life like illustrations of less-known (and hopelessly incredibly variable) SLs as a fundamental resource to teaching SW
Fernando Capovilla
capovila at USP.BR
Tue May 21 18:50:29 UTC 2002
Dear Valerie:
Thank you for the kind question. The 18 book series presented by you is packed with SW, just like the dictionary. However, in the CD we are dealing with life like illustrations so far, but we will use SW for the same purpose very shortly, since everything is in the dictionary. (We advance at a very fast rate, however, we take only one step at a time, and in my opinion life-like illustations must always
precede SW if the sign language that is being written in SW is relatively undocumented and is still in the process of acquisition by the community who is writing it, especially if the members of that community do not work face to face... That strategy lays solid foundations for SW, and helps set the stage for SW. I realized that that is so because people who do not know ASL frequently find it quite hard
(sometimes desperatingly impossible) to follow the discussions about details of SW that happen in the list. And life like pictures do help a lot in that regard. For me they are essential, whereas written descriptions for that purpose are quite less precise and as unstable as quicksand... That is why we went into all the trouble of fully illustrating our dictionary.)
In the CD there is a popup menu containing 4 items (life-like illustrations of cheremes): handshape, place, movement, facial expression. When you click on one of them, hundreds of applicable pictures (allochers) appear. E.g., click on handshape and you will get hand in A, B, C, ... Z, 1, 2, 3... When you click on the picture of an actual hand articulating the A handshape, all actual signs containing the A
handshape appear listed for you to choose simply by clicking on it. By crossing cheremes, you can retrieve any sign from the 9,500 sign base with just 2-3 mouse clicks. This is liberty for deaf students, since their languages may be organized according to their own liguistic principles, and not by the alphabet. Our paper describing such a system is in press in Sign Language Studies, and I hope it is
published soon. Thank you for your kind interest and support, Val.Ang, again, congratulations for all the exciting progress in SW.
Fernando & crew
> > I am really interested in your retrieval of signs by "clicking on
> > cheremes and allochers (graphic interface)".....This is basically a
> > "sign-symbol-sequence", isn't it? .. Will people be able to find
> > signs by SignWriting symbols on the CD-ROM? ....how exciting ;-))
> >
> Fernando in Brazil wrote:
> >Our system indexes and retrieves 9,500 signs based on all possible
> >allochers of the
> >following cheremes, such as handshapes, facial expressions, types of
> >movement, place in
> >space, etc. It is fun. I have shown a demo of it last October at
> >Gallaudet, but now the
> >whole thing is finally getting finished.
>
> Regarding your CD-ROM, which sounds equally as interesting and
> unique...I still do not understand one thing --- When they click on a
> handshape, are they clicking on a life-like illustration? Words?
> SignWriting symbols?
>
> In other words, from a visual standpoint, what does it look like
> under the mouse pointer? Are SignWriting symbols being clicked on?
>
> I am a very visual person and I need a picture to see how you
> designed the CD-ROM searches - but of course hopefully in November I
> can see it at that time! No matter what, I know it will be a useful
> tool for people -
>
> Many blessings -
> --
>
> Val ;-)
>
> ___________________________
>
> Valerie Sutton
> Sutton at SignWriting.org
>
> ....visit the...
>
> SignWritingSite
> http://www.SignWriting.org
> Read & Write Sign Languages
>
> SignBankSite
> http://www.SignBank.org
> Sign Language Dictionaries
>
> DanceWritingSite
> http://www.DanceWriting.org
> Read & Write Dance
>
> MovementWritingSite
> http://www.MovementWriting.org
> Read & Write Movement & Gesture
>
> Deaf Action Committee for SignWriting
> Center For Sutton Movement Writing
> an educational nonprofit organization
> Box 517, La Jolla, CA, 92038-0517, USA
> tel: 858-456-0098....fax: 858-456-0020
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 15:44:57 -0700
> From: Valerie Sutton <Sutton at SIGNWRITING.ORG>
> Subject: Download SignBank Beta Version
>
> SignWriting List
> May 20, 2002
>
> I have now uploaded a new version of SignBank 2002:
>
> Download SignBank BetaTest
> posted May 20, 2002
> http://signbank.org/betatest/
>
> If you scroll down the page, you will find instructions for how to
> start the program. Once you have started, please write to the List to
> say if you could start SignBank or not, and then at that time I can
> give you a little "assignment" (smile)....I can ask if you can do
> "such and such" and that will get experimentation underway...we can
> all enjoy a good laugh as we stumble through one SignBank after the
> other ! ;-)
>
> I know everyone is terribly busy, so if you don't have time to test
> SignBank... I truly understand! But for the brave individuals who
> want to try - it is there for us to share...
>
> Val ;-)
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 15:51:57 -0700
> From: Valerie Sutton <Sutton at SIGNWRITING.ORG>
> Subject: Ohhh...One last thing!
>
> SignWriting List
> May 20, 2002
>
> Ohhhh...One last thing! Be sure to delete ALL old copies of SignBank
> on your hard drive, before downloading the new version. It is very
> easy to make a mistake and open an old copy of the program...
>
> Regarding memory...I had hoped to post a "fancy" version of SignBank
> today, but memory issues stopped that idea. The beta test version I
> just posted is therefore a limited version that only includes the
> basic SignBank program and the linked files - the extras will be
> available on the CD when we distribute it in September.
>
> I am going to take a day off tomorrow - I need it!
>
> See you all later this week...;-)
>
> Many blessings -
> --
>
> Val ;-)
>
> ___________________________
>
> Valerie Sutton
> Sutton at SignWriting.org
>
> ....visit the...
>
> SignWritingSite
> http://www.SignWriting.org
> Read & Write Sign Languages
>
> SignBankSite
> http://www.SignBank.org
> Sign Language Dictionaries
>
> DanceWritingSite
> http://www.DanceWriting.org
> Read & Write Dance
>
> MovementWritingSite
> http://www.MovementWriting.org
> Read & Write Movement & Gesture
>
> Deaf Action Committee for SignWriting
> Center For Sutton Movement Writing
> an educational nonprofit organization
> Box 517, La Jolla, CA, 92038-0517, USA
> tel: 858-456-0098....fax: 858-456-0020
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 17:24:15 -0600
> From: JERRY SPILLMAN <jzs at XMISSION.COM>
> Subject: Signwriter 4.4 under Windows XP
>
> This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>
> ------=_NextPart_000_000D_01C20023.2A712A30
> Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>
> Dear Valerie, Stuart, and any other interested Windows XP users:
>
> We have managed to get SignWriter 4.4 to run in the Windows XP DOS box =
> (command prompt). I cannot yet guaratee how the outputs will function, =
> however, since we have barely made it run. It looks good at this time.
>
> Currently, we have made a "Windows Shortcut" pointing to the sw.exe file =
> on the desktop.
> If we right click on the shortcut and select "advance properties", it =
> shows two files necessary to modify, using the "notepad" editor program. =
> XP will ask what program to open these files in, as it does not =
> recognize them, and will provide an icon to select "notepad".
>
> The first file is called "Autoexec.NT", and is very similar to the old =
> DOS Autoexec.bat file. Once you open it in the "notepad" editor =
> program, add one simple line at the bottom (actually anywhere on the =
> left margin would work):
>
> PATH C:\SW\
>
> using the "dos path" to where the sw.exe file exists, assuming in this =
> example that your actual file path is C:\SW\sw\exe.
>
> The second file is called "Config.NT", and is very similar to the old =
> DOS Config.sys file. It can be opened also in the "notepad" DOS editor =
> program. It requires the addition of a files statement larger than the =
> one already at the bottom of the left side of the file. Mine came =
> configured for 40 files. I changed this line to read:
>
> FILES=3D120
>
> So far, this has worked to operate SignWriter 4.4, as far as typing =
> signs. I will report again soon after trying to export the .bmp and =
> ..pdf formats.
>
> Jerry Spillman
> Cyberjer.com
>
> ------=_NextPart_000_000D_01C20023.2A712A30
> Content-Type: text/html;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>
> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
> <HTML><HEAD>
> <META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
> charset=3Diso-8859-1">
> <META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2716.2200" name=3DGENERATOR>
> <STYLE></STYLE>
> </HEAD>
> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial>Dear Valerie, Stuart, and any other =
> interested=20
> Windows XP users:</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial>We have managed to get SignWriter 4.4 to run in =
> the=20
> Windows XP DOS box (command prompt). I cannot yet guaratee how the =
> outputs=20
> will function, however, since we have barely made it run. It looks =
> good at=20
> this time.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial>Currently, we have made a "Windows Shortcut" =
> pointing to=20
> the sw.exe file on the desktop.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial>If we right click on the shortcut and select =
> "advance=20
> properties", it shows two files necessary to modify, using the "notepad" =
> editor=20
> program. XP will ask what program to open these files in, as it =
> does not=20
> recognize them, and will provide an icon to select =
> "notepad".</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial>The first file is called "Autoexec.NT", and is =
> very=20
> similar to the old DOS Autoexec.bat file. Once you open it in the=20
> "notepad" editor program, add one simple line at the bottom (actually =
> anywhere=20
> on the left margin would work):</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial>PATH C:\SW\</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial>using the "dos path" to where the sw.exe file =
> exists,=20
> assuming in this example that your actual file path is=20
> C:\SW\sw\exe.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial>The second file is called "Config.NT", and is =
> very similar=20
> to the old DOS Config.sys file. It can be opened also in the =
> "notepad" DOS=20
> editor program. It requires the addition of a files statement =
> larger than=20
> the one already at the bottom of the left side of the file. Mine =
> came=20
> configured for 40 files. I changed this line to read:</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial>FILES=3D120</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial>So far, this has worked to operate SignWriter =
> 4.4, as far=20
> as typing signs. I will report again soon after trying to export =
> the .bmp=20
> and .pdf formats.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial>Jerry Spillman</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial>Cyberjer.com</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
>
> ------=_NextPart_000_000D_01C20023.2A712A30--
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 21 May 2002 10:23:51 +0000
> From: mohamed mahmod <m_abushaira at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Subject: <No subject given>
>
> <html><div style='background-color:'><DIV><FONT face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5>
> <P align=left>Hi Val and the list </P>
> <P align=left>I am happy to tell you that I have finished my experiment here in Saudi Arabia</P>
> <P align=left>It was as following</P>
> <P align=left>1: we made a workshop of SignWriting Symbols participated of 37 teachers</P>
> <P align=left>2: 4 teahers disided to practice</P>
> <P align=left>2 of these teachers are working with </FONT><B><FONT color=#ff0000 face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5>preparation class</B></FONT><FONT face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5>; one teachs Math ; He learned the students the number from one to ten. </P>
> <P align=left>other teacher teachs Reading;He learned the students ten words which included the reading book for the preparation class</P>
> <P align=left>the students learned to write and read without learning the basic </P>
> <P align=left>we just learn them ( the word and its sign just read and write it as it was ) </P>
> <P align=left>Although we were frightened from fail the students respond was wonderful they practice reading and writing excellent</P>
> <P align=left>In the </FONT><B><FONT color=#ff0000 face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5>fourth class</B></FONT><FONT face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5> I learned the students to read and write the Religion</FONT><FONT face="Traditional Arabic" size=5> </FONT><FONT face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5>subjects sign as we did with the preparation class</P>
> <P align=left>You will not believe that they wrote and read the signs we learned them fluently they loved it too much </P>
> <P align=left>In the </FONT><B><FONT color=#ff0000 face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5>sixth class</B></FONT><FONT face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5> I learned my students how to write and read the sign </P>
> <P align=left>By giving them the basic of Signwriting they interest this new thing and interactive it </P>
> <P align=left>After three month of teaching I made an examination to my students as follows </P>
> <P align=left>I divided the question into three groups </P>
> <P align=left>The first group contains question based on read and write Arabic language and</FONT><FONT color=#ff0000 face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5> I ve got 64% true answers </P></FONT><FONT face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5>
> <P align=left>The second group contains questions based on read and write the sign and I ve got </FONT><FONT color=#ff0000 face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5>78% true answers </FONT><FONT face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5></P>
> <P align=left>The third group contains questions based on read and write both (Arabic language and Sign language ) I ve got </FONT><FONT color=#ff0000 face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5>80% true answers </P></FONT><FONT face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5>
> <P align=left></P>
> <P align=left>So we can clearly see the benefit of (Read &Write the Sign Language ) </P>
> <P align=left>In the</FONT><B><FONT color=#ff0000 face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5> seventh class </P></B></FONT><FONT face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5>
> <P align=left>The teacher</FONT><B><FONT color=#ff0000 face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5> </B></FONT><FONT face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5>learned the students to read and write the name of days , Saudi Cities ,subjects </P></FONT><B><FONT color=#ff0000 face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5>
> <P align=left>Dear FRIENDS </P></B></FONT><FONT face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5>
> <P align=left>I wrote this with its details in a report</FONT><FONT face="Traditional Arabic" size=5> </FONT><FONT face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5>wethin 30 pages and I met the director of deaf department in the general secretary of spicial education and his team here in KSA </P>
> <P align=left>We discussed the experiment for 2:30 hours .They confess the work and to make a decision ( What would We Do ?) they decided to make workshop with ten chosen teachers ( who work with deaf) in the next september. </P>
> <P align=left>That ºý all </P>
> <P align=left>Happy days for all of you </P>
> <P align=left>Mohamed abushaira </P>
> <P align=left></P>
> <P align=left> </P>
> <P align=left></P></FONT><FONT face="Traditional Arabic" size=5>
> <P align=left></P></FONT><FONT face="Abadi MT Condensed Light,Arial Narrow" size=5>
> <P align=left></P>
> <P align=left></P></FONT></DIV></div><br clear=all><hr>Join the world ºý largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. <a href='http://g.msn.com/1HM300901/158'>Click Here</a><br></html>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 21 May 2002 10:52:01 +0000
> From: mohamed mahmod <m_abushaira at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Subject: <No subject given>
>
> <html><div style='background-color:'><DIV>Hi all of you </DIV>
> <DIV>This is one of my students read Signlanguae</DIV>
> <DIV>mohamed</DIV>
> <DIV> </DIV>
> <DIV> <IMG src="file:///A:/Image7.jpg" style="HEIGHT: 492px; WIDTH: 940px"></DIV></div><br clear=all><hr>Join the world
> ºý largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. <a href='http://g.msn.com/1HM300901/158'>Click Here</a><br></html>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 21 May 2002 05:34:15 -0600
> From: JERRY SPILLMAN <jzs at XMISSION.COM>
> Subject: Re: Signwriter 4.4 under Windows XP
>
> This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>
> ------=_NextPart_000_0015_01C20089.25696960
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> charset="iso-8859-1"
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>
> Dear Valerie and List,
>
> My excitement was short lived yesterday. After I posted to the list =
> about running SW 4.4 in XP, I went back over all that I had done and =
> tried the rest of the evening to get it to run again, with no success. =
> What I reported to you is exactly what we tried, the one time that it =
> did run. However, I am determined that if it did open and run properly =
> once, that there must be a way, and we will continue toward that goal.
>
> Jerry
> Cyberjer.com
>
> ------=_NextPart_000_0015_01C20089.25696960
> Content-Type: text/html;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>
> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
> <HTML><HEAD>
> <META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
> charset=3Diso-8859-1">
> <META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2713.1100" name=3DGENERATOR>
> <STYLE></STYLE>
> </HEAD>
> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial>Dear Valerie and List,</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial>My excitement was short lived yesterday. =
> After I=20
> posted to the list about running SW 4.4 in XP, I went back over all that =
> I had=20
> done and tried the rest of the evening to get it to run again, with no=20
> success. What I reported to you is exactly what we tried, the one =
> time=20
> that it did run. However, I am determined that if it did open and =
> run=20
> properly once, that there must be a way, and we will continue toward =
> that=20
> goal.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial>Jerry</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial>Cyberjer.com</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
>
> ------=_NextPart_000_0015_01C20089.25696960--
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 21 May 2002 00:05:00 EST
> From: "Delaire, Sue" <delaire at NYSSD.MORIC.ORG>
> Subject: Re: Downloading Beta Version
>
> Please remove me from your listserve at this time-
> delaire at nyssd.moric.org
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of SW-L Digest - 20 May 2002 to 21 May 2002
> ***********************************************
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