<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div dir="ltr"><div><div>>From Dan Slobin</div></div><div><br></div><div>Issues of deafness and literacy acquisition were raised in the
April 15 science section of the New York Times. I wrote a reply that
was published in the April 22 section. Here is my reply, with a link to
the April 15 article.<br>
<br></div>Dan Slobin<br><br><div dir="ltr">----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
<p><i>A version
of this letter appears in print on April 22, 2014, on page D3 of the New York
edition with the headline: Reactions. </i></p>
<p>TO THE EDITOR:</p>
<p>I’ve spent over 50 years studying how children learn
language, including many languages, spoken and signed. In “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/15/health/a-sons-deafness-prompts-a-scientific-journey.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(79,129,189)">A Son’s Deafness Prompts a
Scientific Journey</span></a>” (April 15), Katherine Bouton notes that many
deaf children who are raised with American Sign Language succeed in learning to
read and write English as a second language, while the median reading ability
by age 18 in deaf children overall remains stuck at a fourth-grade level.
Although she correctly observes that early communication in A.S.L. is the key,
she does not draw the conclusion — supported now by research in several
countries — that when hearing parents begin to use sign language as soon as
their baby is diagnosed as deaf, those children achieve levels of language,
cognition and literacy comparable to those of deaf children with deaf parents.
As Ms. Bouton reports, cochlear implants have mixed results. The best insurance
for hearing parents of babies with implants is to learn A.S.L. and to use both
hands and voice in communicating with their small children. Native fluency in
A.S.L. provides a bridge to English literacy and, if partial hearing is
available, to spoken English.</p>
<p>Dan I. Slobin</p>
<p>Berkeley, Calif.</p>
<p><em>The writer is an emeritus professor of psychology
and linguistics.</em></p>
</div><br clear="all"><div><div><div><br>-- <br><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt"><i><span style="font-size:8pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> </font></span></i></p>
<font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt"><i><span style="font-size:8pt"><font face="Times New Roman">Dan I. Slobin </font></span></i></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt"><i><span style="font-size:8pt"><font face="Times New Roman">Professor Emeritus of
Psychology and Linguistics</font></span></i></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt"><i><span style="font-size:8pt"><font face="Times New Roman">University of California,
Berkeley</font></span></i></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt"><i><span style="font-size:8pt"><font face="Times New Roman">email: <a href="mailto:slobin@berkeley.edu" target="_blank">slobin@berkeley.edu</a></font></span></i></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt"><i><span style="font-size:8pt"><font face="Times New Roman">address: 2323 Rose St.,
Berkeley, CA 94708</font></span></i></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt"><i><span style="font-size:8pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://ihd.berkeley.edu/members.htm#slobin" target="_blank">http://ihd.berkeley.edu/members.htm#slobin</a></font></span></i></p>
<font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt"><i><span style="font-size:8pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> </font></span></i></p>
<font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
</div></div></div></div>
</body></html>
<p></p>
-- <br />
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Info-CHILDES" group.<br />
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to <a href="mailto:info-childes+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com">info-childes+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com</a>.<br />
To post to this group, send email to <a href="mailto:info-childes@googlegroups.com">info-childes@googlegroups.com</a>.<br />
To view this discussion on the web visit <a href="https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/info-childes/F5CD7ABB-523C-427D-BD94-FE9AAE3AE62F%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer">https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/info-childes/F5CD7ABB-523C-427D-BD94-FE9AAE3AE62F%40gmail.com</a>.<br />
For more options, visit <a href="https://groups.google.com/d/optout">https://groups.google.com/d/optout</a>.<br />