SignWriting List Forum | |||
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From:
James Womack Date: Sat Mar 11, 2000 11:20 am Subject: Re: SignWriting as a gateway? | |
The problem with English Gloss of ASL is it confuses the kids. I know, I used it for several years with much strugle. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ squirrel (\__/) .~ ~.)) /O O ./ .' {O__, \ / . . ) \ |-| '-' \ ( _( )_.' https://www.education.eku.edu/Sed/faculty/womack/default.htm ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joe Martin" To: Sent: Friday, March 10, 2000 8:05 PM Subject: Re: SignWriting as a gateway? > On Fri, 10 Mar 2000, Don & Theresa G wrote: > > This observation is something that concerns me. I do support, tentatively, > > the idea of a writing system for sign language that could help Deaf kids > > learn to write in their own language. However, as we all know, Enlgish is > > the lingua Franca of our American society, not to mention the world. Being > > able to use English through reading and writing is SO vital for them. From > > what I see from this comment, it sounds like they would rather do all their > > reading and writing in SW rather than bilingually switch between the two > > (which would be just fine with me). We know how hard English can be for > > deaf kids to learn, so it sounds here as if they're trying to "take the easy > > way out" (I hate that phrase for its application to oralism and sign, but it > > is appropos here) by sticking with SW rather than English. > > I believe there are a number of studies now showing that L1 proficiency > aids in L2 learning. Beyond that, ..... > > my wife just came back from two weeks in Taiwan. Her report matches others > I've heard, of being on the verge of tears the whole time she was there, > due to being "illiterate." The simplest act of communication became a > humiliating struggle to find a restroom, make a phone call, etc. She took > the easy way out and fell back on English when she could.... > Somehow deaf people are supposed to be immune to all this? That's a > little insulting. > > > I mentioned SW to my wife, who is an elementary teacher of the deaf at a > > school for the deaf. One thing she said, in addition to the fact that SW is > > not "English" (as it shouldn't be), is that for her, she finds no way she > > could make room in her schedule to teach English AND SW, even if she were so > > inclined. How do the classroom teachers out there make time for both SW and > > English instruction? How do the classroom teachers help the kids make the > > connections and transitions between SW and English? > > I don't see why SW can't be English. Most of the SW I see tends to *be > signed English rather than ASL. > I'm studying Japanese in my school. It is very difficult for me to read. > In order to understand a line of text, I sometimes write it out in the > Roman alphabet; then I can translate it to English. > For difficult passages, I have to write them out first in English, then > change them to Japanese (Kana/Kanji) and then I can write them in > Japanese. > For easy passages I skip all that, which is the goal, but > If I weren't allowed to do this, I would quit. Instantly. > |
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