Sydney conference! HELP!!!!!!

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
April 3, 2003

Thank you, Charles and Stuart for this interesting discussion - Good 
writing on a difficult subject! And best of luck with the conference, 
Antony...I hope you are able to go and that this information helps - 
Keep us informed....

Val ;-)

--------------------------

On Wednesday, March 26, 2003, Charles Butler wrote:
> One exciting advantage is that it often opens up a Deaf person's mind 
> to the world of literature.  Once they recognize that "marks on paper" 
> can record movement, it is much easier for them to understand that 
> "marks on paper" can record spoken languages, and that they don't have 
> to hear to read spoken languages.  Literacy in spoken languages is 
> improved, and concepts can truly be explained comparing their native 
> signed language to the primary spoken language in their environment, 
> using examples in both languages.
>
> Sign Writing enables teachers to write down the vocabulary set of 
> their Deaf students, discovering whether they are learning-disabled, 
> or simply can't hear.  With an unambiguous recording method, a teacher 
> can list words and concepts that are currently in a child's 
> vocabulary, just as they would with a hearing child.  Just because the 
> concept is not known in English does not mean the concept is unknown 
> to the child, just in a different language.


Stuart Thiessen wrote:

> I would also look at the story of Sequoyah, an American Indian from 
> the Cherokee tribe.  There are some good parallels between the 
> situation the Cherokees faced and deaf people face today.  The 
> parallels for example of white having written language but the Indians 
> did not just as hearing have a written form of their language, but 
> deaf have not had that privilege.
>
> As I understand, the Cherokee did better at preserving their language 
> and culture as compared to other American Indian tribes who did not 
> employ a written form of their language.  (If others are more informed 
> about this, please correct my comments).  Essentially, this is a 
> parallel from history that we could learn from and use to explain why 
> a written form has benefits.
>
> Another thought is that hearing seem to feel that a language is not 
> fully a language until it is written.  Obviously, that is false, but 
> nevertheless, it is often used as a standard by majority language 
> users to put down minority language users.
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