use of sign language in Jordan

[Kathy H.]

Gerard wrote:
It is not important what sign language people use, my understanding of the relevance of the study is that the step from whatever sign language WITH SignWriting to learn the dominant written language is a lot easier and effective then [sic] learning the written dominant language only knowing sign language. What sign language is used is not the issue because SignWriting is a script and can essentially be used in combination with any sign language. My response:
 
Learning to write first in one's strongest language of course will transfer to writing in another language.  One learns what writing is about:  Languages have parts; there is an association between the written form and the signed/spoken form; not everything is encoded.  The concept of writing will transfer to any language.  
 
I'm not sure that it's SignWriting per se that was responsible for the effect rather than just becoming familiar with some type of written form on paper and its association with the language.  
 
Would line drawings have had the same effect?  
Would more abstract representations have had the same effect?
Does the degree of phonetic detail vs. contrastive information make a difference?
 
There is still much work to do in this area.  The studies that are being done give us directions for further research.
 
Kathy
 
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