Advantages of ASL GLoss for SignWriting

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
March 28, 2004

Angus B. Grieve-Smith wrote:
> SignWriter falls into this trap over and over, where people who
> have mastered languages like English with a long written tradition
> find it
> easier to use the dictionary function than to type signs from scratch,
> so
> they never learn to type and never pass it on to the native signers.
> Part of this is because the SignWriter typing system is difficult to
> master, but I think it would actually be better in the long run if the
> dictionary lookup function weren't included in SignWriter.


Hello Everyone and Angus -
This is a point well-taken. After all, we do not paste English words
into sentences from dictionaries. We type English directly in the
symbols of a, b and c, and the euivalent was supposed to happen in the
SignWriter Computer Program, and it is still my hope, that people will
someday learn how to type directly in the symbols of SignWriting.

Taking out the dictionary feature now, after so many years, has two
drawbacks...1. It might confuse those who are used to the feature and
2. We still need to develop typing techniques in computers further...As
you have said before, Angus, you found the typing techniques difficult
and perhaps not natural for you, and that I accept. So I think that
developing better ways to type the symbols of SignWriting directly,
without any glossing, could be an excellent research study for someone
- Typing does have value...and I personally became skilled at it, so I
think it is possible to train people to type in SignWriter quickly,
with the right focus...

Meanwhile pasting from the dictionary continues...oh well!!

Val ;-)