JO-ANNE ROWNEY
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AND SIGNS L
Think of language, and you think of chatting between friends, or lengthy lexicons being taught to eager English students. From Makaton signs to written spells and incantations, the University of Hertfordshire’s latest language research may challenge our perceptions, but as research fellows explained to Jo-Anne Rowney they are no less fascinating when it comes to the power of the word – written or (un)spoken.
When I was younger I remember my mother insistently trying to get me to talk, repeating words incessantly in a weird competition against my father to get me to say ‘Mum’ before ‘Dad’. In this case she lost the battle, but perhaps she would have fared better if she’d used baby sign language.
Dr Elizabeth Kirk and a team of researchers (led by Dr Karen J Pine at the University of Hertfordshire) have been researching the effect sign language has on babies’ communication and language development by studying a series of gestures that could help increase babies’ vocabulary and language skills earlier on. Baby sign language is a growing business in the UK and the US. Whether it’s videos, books, or classes, plenty of companies have tried to teach sign language to families, claiming their product - by working on early communication - has a positive effect on later communication. The work by University of Hertfordshire researchers tested these products, pushing them to prove their worth, while also trying to create a sign
Economic deprivation played a role in how effective sign language was
language scheme for families from disadvantaged backgrounds, giving mothers and babies a chance to improve their language. The research, funded by Economic and Social
Research Council, stemmed from Kirk’s interest into gestures and how they help school children to think, speak and learn; “I was already interested in how children acquire language and how their communication skills develop. I was curious as to what effect the gestures had. There are so many products teaching parents sign language for their child, claiming they can
increase vocabulary and help babies speak earlier. I wanted to test this.” Kirk spent three years evaluating a commercial
product that - using a DVD - aimed to teach parents sign language to use with their baby before it could talk. She and a team of researchers looked at IQ, development, if the baby spoke earlier when using sign language and whether their vocabulary increased as the product claimed it would. In her initial longitudinal study Kirk checked the baby’s process after eight months, and so on, up until twenty months, with routine assessments of their language.
The study found that in the long term the children developed at the same rate as those who didn’t use commercial products, but as it was a middle class sample Kirk decided to expand her study and look at children from a lower education status background. Since then she has spent two years teaching low income mothers how to use sign language with their child. “Spending time interacting with your baby, and making the most of your hands when you speak as well as your voice, is the best thing that a mum can do to help her baby’s language to flourish,” Kirk says. After deciding economic deprivation played a role in
how effective sign language was, Kirk decided that the sessions would be best aimed at lower income families. Sign language is not the sole ingredient to the sessions with mothers and their babies, nursery rhymes are also used, while increasing the signs each session. “We’ve already started running mother and baby sessions Monday and Wednesday in Children’s centres in Hertfordshire.” says Kirk. “With the help of Hertfordshire county council and Herts NHS we’ve begun working with Sure start centres.” Kirk holds informal sessions, called SmallTalk, at these centres. During the sessions Kirk and a speech therapist teach
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