by Carl Schroeder
Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." What does Socrates mean? How is it different from an "examined" life? And who is supposed to do the examining? I guess the idea is that each of us is supposed to examine our own life. In what language? Can I as a Deaf individual, born that way, examine my life in the language I know the best, ASL? But how do I do that? And to whom am I supposed to be telling when I examine my life? I guess the idea is not to be too self-satisfied with the way things are going, unless I've examined my life in a written form of the English language. It's going to be tough, if not impossible.
Time's up! Stop writing!
But, if you're a perfect reader, then I should tell you what Frederich Neitzche says about you:
When I imagine the perfect reader, he always turns into a monster of courage and curiosity; moreover, supple, cunning, cautious; a born adventurer and discoverer.
Maybe, when I return home I should become a "monster of courage and curiosity" and do a vlog on Posteriori to prove a Deity, for I had vlogged A Priori. Deity may be necessary to support Veditz's unconditional claim that "sign language is the noblest gift" bestowed upon humanities. With these ideas in mind, I will examine my life in an upcoming vlog.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
ASL Is Not So Easily Accessible
American Sign Language (ASL) is about life of people who use it for information, knowledge and communication.
ASL linguists inform us about ASL. There are three different domains of ASL: (1) the psychological system of language (lexicon or conceptuality); (2) the means of implementing this system (articulatory bundles or production of signs); and the product (message or meaning). ASL is not so easily accessible because information and knowledge of ASL are unconscious in the sense that users of ASL cannot articulate or communicate the rules of ASL.
Although linguists can examine the parts of signs and the production of signs, they cannot examine ASL directly. They would have to approach the properties of this psychological system indirectly. There are several ways that ASL linguists use to infer properties of the system.
Some linguists look at language changes by comparing historical stages in the development of ASL and trying to infer what properties of the system would account for changes. For example, the older version of manual alphabet commonly shows the back of the hands but the newer version of manual alphabet shows the palm of the hands, which is historical. We could easily infer the change of palm orientations to compromise speechreading aggrandized by the 1880 Milan Resolution banning the use of sign language.
There are a group of people who are doing oppositely. They are called language pathologists; that is, they compare normal ASL to that of people who can hear and speak English and try to merge signs into the word order. For example, they think or believe that Signed English seems to have features in common with both ASL and English.
Here, however, I will discuss in some details another method to infer properties of ASL: investigating ASL users' judgments about signs in ASL. We can ask users of ASL questions such as the following:
(1) Is initialized sign for driving an acceptable sign in ASL?
(2) Does this initialized sign for driving have the same meaning as sign DRIVE?
(3) In the initialized sign driving, can it refer to the sign DRIVE?
We might present (1), (2) and (3) to some native users of ASL and ask them to judge the two signs--initialized sign for driving and sign DRIVE--for acceptability. In response, they would undoubtedly say that the initialized sign is grammatically unacceptable but the sign DRIVE is perfectly grammatical, and we can learn from them. For example, the initialized sign for driving cannot be internally modified if the user of ASL is talking about commute-driving.
To summarize, ASL is very challenging. ASL linguistics is the study of psychological system of ASL; that is, of the unconscious knowledge or lexicon that lies behind the ability to use ASL.
ASL linguists inform us about ASL. There are three different domains of ASL: (1) the psychological system of language (lexicon or conceptuality); (2) the means of implementing this system (articulatory bundles or production of signs); and the product (message or meaning). ASL is not so easily accessible because information and knowledge of ASL are unconscious in the sense that users of ASL cannot articulate or communicate the rules of ASL.
Although linguists can examine the parts of signs and the production of signs, they cannot examine ASL directly. They would have to approach the properties of this psychological system indirectly. There are several ways that ASL linguists use to infer properties of the system.
Some linguists look at language changes by comparing historical stages in the development of ASL and trying to infer what properties of the system would account for changes. For example, the older version of manual alphabet commonly shows the back of the hands but the newer version of manual alphabet shows the palm of the hands, which is historical. We could easily infer the change of palm orientations to compromise speechreading aggrandized by the 1880 Milan Resolution banning the use of sign language.
There are a group of people who are doing oppositely. They are called language pathologists; that is, they compare normal ASL to that of people who can hear and speak English and try to merge signs into the word order. For example, they think or believe that Signed English seems to have features in common with both ASL and English.
Here, however, I will discuss in some details another method to infer properties of ASL: investigating ASL users' judgments about signs in ASL. We can ask users of ASL questions such as the following:
(1) Is initialized sign for driving an acceptable sign in ASL?
(2) Does this initialized sign for driving have the same meaning as sign DRIVE?
(3) In the initialized sign driving, can it refer to the sign DRIVE?
We might present (1), (2) and (3) to some native users of ASL and ask them to judge the two signs--initialized sign for driving and sign DRIVE--for acceptability. In response, they would undoubtedly say that the initialized sign is grammatically unacceptable but the sign DRIVE is perfectly grammatical, and we can learn from them. For example, the initialized sign for driving cannot be internally modified if the user of ASL is talking about commute-driving.
To summarize, ASL is very challenging. ASL linguistics is the study of psychological system of ASL; that is, of the unconscious knowledge or lexicon that lies behind the ability to use ASL.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
What Does It Mean To Be Hearing?
A vlog discussion: Carl Schroeder questions what the sign HEARING means exactly.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Five Different Types of ASL Stories
A vlog discussion: Carl Schroeder uses Stevens' Patterns of Nature theory to identify five different types of ASL stories.
Stories Told in American Sign Language
In the Deaf community, we tell stories in American Sign Language (ASL). We tell stories about ourselves as people who happen to be DEAF (so glossed in all caps, to avoid the inaccuracies of translation). What do our stories really do? Through our stories, what are we actually revealing to and hiding from the audience?
The Nature of ASL
ASL is a vision-oriented language that evinces independent compositions of linguistic, mental constituents connected in sequence. Peter S. Stevens writes in his book, Patterns in Nature, that there are a few general types of patterns in nature that connect elements in sequences and he names the types: "linear," "meandering," "spiral," "branching," and "explosive." The dynamic nature of ASL stories requires a spherical construction (which also includes various sequential structures).
Linear Story
A linear story told in ASL typically implies a historical or "biological" account of events, as related in the story. For example, in telling the story of the establishment of Deaf education in the United States, the story is linear, focusing first on the American School for the Deaf in Hartford that was started by The Reverend Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and his Deaf counterpart, Laurent Clerc, who came from the Paris school for the Deaf. The audience also witnesses the history of how Deaf education evolved, starting from the Hartford school, then focusing on the establishment of the National Deaf-Mute College (now Gallaudet University), and how this leads even to modern groups and movements such as the Deaf Bilingual Coalition (DBC) and Audism Free America (AFA).
Meandering Story
The meandering story told in ASL is so winding that it is without apparent direction. In nature, "meandering" can be seen in the way vines grow in changing directions. One meandering-type story relates the events of the 1988 Deaf President Now demonstration at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., that is best expressed in exclusive ASL. Any user of ASL will cite how the participation of the Dean of Academic Affairs, Irving King Jordan, took a meandering form, swinging between supporting the university board to the student protesters, and then later, over the years, back toward the audist (being “hearing” is better than being deaf) establishment. Thus, the leadership and direction of this institution of higher learning for the Deaf meandered in a haphazard way. Jordan's meandering inclinations became starkly evident in 2006 when, after 18 years in office, another campus protest occurred, this time over the issue of his support for the person initially chosen as President-elect, Jane Fernandes.
Spiral Story
The spiral story type in ASL can be seen as a linguistic construct that circles inward to the center along a "path." For example, educators of the audist establishment within Deaf education (which was dominant from circa 1900 to 2006 and is now rapidly losing influence) typically favor the spiral form, wherein a curriculum continually refers back and returns to a single goal, in this case, the attempted acquisition of spoken and written English to the exclusion of ASL. This spiral form became progressively (in the negative sense) embedded at deeper and deeper levels in the curriculum by creating bastardized forms of signing. Deaf education between 1900 and 2006 (not including the laudable bilingual-bicultural educational movement) lacked a supportive philosophy that entailed ASL as a full-fledged language, while hyping what can be called "parental modes of communication" that are neither ASL nor English. (Lipreading is an artificial skill, not a natural form of language.)
Branching Story
The branching story type in ASL includes is an extended form wherein a few central points are presented, which are then split into smaller parts or sub-points. The DVD Audism Unveiled, published by Dawn Sign Press, is an example of a branching story which conveys various incidents of Deaf people's experiences in the larger society in much detail, in stages, as each topic and point is explored.
Explosive Story
The explosive story told in ASL entails multiple paths which extend outward simultaneously. For example, DeafVideo (www.deafvideo.tv) includes a number of elements that cannot be shown all at once. It has to be done with the technique of the crosscut to give the appearance of simultaneity to imply a comparative explanation for what is happening in the Deaf community.
Conclusion
There are hundreds of thousands of stories told in ASL. Together, these stories relate the subject experiences with extremely rich inferential structures, imagery and the qualitative “feel” of ASL. Steven’s theory of storytelling patterns gives us an account of how stories can be understood and appreciated in various patterns. Some ASL storytelling artists sometimes can dispense with stories, but most users of ASL cannot. Stories told in ASL remain the core of Deaf culture that has sustained many an important career in ASL.
Work Cited
Stevens, P.S., Patterns in Nature. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974, pp 38-48.
The Nature of ASL
ASL is a vision-oriented language that evinces independent compositions of linguistic, mental constituents connected in sequence. Peter S. Stevens writes in his book, Patterns in Nature, that there are a few general types of patterns in nature that connect elements in sequences and he names the types: "linear," "meandering," "spiral," "branching," and "explosive." The dynamic nature of ASL stories requires a spherical construction (which also includes various sequential structures).
Linear Story
A linear story told in ASL typically implies a historical or "biological" account of events, as related in the story. For example, in telling the story of the establishment of Deaf education in the United States, the story is linear, focusing first on the American School for the Deaf in Hartford that was started by The Reverend Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and his Deaf counterpart, Laurent Clerc, who came from the Paris school for the Deaf. The audience also witnesses the history of how Deaf education evolved, starting from the Hartford school, then focusing on the establishment of the National Deaf-Mute College (now Gallaudet University), and how this leads even to modern groups and movements such as the Deaf Bilingual Coalition (DBC) and Audism Free America (AFA).
Meandering Story
The meandering story told in ASL is so winding that it is without apparent direction. In nature, "meandering" can be seen in the way vines grow in changing directions. One meandering-type story relates the events of the 1988 Deaf President Now demonstration at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., that is best expressed in exclusive ASL. Any user of ASL will cite how the participation of the Dean of Academic Affairs, Irving King Jordan, took a meandering form, swinging between supporting the university board to the student protesters, and then later, over the years, back toward the audist (being “hearing” is better than being deaf) establishment. Thus, the leadership and direction of this institution of higher learning for the Deaf meandered in a haphazard way. Jordan's meandering inclinations became starkly evident in 2006 when, after 18 years in office, another campus protest occurred, this time over the issue of his support for the person initially chosen as President-elect, Jane Fernandes.
Spiral Story
The spiral story type in ASL can be seen as a linguistic construct that circles inward to the center along a "path." For example, educators of the audist establishment within Deaf education (which was dominant from circa 1900 to 2006 and is now rapidly losing influence) typically favor the spiral form, wherein a curriculum continually refers back and returns to a single goal, in this case, the attempted acquisition of spoken and written English to the exclusion of ASL. This spiral form became progressively (in the negative sense) embedded at deeper and deeper levels in the curriculum by creating bastardized forms of signing. Deaf education between 1900 and 2006 (not including the laudable bilingual-bicultural educational movement) lacked a supportive philosophy that entailed ASL as a full-fledged language, while hyping what can be called "parental modes of communication" that are neither ASL nor English. (Lipreading is an artificial skill, not a natural form of language.)
Branching Story
The branching story type in ASL includes is an extended form wherein a few central points are presented, which are then split into smaller parts or sub-points. The DVD Audism Unveiled, published by Dawn Sign Press, is an example of a branching story which conveys various incidents of Deaf people's experiences in the larger society in much detail, in stages, as each topic and point is explored.
Explosive Story
The explosive story told in ASL entails multiple paths which extend outward simultaneously. For example, DeafVideo (www.deafvideo.tv) includes a number of elements that cannot be shown all at once. It has to be done with the technique of the crosscut to give the appearance of simultaneity to imply a comparative explanation for what is happening in the Deaf community.
Conclusion
There are hundreds of thousands of stories told in ASL. Together, these stories relate the subject experiences with extremely rich inferential structures, imagery and the qualitative “feel” of ASL. Steven’s theory of storytelling patterns gives us an account of how stories can be understood and appreciated in various patterns. Some ASL storytelling artists sometimes can dispense with stories, but most users of ASL cannot. Stories told in ASL remain the core of Deaf culture that has sustained many an important career in ASL.
Work Cited
Stevens, P.S., Patterns in Nature. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974, pp 38-48.
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