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

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
February 26, 2005

When is someone going to write some SignWriting, post it to the
SignWriting List, and ask me how to learn to read and write it, Huh? My
time is here waiting for your questions....Val ;-)

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On Feb 26, 2005, at 7:16 AM, Shane Gilchrist Ó hEorpa wrote:

> 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
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
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