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From:
Valerie Sutton Date: Fri Jan 8, 1999 2:14 am Subject: Re: Bilingualism & SignWriting | |
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On Mon, 4 Jan 1999, Jerry Spillman wrote: >It has become my philosophy, then, that since I >use American English and American Sign Language, I should learn to write >the American Sign Language in the format readable by the deaf >(SignWriting), as well as I can write in American English, readable to >those who will communicate in American English. That would mean that I >have learned two language systems, and therefore, qualify as Bilingual. ___________________ January 7, 1999 I think you are correct, Jerry, that any person who can communicate well in both English and ASL is bilingual. And reading and writing both of those languages certainly reinforces and enhances the knowledge of the languages. Linguists argue that writing is not a language in itself, and although that is true, it is also true that reading and writing can help teach language, and help people remember language. What I found fascinating, when learning my second language, Danish, was trying to decide when I could say I was truly "fluent". Living in Denmark, I noticed that fluency in Danish happened gradually for me - it was not obvious when it happened. After about a year of living with Danes I spoke Danish daily and did not speak English, but it was not until several years after that, that I felt I could say that Danish was as natural for me as my native language, English. And reading and writing Danish had a big influence on me. I feel strongly that learning to read and write increased my knowledge of the language. If nothing more, it helped me learn new words, and it helped me see my own mistakes in grammar, so I could improve. So reading and writing actually helped me speak better. I hope learning SignWriting will give people a deeper understanding of ASL or any signed language. We need more Sign Language Literature. Reading literature written in ASL may actually help some people learn ASL better. This weekend I have guests from Spain visiting me. They are using SignWriting in Spain. Then in the middle of next week I will return to the more advanced reading materials in ASL - which are almost done but need finishing touches and I am really looking forward to sharing this new literature with all of you! As you know, I will be posting some of the advanced reading on the web on January 18th. 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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