you won't believe this

[Emanuel Souza de Quadros]

My two cents...

I believe that science blogging has some role to play in the spread of
informed knowledge. I haven't seen much linguistic blogs around. If you
take a look at other areas, such as biology, physics, psychology, etc.,
you'll find a good number of specialists being able to reach a
considerable audience.

It is not mainstream media, but it is an interesting alternative way we
have.

Best,
-- 
Emanuel Souza de Quadros
http://languagebar.blogsome.com


On Thu, 2008-02-28 at 19:57 -0500, Tom Roeper wrote:
> Dear Kathy---
>   
>     I think the goal of having an impact on how knowledge is presented
> in the media is an excellent one.  I'll suggest below how I think it
> might be done, but some background on the article
> might be helpful.
>    I was cited very briefly in that article with an incredibly
> simple-minded sentence.   The author is someone with a general
> interest in science and a very young child.  That is the source of
> his interest.   I spoke to him for over an hour----and said that I was
> really not familiar with the instrument---but that any effort to
> assess children should pay attention to how children show
> kowledge of the actual structure of the language---and referred him to
> the DELV which Harry Seymour, Jill deVilliers and I developed---and
> told him how simple sentences like 
> "who ate what" can use very simple sentences to approach core features
> of grammar.  I also sent him chapters and a copy of my book "The Prism
> of Grammar"---hoped he might mention it, since
> it is simple enough for parents to use and has been very well
> received. 
>    All of this I mention because it shows that the media often comes
> with a pre-set idea of what they want to hear you say and what scope
> they will give to it.  Therefore the way we might be
> successful in reaching the public is in seeking to write articles
> ourselves---perhaps with many authors who have legitimacy---in places
> like Parents' magazine and places where one can
> explain with simplicity how to think about their children and the
> tests that they take.  I suspect it will not work by trying to
> persuade existing journalists what you want them to say.
>     
>     The issue is much broader actually, as any of you familiar with
> the legal wrangles over Larry P and evidence-based evaluation, already
> knows.   We also need to have more straightforward
> evaluation of what goes to the public.  Parent magazines approve toys
> and other things.  The FDA approves drugs----though often the science
> is very ambiguous---but at an ASHA convention
> all products seems equal.  It seems to me that outsiders should be
> able to offer the public products that may not be subject to
> independent evaluation, just like patients seek the right
> to have experimental drugs.  But a more systematic method of
> evaluating assessment products----and an effort to explain it simply
> through media directed at the parents and public
> would be a good idea.    We will need to write it ourselves.
> 
> 
> That's how it looks to me, best, Tom 
>  
> 
> 
>  This came after I discussed the matter with the author for over an
> 
> On Thu, Feb 28, 2008 at 7:57 AM, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek
> <khirshpa at temple.edu> wrote:
>         I just read the article in the NYTimes on baby techtronics
>         part of which described the Lena system.  Yes, Lena is in the
>         news again.  The adds from their web site tell us that it is
>         relevant to any parent concerned about "language delays,
>         autism or transitioning an adopted child!"  I am copying the
>         description from the Times and thought we might all want to
>         check out how our research is interpreted in the marketplace.
>         Does this require a response from our community?  What is our
>         professional responsibility when this keeps coming up in the
>         news?
>         
>         
>         Kathy
>         
>         
>           
>         Last on our list was the LENA System ($399) a language
>         measurement tool developed by Infoture, in Boulder, Colo. The
>         system is based on research demonstrating a correlation
>         between the amount parents talk to their babies during their
>         first three years and their professional success later in
>         life.
>         
>         
>         The LENA System includes a credit card device and several
>         children's outfits designed with large pockets in the front.
>         Several days a month, you slip the device into the clothing
>         and it records conversation between parent and child.
>         
>         
>         At the end of the day, you plug it into your personal
>         computer. Special software (available for Windows, but not
>         Macs) analyzes the speech -- separating adult words and baby
>         gurgling from other noises -- and reports on how many words you
>         have spoken to your baby, how often your baby responds, and
>         where you match up against the rest of the American
>         population, to ensure your infant is getting that
>         all-important verbal edge on other infants.
>         
>         
>         My girls are a bit too young for the LENA, which Infoture
>         recommends for infants from 2 months to 4 years. Instead I
>         called Jennifer Jacobs, a mother of two from Boise, Idaho, who
>         used the device to ensure her youngest child, Katherine, was
>         not getting left behind.
>         
>         
>         http://www.lenababy.com/
>         
>         
>         
>         
>         
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Tom Roeper
> Dept of Lingiustics
> UMass South College
> Amherst, Mass. 01003 ISA
> 413 256 0390
> 
> 


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