SignWriting and L2 literacy

[Tamar Bernfeld]

Over the last two months, I have been considering how SignWriting might facilitate L2 literacy acquisition for deaf learners whose L1 is a signed language.  During this time, I have been learning to read SignWriting and have found that I am able to read any ASL sign I know if written in SignWriting.  In other words, the system is quite transparent...once a reader knows the meaning of the symbols, there appears to be a one to one sign/symbol mapping.
As many of us know, this is not the case in English. The sound/symbol correspondence is less than perfect.  On the other hand, in a language like Spanish the sound/symbol correspondence is quite predictable (what you see is what you say).
My question is, do you think SignWriting can serve as a bridge to L2 literacy more easily in a language such as Spanish because both systems are 'transparent' (for lack of a better term) in the sense that there is a one to one sign/symbol sound/symbol correspondence?
Does anyone know of any papers written on this topic??

:) Tamar



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