AW: [sw-l] Re: SW in Latin American & Spain

[Stefan Wöhrmann]

Hi Valerie -

why not simply post the DOS  sgn files as PDF documents? That would be easy
and everybody could read them without knowing anything about SignWriter 4.

Just an idea -

Stefan ;-)

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: owner-sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
[mailto:owner-sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu] Im Auftrag von Valerie Sutton
Gesendet: Montag, 23. Mai 2005 22:40
An: sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
Cc: Slevinski Steve
Betreff: Re: [sw-l] Re: SW in Latin American & Spain

SignWriting List
May 23, 2005

Steve-
Thanks for this message below...A little frustrating, isn't it? smile

James has volumes of SignWriting, and has taught Deaf children in
Nicaragua in SignWriting and Sign Language since 1995, with
documented success. So James has worked an entire decade and has lots
to show for it. He has dedicated his life to the Deaf children he
teaches. But an administrator can, with the touch of his or her pen
to a piece of paper, wipe away decades of work, without understanding
what he or she is doing...

But on the positive side to this scenario, the SignWriting literature
which James typed in SignWriter DOS, still exists, and administrators
can change their minds if we can show them his work.

James is skilled with SignWriter DOS, and he also is using a
Macintosh for other projects. On James' Mac, he has entered all the
876 signs into the Nicaraguan SignPuddle...

Nicaraguan SignPuddle
http://www.SignBank.org/signpuddle/sgn-NI

Great job, James!

Now James needs to get his SignWriter DOS documents into the world of
the web...I know you are working on SignText, Steve...How soon could
we start to try to create a document with SignText?...

Or...we could open a Microsoft Word document and drag and drop sign
by sign from SignPuddle to Word....Would that make more sense right now?

We need a way to get documents posted on the web quickly...Another
idea I had last night...Could we use the Translate Tool on
SignPuddle, create the sentences we need, and then can you build in
an export feature just in the Translate Tool that would create the
sentences as one great big PNG file, for posting on the web? So the
vertical columns would be captured in a graphic that can then be
posted easily?...

One more thing on your long to-do list....I realize this may not be
possible and that is ok...smile

Val ;-)




On May 23, 2005, at 3:20 PM, Steve Slevinski wrote:

> James Shepard-Kegl,
>
> It seems to me... (as a hearing man raised with English as my first
> langauge)
>
> Administrators have a problem of ignorance and misunderstanding.  I
> think talking about SignWriting only makes the problem worse.  To
> me, SignWriting is like grammar. It has rules and lessons.  It is
> made up of best practices.  It can be boring to talk about unless
> you're directly involved.
> Sign langauge can be written,  just as any other langauge.
> However, sign langauges use a movement alphabet, rather than a
> phonetic alphabet, because sign langauge moves.
>
> Only ignorance and misunderstanding makes it possible for someone
> to say that using SignWriting violates standard teaching
> procedures.  You use written langauge with SignWriting.  Written
> langauge is the basis of any modern education.  An education system
> that rejects reading and writing would violate standard teaching
> procedures.
> Helping people understand the importance of sign language is the
> real problem.  But before we can discuss sign langauge, we have to
> get to the heart of the matter.  Langauge is the true foundation of
> a modern education.
>
> The earlier children are exposed to langauge, the better.  Children
> absorb and create langauge naturally.  Humans are linguistic
> creatures.
> While Oralists admit that early exposure to langauge is important,
> I am not sure if they accept sign langauges as true languages.
> Oralists choose to ignore that the children's attitude and
> experiences are important.  A child's involvement, interest and
> enjoyment in education makes all of the difference in their
> development as human beings.
> Deaf history is filled with stories of children who were robbed of
> their childhoods because they were mainstreamed.  Their early years
> were filled with confusion because they were forced to use a
> language they could not fully experience.  Their time was consumed
> with constant drills so that they could lip-read and voice.
> A basic education is no different for a hearing child or a deaf child:
> 1) Early exposure to language
> 2) A love of learning
> 3) The ability to read and write their primary language
>
> Once a child has been equiped with these 3 steps of a basic
> education, there is no stopping the child from becoming a
> successful individual.  Oralism fails starting with step 1.
> Oralism continues to fail with step 2.
>
> -Steve
>
>
> James Shepard-Kegl, Esq. wrote:
>
>
>> To educators using SW in Spanish speaking countries:
>>
>> As I guess all of your are aware, we use SW a very great deal in
>> Bluefields,
>> Nicaragua, and we have developed a good deal of reading material:
>> three
>> volumes of reading lessons in SW, applied math workbooks in SW,
>> Spanish
>> texts and workbooks incorporating SW.
>>
>> Our Deaf teachers and students, of course, appreciate the value of
>> SW in a
>> teaching curriculum.  Why?  because for them there are practical
>> applications on a daily basis.
>>
>> However, for government administrators in the Ministry of
>> Education, SW is
>> much more of an abstract.  Yes, if they had to think about it, the
>> concept
>> would seem like a good idea.  However, use of SW in a teaching
>> curriculum is
>> not a traditional approach in Deaf education.  Everyone knows that
>> I espouse
>> it, but what do I say when some foreign consultant comes in and
>> says, "This
>> is not accepted practice anywhere else.  Using SW violates
>> standard teaching
>> procedures."
>>
>> So, immediately we have the battle of the foreign consultants.
>> This is in
>> part what occurred in Condega, Nicaragua.  And the Columbian
>> oralist had an
>> advantage in this debate:  He is a Latin American and he speaks
>> Spanish.
>>
>> At some point (possibly June), I am planning to hold a teaching
>> seminar for
>> the hearing staff at the Bluefields Deaf School.  This program
>> would be not
>> merely for government teachers, but also for the supervisors the
>> government
>> sends to the school from time to time.  These individuals are not
>> particularly well trained, if at all, in new approaches to Deaf
>> education --
>> which makes them very vulnerable to oralism or so-called "total
>> communication" advocates.
>>
>> I can say that SW is being used at varying levels (pilot programs,
>> developing curricula, etc.) in other Spanish speaking countries.
>> But, it
>> would be much better if a description of the varying programs came
>> from the
>> sources -- and written in Spanish.  I would be happy to share your
>> one - two
>> page reports with our own staff and with the participants in this
>> teaching
>> seminar.
>>
>> Please address any documents to:  El proyecto de idioma de senas de
>> Nicaragua
>> at kegl at maine.rr.com
>>
>> Thank you for your help.
>>
>> -- James Shepard-Kegl
>>
>>
>>
>
>