Vocabulary
Anne Tucker, Researcher.
Introduction
The purpose of this investigation is to ascertain whether hearing children benefit from the introduction of the “Signs for Success” programme. It intends to consider the impact of using sign language on young children’s vocabulary development, which is crucial to their future language acquisition. Furthermore it proposes to discover its effect on age, gender, ethnicity and additional needs.
It is intended that the study will be implemented using two groups of children for a period of ten weeks. One group will receive sign intervention and the other group for comparison will experience no sign. During teaching sessions with the signing group signs will be introduced simultaneously with spoken English. To determine the effect of the sign intervention both groups will be assessed at the beginning and the end of the project. Finally, it is proposed to ascertain the views of teachers and parents on the benefits of using sign with hearing children.
