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SignWriting List Archive 1
October 1997 - May 1998

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April 25, 1998
MESSAGE TO THE SIGNWRITING EMAIL LIST

SUBJECT: SW Literacy Development

Date: Sat, 25 Apr 1998 14:21:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: Roving Reporter <Tlshell@concentric.net>
X-Sender: Tlshell@mariner.cris.com
To: SignWriting <DAC@SignWriting.org>
Subject: Pls POST Re: SW Literacy Development

On Fri, 24 Apr 1998, Ruth Kartchner wrote:

>From: Ruth Kartchner <rek@u.arizona.edu>
>Dear Valerie,
>I know I have not communicated with you for a while, but I have been busy
>trying to finish my dissertation. I want to make a couple of points about
>literacy development.

>SignWriting is all over the world now, and I noticed that some teachers are
>having a little difficulty teaching SignWriting to young children. I wonder
>if this has something to do with the educational systems in the different
>countries. Having grown up in Chile, I know that whole language was out of
>the question, for instance. The methods used even today tend to be a little
>painful for the children. Consider these points (which I took right out of
>my dissertation) and see if you think they are valuable in teaching
>SignWriting.

I wonder how "whole writing" can even be applied if the materials aren't there? Are there now books in print in SignWriting? If not, can they be developed? Have any of the publishers of ASL literature (such as DawnSignPress in San Diego) been approached for such a project?

>· Literacy develops in direct proportion to the type and amount of
>immersion. In other words, the printed word has to be made available to the
>child. Adults and other children need to be available to interact with the
>child. Interaction requires the use of language. In this way, language
>development becomes crucial.

**********************************************************

Therese Shellabarger - tlshell@concentric.net
https://www.concentric.net/~tlshell/ Shalom chaverot!