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From:
Cheryl Zapien Date: Thu Dec 3, 1998 2:29 pm Subject: Re: QUESTIONS REGARDING SIGN WRITING | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hi! I wanted to share something with you all. Today, someone from another list requested some computer signs, among them the sign for internet. Everyone tried to explain the sign, including myself. I hope the person figured out the English words, because the description was rather complicated. As I was typing I couldn't help thinking how much clearer my description would have been, had I been able to use SW. Cheryl Valerie Sutton wrote: > QUESTION > > 3) Does SignWriting still face continuing controversy, ridicule, > >stigma, > >etc even today? From what sources, usually? (i.e., Deaf people/leaders, > >hearing people, administrators of deaf schools, etc). What is(are) the most > >common argument(s) against SignWriting? > > ANSWER > Yes. But things are changing now. People are much more positive than > before. Here is some history behind the controversy: > > SignWriting was controversial from the moment it was introduced in 1974. > Historically, new ideas that create "social change" are always met with > resistance in the beginning, and SignWriting is no exception. > > Back in 1974, people were still getting used to the idea that signed > languages were real languages, and that idea was a major social change too. > Believe it or not, there were Deaf people who did not believe their native > signed language was a real language, and they resisted that idea in the > beginning too. They had been taught that their own language was inferior, > so it took them time to adjust to the fact that they could be proud of > their own language now. And reading and writing it was just one more thing, > piled on top of all the changes in thinking, and it was overwhelming for > them. > > And then there is the issue of the school systems, and the arguments and > theories that abound in the field of Deaf education. We have all heard > about the "war between the oralists and manualists". SignWriting certainly > has nothing to do with that "war", but many people were wary of any new > idea in Deaf education, because they were steeped in controversay between > oralism and Sign Language already. Obvisouly SignWriting is only useful if > a person chooses to use a signed language. > > And then there is the issue of hearing people "fiddling" with the language > and "changing it". A lot of people assumed that SignWriting was a new form > of "SEE SIGNS". They were skeptical that a hearing person might respect and > want to preserve American Sign Language and other signed languages. The > fact that SignWriting can record any human movement, of course, makes it > possible to record any kind of signing, but the DAC, the organization > behind SignWriting, chooses to write true signed languages, such as > American Sign Language, Danish Sign Language and others. So it is not SEE > SIGNS - but that accusation happened fairly frequently. People who made the > accusation had never learned SignWriting - they just assumed that. > > Although the controversy continues from people who have never learned > SignWriting, in the past few years, the tide began to change toward more > open-minded thinking. This is partly because SignWriting "hung in there" > and continued for 25 years, and through time it improved, as more and more > people used the writing system. But there is another reason that the > controversy became less extreme. People became "ready" to read and write > their own language. It took 25 years for them to get used to ASL and other > signed languages as "true languages", and once that idea became > established, the need for writing the language became greater. > > The invention of SignWriting is at times compared to the invention of the > written alphabet for the Cherokee Indian language. The Cherokee Indian > chief Sequoyah, who invented the written form for his native spoken > language, was also surrounded by controversy for 25 years. His own people > burned his books and threatened his life. They actually put him on trial > for being a witch, but then he taught the jurors at the trial how to read > and write (I am not kidding, that is the story!) and they decided it was > pretty terrific!! So instead of executing him, they decided to use > Sequoyah's alphabet, and now the Cherokee Indian language is preserved for > future generations. > > Most written forms are not used by a whole society for centuries. English > was very slow to be written, and it is only in recent centuries that > everyone learns to read and write English. > > What are some of the comments people make, who are against SignWriting? > Here are a few: > > 1. signed languages are not "meant" to be written > 2. hearing people will think I am stupid > 3. Deaf people will become isolated and never learn to read and write English > 4. you have no right to write our language if you are a hearing person > 5. if I learn it, no one else can read it, so why bother? > 6. I had trouble enough learning to read and write English, why should I > learn something new now? > 7. isn't it another form of SEE SIGNS? > 8. are you trying to "save" the Deaf? > 9. English gloss works very well, thank you! We don't need those funny symbols! > 10. I refuse to learn SignWriting unless other Deaf people back it first > > QUESTION > > 4) What do you usually say in response to their argument(s) against > >SignWriting? > > ANSWER: > All new ideas take time. No one is asking you to use SignWriting. But > others like to use it, so that is their choice. All languages deserve to be > preserved, and I personally love to write signs. > > No, it is not SEE Signs, we are trying to write the best ASL we know how. > No I don't want to save the Deaf - I have enough problems saving myself! > > No - English glosses are definitely not accurate. There are multiple signs > for each English word - so which sign are you choosing when you place an > English word on the page? It is wrong to try to write one language with > another - if I wrote Danish grammar with English words, the Danes would > kill me - ha! > > If you don't take a risk with learning something new, how do you expect the > human race to improve? Deaf people can't back something, if they have never > heard of it before. So as more and more people try to write signs, and as > it is introduced in the schools, more and more Deaf people will back it. It > is a natural process. > > Valerie :-) > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Valerie Sutton at the DAC > Deaf Action Committee for SW > > SignWriting > > https://www.SignWriting.org > > Center For Sutton Movement Writing > an educational nonprofit organization > Box 517, La Jolla, CA, 92038-0517, USA > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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