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<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US"
lang=EN-US><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">SignWriting Project in
Poland<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">In the end of August 2010 a company based in Nowy Sącz,
Poland and named CZAS sent me an e-mail with the question whether I would be
interested in joining their educational SignWriting project. The company
specializes in implementing various educational and social projects financed by
the European Social Fund in the framework of different European funding
instruments. The SignWriting project was to be funded within the Operational
Programme “Human Resources Development”. A partner to the project was the
Małopolska Branch of the Polish Association of the Deaf (PZG) based in Krakow.
PZG was to provide sign language interpreters. I agreed to join the project and
we started in September with 2-hour presentations on the history of SignWriting
and the basic spelling rules. We visited 3 schools for the deaf in Krakow and 1
school for the deaf in Tarnow.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">The main aim of the project is to draw up a detailed
syllabus for a SW course for teenage deaf students (aged
13-20).<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">The Małopolska schools for the deaf are oralism-oriented
and many (the majority of!) secondary school students have graduated from
mainstream schools, so they cannot sign or their sign is poor. They use a pidgin
sign language (Polish Sign Language mixed with Signed Polish). The teachers use
Signed Polish. For these and other reasons the presentations were spoken and
interpreted by Signed Polish interpreters. The teachers participated in the
presentations, too.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">The schools involved
were:<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P
style="TEXT-INDENT: -18pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1"
class=MsoListParagraph><FONT face="Times New Roman"><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US"
lang=EN-US><SPAN style="mso-list: Ignore"><FONT size=3>1.</FONT><SPAN
style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></I><FONT size=3><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US"
lang=EN-US>Zespół Szkół dla Niesłyszących w Tarnowie</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US> </SPAN></FONT></FONT><A
href=""><SPAN style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><FONT color=#0000ff
size=3 face="Times New Roman">http://nieslyszacy.xt.pl/</FONT></SPAN></A><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">(scroll down to see photos from the presentation and the
later workshops, tiled “Szkolenie z SignWritingu II” and “Szkolenie z
SignWritingu”).<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P
style="TEXT-INDENT: -18pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1"
class=MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst><FONT face="Times New Roman"><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US"
lang=EN-US><SPAN style="mso-list: Ignore"><FONT size=3>2.</FONT><SPAN
style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></I><FONT size=3><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US"
lang=EN-US>Specjalny Ośrodek Szkolno-Wychowawczy dla Dzieci Niesłyszących im. J.
Siestrzyńskiego w Krakowie</SPAN></I><SPAN style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US"
lang=EN-US><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN></FONT></FONT><A
href=""><SPAN style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><FONT color=#0000ff
size=3
face="Times New Roman">http://www.soswddn.krakow.pl/nowa/index.php</FONT></SPAN></A><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="TEXT-INDENT: -18pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1"
class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle><FONT face="Times New Roman"><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US"
lang=EN-US><SPAN style="mso-list: Ignore"><FONT size=3>3.</FONT><SPAN
style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></I><FONT size=3><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US"
lang=EN-US>Ośrodek Szkolno-Wychowawczy dla Młodzieży Niesłyszącej i
Słabosłyszącej w Krakowie</SPAN></I><SPAN style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US"
lang=EN-US><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN></FONT></FONT><A
href=""><SPAN style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><FONT color=#0000ff
size=3
face="Times New Roman">http://www.soswgrochowa.pl/index.php</FONT></SPAN></A><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="TEXT-INDENT: -18pt; MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1"
class=MsoListParagraphCxSpLast><FONT face="Times New Roman"><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US"
lang=EN-US><SPAN style="mso-list: Ignore"><FONT size=3>4.</FONT><SPAN
style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></I><FONT size=3><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US"
lang=EN-US>Ośrodek Szkolno-Wychowawczy nr 6 im. Jana Pawła II w
Krakowie</SPAN></I><SPAN style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN></FONT></FONT><A href=""><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><FONT color=#0000ff size=3
face="Times New Roman">http://www.niecala.pl/</FONT></SPAN></A><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">The next step was to carry out Focused Group Interviews,
preceded by some more writing and reading exercises, with the students and
teachers who had participated in the presentations. Two of the Krakow schools
were not interested in the further phases of the projects – one school was a
primary schools with many students with additional disabilities and in the other
the students were very poor at signing – they would have to learn Polish Sign
Language first, in which they were not interested!). So, the basic SW workshops
and interviews were carried out in the Tarnow school (no. 1) and in one Krakow
school (no. 3).<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">The students and the teachers received printed materials
from Valerie Sutton, on which we were working. We also used specifically sewn
black and white gloves so that the participants could easily learn the basic
rules. I also prepared some written exercises and a small test to see what the
participants learned from the history and theory of SignWriting. The results
were very good except for the alphabet issue. It is difficult to understand that
SignWriting is an alphabetic writing system.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">In the interviews we wanted to learn what the
participants thought of SignWriting, what and how they would expect us to teach
during the anticipated in-depth SW course to be conducted in 2011 and the like.
The interviews were just casual and we learned that the participants were rather
skeptical about using SignWriting or reluctant to learn this system - even if
they were interested in it, taking it as a curiosity. But we are planning to
prepare a written, detailed and more formal survey for the participants. In this
phase, the participating groups comprised of some 10-12 students (in Tarnow,
from a junior secondary school; in Krakow, from a post-secondary school, aged
19-20) and a few teachers. We hope to continue our project in both the schools
in 2011. We are going to translate the materials from Valerie Sutton and to
prepare additional educational stuff for the course. The project is to be
finished by December 2011.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Lucyna Długołęcka<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang=EN-US><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman">tradukistino@gmail.com<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>