A recent online article that I came across talked about unproven benefits of signing with your hearing baby, stating that "most of these websites fail to back up all their claims" and that "out of 82 cited sources on 33 websites, less than 10% were scientific studies".
I invite the author of this article, Michael Reed Davison, and any other interested folks to take a look at the references that were included in my book, The Baby Signing Book (published by Robert Rose in 2007).
As a former practicing therapist (specifically a Communicative Disorders Assistant or CDA), it's of vital importance to me that any thing that I produce through WeeHands is backed by research based evidence. Part of my work as a CDA was to make the theory behind intervention fun for children and their parents but also functional. I've carried that 'fun and functional' evidence-backed philosophy over to my work with WeeHands.
For those who are looking for a little light, and incredibly interesting, reading :) I've included below just a few of the references that are in The Baby Signing Book. Enjoy!
- Developmental Milestones: Sign Language Acquisition and Motor Development. By: Bonvillian, John D.; Orlansky, Michael D.; Novack, Lesley Lazin. Child Development, Dec83, Vol. 54 Issue 6, p1435-1445, 11p; DOI: 10.1111/1467-8624.ep12418499; (AN 12418499)
- Gesture and Development: An Introduction to the Special Issue. By: Boyatzis, Chris J.. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, Summer2000, Vol. 24 Issue 2, p59-62, 4p; (AN 17143324)
- Gesture Development: A Review for Clinical and Research Practices. By: Capone, Nina C.; McGregor, Karla K.. Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research, Feb 2004, Vol. 47 Issue 1, p173-186, 14p, 1 chart; DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2004/015); (AN 12474020)
- Impact of Symbolic Gesturing on Early Language Development. By: Goodwyn, Susan W.; Acredolo, Linda P.; Brown, Catherine A.. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, Summer2000, Vol. 24 Issue 2, p81-103, 23p; (AN 17143322)
- Maternal gestures with 20-month-old infants in two contexts. By: O'Neill, Maria; Bard, Kim A.; Linnell, Maggie; Fluck, Michael. Developmental Communications; (September 2004) Science, Jul2005, Vol. 8 Issue 4, p352-359, 8p; DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2005.00423.x; (AN 17466113)
- New Insights Into How Babies Learn Language. By: Barinaga, Marcia. Science,
- Seeing language: The effect over time of sign language on vocabulary development in early... By: Daniels, Marilyn. Child Study Journal, 1996, Vol. 26 Issue 3, p193, 16p, 1 chart; (AN 9612190551)
- Teaching Sign Language To Children With Behavior Disorders: A Direct Instruction Approach. By: Jitendra, Asha; Costa, Janice Da. Preventing School Failure, Spring97, Vol. 41 Issue 3, p137, 5p, 3 charts, 1 graph; (AN 9708105187)
- The Effects of Delayed Physical Prompts and Reinforcement on Baby Sign Language Acquisition. Rachel H. Thompson, Paige M. Mckerchar, And Kelly A. Dancho. Journal Of Applied Behavior Analysis 2004, 37, 379–383 Number 3 (Fall 2004)
- The Relation Between Gesture and Speech in Congenitally Blind and Sighted Language-Learners. By: Iverson, Jana M.; Tencer, Heather L.; Lany, Jill; Goldin-Meadow, Susan. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, Summer 2000, Vol. 24 Issue 2, p105-130, 26p; (AN 17143321)
- The Role of Gesture in Bilingual Education: Does Gesture
Enhance Learning? . By: Church, Ruth Breckinridge;
Ayman-Nolley,
- The Role of Gesture in Children's Comprehension of Spoken Language: Now They Need It, Now They Don't. By: McNeil, Nicole M.; Alibali, Martha W.; Evans, Julia L.. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, Summer2000, Vol. 24 Issue 2, p131-150, 20p; (AN 17143320)
- Twelve-month-olds point to share attention and interest. By: Liszkowski, Ulf; Carpenter, Malinda; Henning, Anne; Striano, Tricia; Tomasello, Michael. Developmental Science, Jun2004, Vol. 7 Issue 3, p297-307, 11p; DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2004.00349.x; (AN 13125353)
- Verbal Labels and Gestural Routines in Parental Communication with Young Children. By: Namy, Laura L.; Acredolo, Linda; Goodwyn, Susan. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, Summer2000, Vol. 24 Issue 2, p63-79, 17p.
2 comments:
Hi! Stopping by from MBC. Great blog!
Have a nice day!
Well, first of all, I was just acting as a journalist, summarizing the research of Nelson, White, and Grewe:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/icd.1748/abstract
However, after going over your sources, I'm inclined to agree with them. Only 5 of your 14 sources are empirical studies about the effects of symbolic gesturing or baby sign, and only three of these were done well enough for me to take them seriously. (A lot of your sources were simply expert opinion, not experiments, or experiments that weren't directly pertinent to claims of baby sign's effects.)
The three studies that did provide solid evidence studied symbolic gesturing in several different, but limited, situations, so it's still hard to generalize and say that baby sign instruction increases IQ, or anything like that. The best study you cited (#4 out of 14) sums up my opinion:
"These results provide strong evidence that symbolic gesturing does not hamper verbal development and may facilitate it" (Goodwyn, Acredolo, & Brown, 2000; emphasis added).
The thing is, I'm guessing you're right, that symbolic gesturing and baby sign instruction really do help children learn about their world better. There's just not enough evidence to prove that baby sign has a big effect. I hope that, in the future, someone does some more good, controlled, empirical research on the subject.
Here are the three studies that had good methodology and showed effects of gesturing:
Impact of Symbolic Gesturing on Early Language Development (I quoted this one above)
The Role of Gesture in Bilingual Education: Does Gesture Enhance Learning? (Studied 51 kids, found a large increase in 1st grade bilingual language education when gestures were used)
The Role of Gesture in Children's Comprehension of Spoken Language: Now They Need It, Now They Don't. (Studied 45 kids, found that gestures help preschoolers,but not kindergarteners, to understand instructions on very specific tasks.)
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