Need for more SignWriting Literature and materials...

Tue Dec 23 16:00:39 UTC 2008

SignWriting List
December 23, 2008

Hello Andre!
Thank you for this message below. I am happy to read about your LSQ  
curriculum. It sounds wonderful. Congratulations on all you have  
accomplished! I will save your message below because I think it is an  
important one...

You forgot the schools in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, that had a  
SignWriting project, for a statistical study by Dr. Abushaira...Deaf  
children learned SignWriting in two different schools in 2002-2007 in  
the Middle East, and next week, on December 28th, there will be a  
special SignWriting discussion group held in Saudi Arabia, and members  
of the Deaf Community and also teachers and educators and researchers  
will be there. I am creating links for this event on our web site  
now...it is not quite ready, but it will be!

SignWriting in Arabic Nations
http://www.SignWriting.org/arabia

I will tell you more later...

And don't forget Nicaragua...There are several schools still using  
SignWriting in Nicaragua, thanks to the efforts of James and Judy  
Shepard-Kegl...and they have a long list of books written in  
SignWriting...

And there is also the Belgian schools...SignWriting has been taught in  
Flemish Sign Language and French-Belgian Sign Language...and they have  
some literature written.

And there have also been some attempts in other countries in the  
schools, such as in France...

And of course, SignWriting is used by adults all over the  
world...there are projects in several countries...Spain is really  
active right now...

And we are working on getting more reading materials for teachers...so  
I agree you are absolutely correct that it is very hard for your  
teachers in LSQ because they do not have enough materials...but in  
time let us hope we will have more books to read in many sign  
languages...

If we can find the funds, we could hire a skilled SignWriting scribe  
to transcribe video storytelling in LSQ to create written materials  
for your teachers...would you like that? Do you think you could find a  
little funding for that? If so, I can hire someone to write stories  
from videos of LSQ stories...then we can create books and send them to  
your teachers....

Val ;-)

----------

On Dec 23, 2008, at 4:44 AM, Gagnon et Thibeault wrote:

> Hi Val and everyone,
>
>   There are two different writings in a LSQ curriculum: a  
> handprinting and a handwriting (not a shorthand).   The LSQ  
> curriculum includes  a sign communication (comprehension,  
> production, LSQ grammar, conversation, discours), a SW reading (pre- 
> reading, while reading, reaction) and a SW writing (pre-writing,  
> while writing revision and correction, planficiation, publication).   
> I think that Deaf children learn enough because they develop skilled  
> sign language, skilled reading and skilled writing (organize, edit,  
> intention) in the educational system.   I think that  Individual  
> ssignwriters "personally" prefer their style of writing either  
> handwriting or shorthand.
>
>   For some reasons,  Deaf and  hearing communities are against a SW  
> now, and  the educational school aren't recongnized a SW.  For  
> example, only one school in US, only one school in Canada, perheps  
> only one school in Gderman. Also, there aren't materials: teenager  
> books, children (very few) books, exercise books, neespapers and so  
> on.  A very few signwriters develop slowly materials.  Val, you are  
> very luck that Cherie, KJ, Adam, RON, and others did write materials  
> (children books, SW books and bible).   Who knows a signwritten LSQ,  
> a signwritten BSL, a signwritten GSL?   For example, I did signwrite  
> a LSQ signpuddle and there is one person who only knows a  
> signwritten LSQ,.  One Deaf teacher who knows LSQ doesn't know a  
> signwritten LSQ but knows a SW reading.  She told me that it isn't  
> easy to teach a SW because she doesn't have materials.  It is a big  
> challange.
>
>   Have nice  holidays
>
>   André
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Valerie Sutton" <signwriting at mac.com 
> >
> To: "SignWriting List" <sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu>
> Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 10:31 PM
> Subject: Re: [sw-l] Handwriting: Val's Shorthand Suggestions
>
>
> Hi Andre - and everyone -
>
> Well, maybe in time, with the right instruction materials, the
> Shorthand will not have to be only for professional jobs but could be
> changed or adjusted to be usable on a daily basis by children who are
> at an advanced writing level...I think the idea of using it for
> professional court stenography may be more unrealistic....I think it
> may be better as a daily handwriting for advanced writers, and if you
> have a curriculum for children learning at different levels, then the
> more advanced children might enjoy the Shorthand...so I wouldn't
> assume that kids can't learn it too...
>
> Val ;-)
>
>
>
>
> On Dec 22, 2008, at 6:58 PM, Gagnon et Thibeault wrote:
>
>> Hi Sandy and everyone,
>>
>>  Sandy, thank you for sharing a SW shorthand with us.  This   
>> shorthand is good for College or University level for professional   
>> works and some people who are hobbies to write it.  I encourage  
>> you  to develop a SW shorthand instruction with Val and Adam.  I am  
>> sure  that some people will enjoy learning it by email.   It is  
>> nice that  there are two types of writing by hand :  a handwriting  
>> instruction  for children and adults too , and a shorthand  
>> instruction for  adults.and professional works.
>>
>>  I enjoy reading your elephant story.
>>
>>  Hand waving
>>
>>  André
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sandy Fleming" <sandy at scotstext.org
>> >
>> To: "SignWriting List" <sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu>
>> Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 2:56 PM
>> Subject: [sw-l] Handwriting: Val's Shorthand Suggestions
>>
>>
>>> Hi Val!
>>>
>>>> Following that idea that the fingers are more important than the   
>>>> base,
>>>> then the flat hand with five fingers would just be five spokes for
>>>> five fingers and the base shape would not be written...essentially,
>>>> the Shorthand would become the cursive form of sw handwriting
>>>> maybe...this was an idea proposed by Dr. Karen van Hoek, who  
>>>> used  the
>>>> Shorthand as her SW Handwriting system and loved it...
>>>
>>> I've tried writing with these "shorthand" suggestions and I too,  
>>> love
>>> it! This seems to bring the feel of SignWriting much closer to  
>>> the  feel
>>> of writing rather than drawing to me. The signs are written more   
>>> simply
>>> so that once I've written one a few times it becomes much easier to
>>> write it again without having to think about how it's made.
>>>
>>> I've attached an attempt at writing a brief anecdote that runs in my
>>> family. Since it's not "phonetic" as SignWriting usually is and   
>>> it's in
>>> BSL, you may have some difficulty with it, so I'll go through it   
>>> here.
>>>
>>> The larger sign on the left says "elephant", which is my title  
>>> for  the
>>> story.
>>>
>>> Sign-for-sign, it then goes like this:
>>>
>>> aLongTimeAgo Scotland h-a-w-i-c-k | cousin me | andUncle me | street
>>> justWalkingAlong || circus carnivalComingTowardsThem
>>> bothWatchingItGoingBy finish || uncle askChild elephant didYouSee?  
>>> ||
>>> cousinLooksUpAtHim elephant what? ||
>>>
>>> Or in English:
>>>
>>> A long time ago in Hawick in Scotland my cousin and uncle were   
>>> walking
>>> along the street when a circus carnival came by. They watched it   
>>> passing
>>> and when it was gone my uncle asked my cousin, "Did you see the
>>> elephant?" He said, "What elephant?"
>>>
>>> Some notes on the writing:
>>>
>>> elephant: the handshape here is a full "C" without the palm drawn. I
>>> hope this is clear enough for someone who's used to it.
>>>
>>> h-a-w-i-c-k: When signing with someone at a bar I noticed how she  
>>> was
>>> holding her drink in one hand and doing two-handed fingerspelling   
>>> with
>>> her free hand only. It occurred to me that you often see this and it
>>> might be a good way of writing two-handed fingerspelling in a  
>>> simpler
>>> way that still makes sense to native BSLers. Combining this with   
>>> Val's
>>> suggestion of not writing the palms, this is the result. I've   
>>> sometimes
>>> written both hands when that emphasises the connection with the  
>>> Latin
>>> letter, as for "K" in this word.
>>>
>>> andUncle: the single head nod which sometimes means "and" I've   
>>> written
>>> without the arrowhead. I've been doing this for a long time for head
>>> nods and shakes.
>>>
>>> street: I perhaps wrote this sign too quickly as it's a bit out of
>>> shape! it's two "American-H" hands written with the palms because  
>>> the
>>> orientation is unusual so I felt it had to be indicated.
>>>
>>> justWalkingAlong: I've missed out the arrowheads again, this time  
>>> for
>>> the "relaxed pout" on the mouth indicating that the walk is "as   
>>> normal".
>>> The half-arrowhead is horizontal, but if I'd been more careful it   
>>> would
>>> have been diagonal!
>>>
>>> circus: I hope this is clear, it's supposed to be twisting three   
>>> curved
>>> fingers (thumb, index and middle) about the nose like a clown nose.
>>>
>>> carnivalComingTowardsUs: again, I wrote the palms because I felt the
>>> orientation was unusual.
>>>
>>> bothWatchingItGoingBy: for a while now I've just repeated   
>>> arrowheads to
>>> indicate repeated movements, so this arrow is swept through three   
>>> times,
>>> in BSL indicating an activity that went on for some time.
>>>
>>> finish: the two little lines are thumbs; the arrows are supposed  
>>> to  be
>>> moving upwards but I didn't draw them doubled; I didn't worry so  
>>> much
>>> about clarity because this sign is used very frequently and   
>>> couldn't be
>>> mistaken for anything else.
>>>
>>> what: again, I've missed the arrowheads as this shaking from side to
>>> side movement should be clear enough to BSLers.
>>>
>>> Will everybody be able to see this? What's best to submit  
>>> graphics  in,
>>> PNG, GIF or JPEG?
>>>
>>> Sandy Fleming
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
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