Deaf Residential Schools in the US...

Thu Jan 18 15:44:03 UTC 2007

Agreed!  :)  That is where we need to recruit committees to develop 
materials .... if you notice the textbooks, usually it is not written 
by one person anyway.  But you can start simply.  Just take a specific 
topic and make a booklet on that topic. For example, you could do a 
booklet on weather and explain various different things about weather. 
For starters, those booklets can come alongside English textbooks. It 
would be especially important that key terms are defined in the booklet 
so children can look in the booklet to understand a term that is 
mentioned in the textbook. Over time, those booklets can be edited or 
expanded and then reissued together as a textbook.

Just a thought.

Stuart

On Jan 18, 2007, at 7:08, CWren at doe.k12.ga.us wrote:

>
> I've thought about that... trying to develop science materials (I have 
> a strong science background) but looking at the size of even 
> elementary science textbooks... the project becomes just too daunting. 
>  Even Cat in the Hat seems a lot longer now that I am translating it! 
>  ::smile::
>
> cherie
>
>  ---------------------------------
>  Cherie Wren
>  GSD Staff Interpreter
>  232 Perry Farm Rd
>  Cave Spring, GA 30124
>  706-777-2328
>  706-766-0766 Cell
>
>  This message and any included attachments are from the Georgia School 
> for the Deaf and are intended only for the addressee(s). The 
> information contained herein may include privileged or otherwise 
> confidential information. If you have received this message in error, 
> please contact the sender immediately, and delete it from your system.
>
>
> "Stuart Thiessen" <sw at passitonservices.org>
> Sent by: owner-sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
>
> 01/18/2007 12:48 AM
> Please respond to
>  sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
>
> To
> sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
> cc
> Subject
> Re: [sw-l] Deaf Residential Schools in the US...
>
>
>
>
>
> :) That's great!
>
>  I do think that there is a tangental approach that could be equally  
>  beneficial and worth considering. I think back to when I was in high  
>  school, I had a deaf friend who was in my 11th-12th grade history  
>  class. Because English is my first language, I had the regular  
>  textbook. But she had the 7th grade history book instead. Naturally,  
>  she did not get the same things out of the class that I could even 
> with  
>  an interpreter. I don't think it was her fault.
>
>  If curriculum for a specific course (history, math, etc.) can be  
>  developed in ASL at appropriate grade levels and Deaf children can be 
>  
>  shown to learn equal or superior to their hearing peers using that  
>  curriculum, that might be equally helpful. Of course, we may have to  
>  settle for a comparison of traditional Deaf Ed approach versus using 
> SW  
>  curriculum to show improved learning between the two Deaf test 
> groups.  
>  I suppose it would depend on the project and how it is set up and the 
>  
>  willingness of the school or parents.
>
>  That process may also help us understand presentation issues as well. 
>  
>  Fact of the matter probably is that presentation will be equally  
>  important as content, and that will be something new that will need 
> to  
>  be considered since we will have to consider how the presentation of  
>  written material will intersect with the way sign languages naturally 
>  
>  use directionality. For example, in English, we say, "See Figure 3 
> for  
>  a chart of English Kings."  If I write it in ASL, should my 
> Signwriting  
>  point to the physical location of Figure 3 or what? There may be 
> other  
>  related issues that could come up. So, even those factors could 
> impact  
>  the effectiveness of written materials.
>
>  Just some thoughts to throw out. :-)
>
>  Stuart
>
>  On Jan 17, 2007, at 22:57, K.J. Boal wrote:
>
>  > Actually, I'm hoping to do a Ph.D. research project in the near 
> future  
>  > on exactly that, Cherie!  But it will be a while before any results 
>  
>  > are in . . . if the project even gets off the ground . . . I'm 
> hoping  
>  > to get started on the program either this year or next but I don't  
>  > know when or where I'll be doing it . . . I'll keep you posted on 
> my  
>  > progress!
>  >
>  > KJ
>  >
>  >
>  >> From: "Cherie Wren" <cwterp at YAHOO.COM>
>  >> Reply-To: sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
>  >> To: sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
>  >> Subject: Re: [sw-l] Deaf Residential Schools in the US...
>  >> Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2007 15:47:47 -0800 (PST)
>  >>
>  >> But in order to get the schools to accept SW, you have to hit them 
> on  
>  >> what THEY think is important:  and that is English.  Period.  End 
> of  
>  >> story.  so although SW will have benefits far beyond its limited 
> use  
>  >> in promoting English literacy, that HAS to be the sell point.  
>  >> Because that is all Deaf education is about right now.  English  
>  >> Literacy.  Oh, those other things get done, but English Literacy 
> is  
>  >> THE goal of Deaf education in the United States, sad to say.  And  
>  >> although there is no proof, there is research that supports it. 
>  Read  
>  >> Cummins on bilingual education.  He proposes a theory that In  
>  >> bilingual education (he is talking about Spanish/English) there 
> are  
>  >> two ways to get to English Literacy for Spanish speaking students. 
>  
>  >> One is via spoken English, the other is via Written Spanish. 
>  Apply  
>  >> that to Deaf kids.  Teh 'via spoken English ' route is not  
>  >> applicable.  So the route to English Literacy will only come via  
>  >> written ASL.  There is also research that proves that ASL
>  >>  proficiency  (Not only in Deaf of Deaf, but in Deaf of hearing 
> with  
>  >> strong ASL skills)has a very high correlation with English 
> Literacy.  
>  >> That is to say, if the kid has a strong first language, he will be 
>  
>  >> able to get the second language easier.  So SW wins again, because 
>  
>  >> while you teach written signing, you can teach ASL at the same 
> time.  
>  >> Here at GSD, we hope to get some of that proof that everyone wants 
> to  
>  >> see...  but you can't get proof till someone does the research , 
> and  
>  >> you can't do the research till you have proof, at least in our  
>  >> case...
>  >>
>  >> cherie
>  >>
>  >> ----- Original Message ----
>  >> From: "James Shepard-Kegl, Esq." <kegl at MAINE.RR.COM>
>  >> To: sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
>  >> Sent: Monday, January 15, 2007 5:50:14 PM
>  >> Subject: Re: [sw-l] Deaf Residential Schools in the US...
>  >>
>  >> Re: [sw-l] Deaf Residential Schools in the US...
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>  >> I respectfully submit that when you propose SW as a bridge to 
> English  
>  >> literacy in the school system, you are missing the point.
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>  >> SW is a valuable tool for giving a Deaf signer metalinguistic 
> skills  
>  >> in his or her native language (i.e., understanding labels like 
> nouns,  
>  >> verbs, classifiers, role shifting, shared references, and so 
> forth.)  
>  >> Having metalinguistic skills in your own language is critical to  
>  >> learning the grammar and syntax of a foreign (that is, non-native) 
>  
>  >> language.
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>  >> But, if you are expecting miracle English literacy achievement  
>  >> through SW, think again.  SW helps, to be sure, and a greater  
>  >> proponent than I you will not find, but do not oversell the 
> concept,  
>  >> as proof is scarce.
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>  >> Where SW is really, really beneficial is:  MATH, SCIENCE, HISTORY.
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>  >> Math, to be of any real value in life, is all about applied math,  
>  >> which we learn through practicing those dreaded verbal problems. 
>  Use  
>  >> SW to teach them, so that the Deaf child knows what you are 
> talking  
>  >> about.  Otherwise, the math problem just becomes an English 
> problem,  
>  >> and if you do not read English, you appear to be moronic.  Try TWO 
>  
>  >> PLUS TWO in Chinese and see how far you get.
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>  >> My daughter's teachers in Portland, Maine High School are 
> encouraging  
>  >> her to answer her science tests in SW -- because the goal is  
>  >> achievement in the material taught in that particular class, not 
> rote  
>  >> memorization of English without any real comprehension.
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>  >> -- James
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
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