QUESTION: write ASL and English "separate but equal?"...

[dac]

SignWriting List
May 15, 2003

QUESTION:
Are we required to write the ASL and English as separate languages, or
can we place English words directly under the SignWriting signs to help
people learn signs?

ANSWER: There isn't one set way to use SignWriting when teaching. You
are welcome to present it as you wish. It all depends on who you are
teaching, and why they are learning to read and write signs.

If your students are Deaf and know ASL fluently, then writing each
language separately, is a wonderful way to show the differences in
grammar and how each language has its own unique beauty and grammar
structure. It establishes respect for ASL, showing that the language
has a written form now, just as English does...

If you place the words directly under each sign, that might be good for
hearing people, like your students, who are just learning how to
sign....so it depends on who you are writing for...

Plus some Deaf people are new to SignWriting too, so sometimes placing
words under the signs helps people get started...then when they become
fluent in reading SignWriting, the "separate but equal"
language-documents become easier to read, and also preferable...

The reason my documents are done differently, at different times, is
because I am writing for different audiences at different times...So
SignWriting is not a theory...it is just a writing system that can be
applied as the writer chooses...

Best of luck with your teaching -

Val ;-)


Valerie Sutton
Sutton at SignWriting.org

1. SignWritingSite
http://www.SignWriting.org
Read & Write Sign Languages

2. SignBankSite
http://www.SignBank.org
Sign Language Dictionaries

3. DanceWritingSite
http://www.DanceWriting.org
Read & Write Dance

4. MovementWritingSite
http://www.MovementWriting.org
Read & Write Movement & Gesture

5. Shop Online!
http://www.SuttonShop.com
Proceeds Donated to Deaf Literacy

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
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