William Stokoe Jr., a champion of sign language, whose work helped change the way deaf people are educated, died earlier this month. Stokoe was a linguistics professor at Gallaudet University in Washington DC. He is credited with winning recognition for American Sign Language as a genuine language, overcoming contentions of some linguists that sign is a mere imitation of spoken word. Noah speaks with David Armstrong, an Associate Professor in the school of management at Gallaudet, who co-authored several books with Stokoe.
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