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From:
Valerie Sutton Date: Thu May 13, 1999 4:54 am Subject: Re: learning to read | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On Wed, 24 Mar 1999, Steve Parkhurst wrote: >As we develop teaching materials for SW in Spain, we have been working with >two guys to help us get the examples in good Spanish Sign Language (LSE). >Here's what we noticed: > >1. The first time they see a sign, they "sound it out," reading each symbol >and eventually putting it all together. Once they understand the meaning of >the sign, they automatically put the appropriate facial expression with it. >For example, the sign "there is" is always signed with the mouth open and >the tongue touching the inside of the cheek. We chose at this point in the >lessons not to write that (even though it is possible to do). However, now >I think it is not necessary to write it at all. The facial expression comes >naturally with comprehension of the written sign. So, how much facial >expression is necessary to write? I don't know. But certenly not everything >is necessary. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ True, but of course that means that you would have to know Spanish Sign Language to know the proper facial expression, that automatically goes with the sign. There is an assumption of the knowledge of the language, if you do not write the details. And of course, that is only logical for quick daily recording. We do that all the time in the writing of spoken languages, after all. And if the readers are native, or skilled signers, then of course they would not need that detail. But are there ever two facial expressions possible for the same sign? That might cause a conflict, but maybe not in context. For foreigners trying to learn Spanish Sign Language using SignWriting - they would need the facial expressions. So it depends on the audience I guess. Meanwhile....I learned something recently. At first, I was very worried about writing too much detail in the facial expressions in my transcription of the ASL video, that I used for the "Learn To Read ASL" book. But because of time constraints, I had no choice but to go ahead and give people a few copies of the book anyway, even though I did not know the answer to my questions. I have no staff, as you know, and I didn't have any feedback and I didn't know where to begin to "cut" the detailed facial expressions I had written. When you have a writing system that can write everything, it is hard to know what is important and what is not important. I know that in time we will establish writing rules, and this will all "iron out". But meanwhile, I started to realize something... Everyday, when we have conversations with each other in a signed language, we see the entire face all the time. Our eyes tell us what is important grammatically on the face in front of us. But we also "absorb" other expressions and facial movements that are not grammatically important. Somehow our brains decipher these differences. I am so fluent in reading SignWriting, that for me, when I read a document, it is as if I am seeing a real person signing on the page. So when I read documents with detailed facial expressions, the extra information that is not necessary grammatically doesn't bother me...just like in a real conversation...I tend to focus on the parts of the face that are important from a meaning point of view. The detailed faces "look" exactly the way Darline looked when she signed the story on video, and in that sense it "feels" fine. But the added detail does not distract my eye from the meaning either. I am not saying that people should write every detail - not at all!! But I also realize that it is no sin to have detailed facial expressions either - they are readable no matter what.....and it all depends on your audience, and the purpose of the text at hand. Valerie :-) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Valerie Sutton SignWriting https://www.SignWriting.org The DAC, Deaf Action Committee for SW Center For Sutton Movement Writing an educational nonprofit organization Box 517, La Jolla, CA, 92038-0517, USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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