from the Tenth Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, 742-749.
Other researchers have found evidence that sign language supports early literacy skills:
Felzer, L. (1998). A Multisensory Reading Program That Really Works. Teaching and Change, 5, 169-183.
Wilson, R., Teague, J., and Teague, M. (1985). The Use of Signing and Fingerspelling to Improve Spelling Performance with Hearing Children. Reading Psychology, 4, 267-273.
Hafer, J. (1986). Signing For Reading Success. Washington D.C.: Clerc Books, Gallaudet University Press.
Koehler, L., and Loyd, L. (September 1986). Using Fingerspelling/Manual Signs to Facilitate Reading and Spelling. Biennial Conference of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. (4'th Cardiff Wales).
Conclusion
This is only a small collection of the growing amount of research on signing with hearing babies. As one can see, the use of sign language has proven to be beneficial for children of all ages. Sign language is now being adopted into early childhood curricula and preschool curricula.