Inquiry from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia!!

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
September 8, 2007

Dear Eyasu and SW List Members!

Congratulations, Eyasu, on your new job. It is exciting to think that  
your Department of Linguistics will be planning a BA degree program  
for Ethiopian Sign Languages and Deaf Cultures...I can imagine it  
must be a complicated project to be in touch with Deaf people in such  
a vast country with so many languages...

So of course, we will do whatever we can to assist...

SignWriting materials can be donated to your teachers, but you need  
more than just SignWriting...

Does anyone on the List know how to setup a Sign Language  
curriculum...a four-year program? Who should Eyasu speak with, in the  
US, or in Germany, or in Brazil, for example? We needs contacts and  
some specific suggestions and advice for a Sign Language curriculum  
strategy...

Perhaps it is time that SignWriting be a part of any Sign Language  
curriculum...not as a separate subject, but an integral one with  
teaching Sign Language...

I hope someone will answer, as I do not know any contacts for Eyasu  
about Sign Language curriculum development...

Val ;-)

-----------



On Sep 8, 2007, at 9:01 AM, Eyasu Tamene wrote:

>  Dearest Val, and list participants
>
> Many greetings to you from Addis Ababa , Ethiopia .
>
> I would like to appreciate for your effort you are doing each day  
> to the SW list.  May the almighty God give you strenght and courage  
> for further progress!
>
> As you may know Ethiopian deaf people have limited access to join  
> the higher institution for basic reasons that there is no trained  
> person  and sufficient support for their career.   Taking this  
> issue into consideration, Addis Ababa University, Department of  
> Linguistics has planned to open a ‘BA program in Sign Language and  
> Deaf Culture’ one year after now.  The plan is to train deaf  
> teachers and make them productive citizens of the nation. This  
> effort is hoped to contribute a lot to alleviate problems that  
> hinder the expansion of Sign language and deaf education in Ethiopia.
>
> The department has hired me as a Sign Language Expert.  Currently  
> we are designing the syllabus for the BA program.  I would  
> appreciate if you can provide me with the necessary info that would  
> help me in designing the syllabus for the undergraduate program for  
> Sign language unit’?  I would be glad if you could send me the  
> necessary contacts of other SL universities/ institutions with  
> their contact address.
> It is a good idea to include SW in the sign language program  
> syllabus. But my question, as you may know not much of the  
> materials in sign language and related fields are available neither  
> in the university nor in surrounding.  How can I get the experiance  
> of those sign language schools, colleges and universities in order  
> to design a syllabus of a BA in Sign language program that is  
> compatible to the Ethiopian context.
> Thank you and hope to read you sooner.
>
>
> Sincerely yours,
>
> Eyasu
>
> Luggage? GPS? Comic books?
> Check out fitting gifts for grads at Yahoo! Search.
>
>
>
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