Re: too much bad news
Gordon Wells (gwells who-is-at oise.utoronto.ca)
Wed, 24 Dec 1997 23:32:54 -0500 (EST)
I should like to record my debt to Roger Brown, whom I first met in the
late 60s when he visited his former colleague, Colin Fraser, in Bristol.
My work in the Bristol Study of first language development was inspired by
Roger's ground-breaking study of Adam, Eve and Sarah. To my knowledge, he
was the first to use the tape recorder to collect samples of children's
speech and to analyze the data in terms of transformational grammar. His
book, "A First Language", laid the foundations of much contemporary work
on language development.
When, as a complete novice, I visited him at Harvard in 1972, he was
generous with his time and expertise and over the following years he
responded to my early reports with encouragement and helpful suggestions.
Like many others, I owe him an immense debt of gratitude.
Gordon Wells, gwells who-is-at oise.utoronto.ca
OISE/University of Toronto