request for a letter

[Brian MacWhinney]

Dear CHILDES Member,

  You may remember a letter that we sent you in 1994.  That letter
described the progress of the CHILDES system and asked for a letter
describing your own use of the CHILDES programs and database.  At that
time, the funding for the CHILDES program from the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) was up for renewal.  There was a fantastic response to that
letter in 1994 and I was able to submit about 220 letters from researchers
all around the world describing how people have been using the system.
There is no doubt that these letters were crucial in persuading NIH to
continue funding for the project.

  The NIH CHILDES grant is again up for renewal and I would again like to
ask each of you to write a new letter describing your use of the system and
the published work that relies on its use or the new data transcribed using
the system.  If you have not used the system, then you do not need to
respond, of course.  However, if you have, I would like to ask you to send
me a brief letter describing the role that the CHILDES system has played in
your research and that of your students.  It would also be helpful to know
whether you have used CHILDES programs or data in your classes in language
development.  The letters should be addressed to me, but the real audience
is the grant review panel.  All that is needed is something that can help
the panel understand what role CHILDES plays in the child language field.
It would also be particularly helpful to include full references to any
articles (published or "in preparation") since 1994 that use the data or
programs.  You can send this letter to me through regular mail or through
fax to (412) 268-7251.  Non-English speakers should not worry about having
"perfect English."  However, if you wish to write in other languages, that
is fine too. I need to receive these letters soon, since the renewal
proposal is due March 1 and I need to finish writing it well before then.
Ideally, I would like to have letters by February 10th.  However, even if
your letter arrives after that data or even after March 1, it will still be
useful.  It is best if you can send this letter on university letterhead
(It's more colorful!).  However, if you need to use email, my address is
macw at cmu.edu.  Many thanks for your help on this.

--Brian MacWhinney

address:
Brian MacWhinney
Department of Psychology
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA

fax 412 268-7251
email macw at cmu.edu