The scientific studies listed below document the benefits
of learning Sign Language. Click on the bullet point next
to each listing for more detailed information about a particular
study.
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Joseph Garcia's 1987 Master's
Program Research at Alaska Pacific University establishes
that babies can use signs to communicate |
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Dr. Kimberlee Whaley's 1999
pilot study at The Ohio State University, indicates
that Sign Language helped to facilitate communication
between babies and their caregivers |
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In a longitudinal
study funded by the National Institutes of Child Health
and Human Development, Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn
discovered that babies exposed to Signs outperformed
non-signing babies in comparison after comparison.
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Researchers have found that
early exposure to Sign Language is linked to increased
vocabulary and improved reading skills. |
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A variety of studies demonstrate
that there is a common neurological foundation between
the areas of the human brain responsible for language
development and the areas responsible for motor coordination.
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Deborah A. Cutter, Psy.D., MFT and Susan M. Zneimer, Ph.D., FACMG hypothesize that early acquisition of American Sign Language may be an innovative approach for treating Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.
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Joseph
Garcia became interested in the idea of using Sign
Language as a tool for communication with pre-verbal babies
when he noticed that babies raised in the Deaf Community
were using Sign Language to communicate from a very young
age. His formal research began in 1987 as part of his Masters
Program at Alaska Pacific University. The objective of his
study was to determine the age at which infants can use
expressive communication, and to learn what role signing
could play in this process.
Seventeen families participated in
Mr. Garcia's initial study. The results of the study indicated
that babies who are exposed to signs regularly and consistently
at six to seven months of age can begin to use expressive
communication by the eighth or ninth month.
Through an initial pilot study conducted
in early 1999, Dr. Kimberlee Whaley, discovered that
babies as young as nine months of age could use Sign Language
to communicate with their caregivers. Whaley notes, "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." Click
here to read more about this pilot study.
In a longitudinal study involving
140 families, Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn
discovered that babies exposed to signs outperformed non-signing
babies in comparison after comparison. The study demonstrated
that signing babies understood more words, had larger vocabularies,
scored higher on intelligence tests, and engaged in more
sophisticated play than did their non-signing counterparts.
Parents of signing babies in the study
reported decreased frustration, increased communication,
a deepened bond with their child, increases in their child's
self-confidence as well as increases in their child's interest
in books. Additionally, when Acredolo and Goodwyn revisited
the families in the original study when the children were
seven and eight years old they found that the children who
signed as babies had a mean IQ of 114 compared to the non-signing
control group's mean IQ of 102.
Click here to read about Acredolo and Goodwyn's methodology and latest findings.
In 1994, Marilyn
Daniels first reported her findings that preschoolers
who receive sign instruction test significantly higher on
the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test than do other preschoolers.
She concluded that a child's vocabulary development can
be enhanced by simultaneously presenting words visually,
kinesthetically, and verbally. Other researchers have found
a correlation between exposure to Sign Language and improved
reading scores. You can read about these ideas further in
the following journal articles and books:
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Daniels, M. (1994). The Effects
of Sign Language on Hearing Children's Language Development.
Communication Education, October, v43 n4, p291(8).
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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. |
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Daniels, Marilyn, Dancing
with Words: Signing for Hearing Children's Literacy.
Bergin & Garvey, October 2000. ISBN: 0897897927. |
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Hafer, Jan C, and Robert M. Wilson.
Signing for Reading Success. Gallaudet University
Press, December 1998. ISBN: 0930323181. |
Refer to the following to find out more
about Cutter and Zneimer's hypothesis that early acquisition of American Sign Language may be an innovative approach for treating Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder:
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Click here (then click on PDF file referenced near the very bottom of the page entitled "Early Acquisition of ASL, an Innovative Approach to Treating ADHD.")
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Please contact us if you know
of other scientific research related to the benefits of Sign
Language so that we may share this information with others.
