Discussion of a PhD thesis on SW

[Bill Reese]

Claudia,
Could someone videotape it then add captioning and posted online?
Bill

On 9/8/2012 10:34 AM, Claudia S. Bianchini wrote:
> Hello Valerie and all ,
> On 18th of september at 2pm there will be the discussion of my Phd Thesis on SW.
> It will take place in che Conference Room of Site Pouchet (the address
> is Rue Pouchet, n° 59 - Paris - France)
> If someone is in Paris, he is welcome, just tell me!
> The discussion will be in Fren ch and will be translated in French Sign Language
>
> The abstract is:
>
> METALINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF AN EMERGING WRITING SYSTEM FOR SIGN LANGUAGES:
> SIGNWRITING AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION TO THE ITALIAN SIGN LANGUAGE (LIS).
> Sign Languages (SL) do not have a written form and most of the systems
> intended to
> represent them have shown many failures. This study is focused on
> SignWriting (SW), which seems
> to be the best system, among the existing ones, to represent the forms of SL.
> The aim of this work is to understand how, despite the apparent
> complexity of the system, SW
> appears to be so easy to use by trained deaf users; moreover, this
> work wants to show SW capacities
> as a tool to encourage metalinguistic observations on LIS.
> At first the system itself is analyzed as well as the frequent
> problems that emerge when expert
> in SL and SW deaf users use it. This approach outlines most of these
> difficulties, allowing to
> understand (and sometimes resolve) them, which in turn favors the
> development of the system.
> Users’ observations cover not only the system itself but also its
> adequacy for the writing and
> transcription of SL, highlighting its potential as a means to raise
> metalinguistic thinking. The final
> part of the analysis is dedicated to the proposals for some
> improvement of SW, on the basis of the
> data gathered and the analysis carried out. These improvements aim at
> teaching the system to deaf
> adults and informatization of SW.
> In conclusion, SW seems to be a promising system, effective to
> represent the forms of SL,
> despite some problems and the need for improvements; the deaf
> community will have to decide
> whether to adopt it as a writing system, take it as a starting point
> aiming in that direction, or use it
> just to transmit the shape of the signs.
>
> Key-words: Italian Sign Language; Writing, Transcription, Deafness;
> Linguistic analysis
>
>
>
> WOW, I can't realise my thesis will be over by the 18th of this month :-)
>
> Claudia
>
>