[sw-l] Re: Thesis -- more than anecdotal

[Shane Gilchrist Ó hEorpa]

James,

U know I agree with you and the Sutton System - Kristof de Weerdt (used to
be at the Univ of Gent) said 95% of VGT can be recorded using this system.

I was just playing the messenger mind you - if there are sign linguists who
think different, then we will have a very long battle to go ahead with - I
noticed when the See Hear! team came over from England to film ur schools,
James, they didn't even talk much about SW?

That’s why we said we need to develop a marketing/political strategy for the
SW.

By the way, one said to me that the Sutton System is copyrighted - I thought
it was more about the literature but the use of it, copyrighted?

:o

Shane

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu [mailto:owner-sw-
> l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu] On Behalf Of James Shepard-Kegl, Esq.
> Sent: 26 February 2005 14:31
> To: sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
> Subject: Re: [sw-l] Re: Thesis -- more than anecdotal
>
> Shane,
>
> A new idea at first rejected as being worthless, later begrudgingly
> acknowledged, and finally accepted as being obviously true.
>
> SW is neither child-like nor simple -- terms I daresay were used to
> dismiss
> signing itself as a language not so many years ago.  SW, however, is
> somewhat "transparent" -- since the system uses a visual code to convey a
> visually driven language (as opposed to my typing at the moment, which is
> a
> visual code to convey a sound driven language.)
>
> The airplane:  many said machines would never fly, until the Wright
> brothers
> demonstrated that airplanes really could be built.  Seeing is believing.
>
> It makes not a whit of difference to the hundreds of thousands of deaf
> children trying to learn to read and write whether linguists prefer one
> method of sign notation over another.  It will be critical to these
> children
> if they are able to achieve a higher level of competency in reading and
> writing a spoken language by first gaining literacy skills in their native
> sign language.
>
> Does SW further this goal?  If yes, what needs to be done?  If not, why
> not?
>
> SHOW ME THE PROOF IN A SCIENTIFICALLY ACCEPTABLE STUDY.
>
> -- James
>
>
> on 2/26/05 9:08 AM, Shane Gilchrist Ó hEorpa at
> shane.gilchrist.oheorpa at francismaginn.org wrote:
>
> > James,
> >
> > We do need to develop a publicity or political lobbying group for that -
> > another reason why I ll want to do the European conference on SW.
> >
> > And there's so much misinformation about the Sutton System out there -
> there
> > are 3 systems out there - the Sutton one, the Stokoe notation system and
> the
> > HamNoSys - my friend, a linguist herself, think the Sutton system is the
> > easiest one because it's quite "child-like and simple" YET SHE HAVENT
> TRIED
> > IT HERSELF so she cannot be the expert on that but other linguists who
> > ACTUALLY tried the 3 systems said that the Sutton System is more
> difficult
> > to use for people whose first language isn't sign language whereas the
> > Stokoe and HamNoSys are designed for people whose first language isn't a
> > signed language.
> >
> > Right now, many European Sign linguists tend to go for HamNoSys cos it's
> a
> > European thingy - there are some who will go for the Stokoe system - but
> > even a smaller group go for it.
> >
> > That's why it's important for us to raise the profile of SignWriting -
> for
> > instance the CDS Dublin at www.centrefordeafstudies.com
> >
> > Shane
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: owner-sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu [mailto:owner-sw-
> >> l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu] On Behalf Of James Shepard-Kegl, Esq.
> >> Sent: 26 February 2005 13:56
> >> To: sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
> >> Subject: [sw-l] Re: Thesis -- more than anecdotal
> >>
> >> I believe that if you want to have SW integrated into the Deaf
> education
> >> system on a national or multi-national level, then you will need first
> to
> >> convince theoreticians of some repute that SW serves important
> educational
> >> functions.  This will take more than a review of positive anecdotal
> >> experiences.  Rather, a curriculum needs to be designed, then
> implemented.
> >> Next, a statistical study, with control groups and comparative results
> >> from
> >> traditional programs, must be conducted.  Papers must be presented and
> >> ultimately articles published in respected journals.
> >>
> >> This, alas, takes money (especially the design and implementation
> parts.)
> >> If there is someone who has gone further than I in design and
> >> implementation, please identify yourself.  In the meantime, I have
> quite
> >> bankrupted myself in the process -- which is why my attending an SW
> >> conference in Europe is unthinkable.
> >>
> >> -- James
> >>
> >
> >
> >
>
>