| SignWriting List Archive 1 October 1997 - May 1998 |
May 9, 1998
MESSAGE TO THE SIGNWRITING EMAIL LIST
SUBJECT: Standardization of ASL
Date: Sat, 09 May 1998 12:30:01 -0600
From: angie pappas <apapp9509@rainbo.santa-fe.cc.nm.us>
Reply-To: apapp9509@rainbo.santa-fe.cc.nm.us
To: SignWriting <DAC@SignWriting.org>
Subject: Re: Standardization of ASL
Post to list.
Regarding previous postings on the SignWriting List:
> I firmly believe that if children learn SignWriting before
they learn
> English, their literacy level in English will increase and
English will be
> easier for them to learn. After all, as it stands, English
is not only a
> second language to native ASL users, but it is also limited
only to the
> written form. That is a much harder way to learn any language,
particularly
> if you cannot already read your own.
Shiona Watson
ianw@stn.net
____________________________
> Somehow I get the feeling that ASL (or any signed language)
is an inferior
> language and the purpose of any teaching technique would
be to master a
> spoken
> language?
> Or did I read all this wrong?
> Bettibonni
> Bettibonni@aol.com
My response to the above comes partly from my own experience
with English as a second language, learned when I entered school
at age 5.
I don't read this as meaning ASL is inferior to English, only
that, in an English-using country, mastery of English is a necessity
for most adults. Learning English is not the only goal of Deaf
(or anyone's) education, but it certainly is an important one.
If teaching SW to native ASL signers helps their aquisition of
English, GREAT! What a fabulous bonus!
I think that, if anything, this should take ASL one step closer
to being respected as a language in its own right in the eyes
of parents and educators; a genuine FIRST language for Deaf students
instead of merely a stepping-stone to English.
I hope I'm making sense.
Angie
apapp@rainbo.santa-fe.cc.nm.us
