Interpreter’s Resource Shelf (appeared in RID VIEWS January, 2008, reprinted with permission)
Kathy MacMillan, NIC, M.L.S.
This latest entry in the Effective Interpreting Series inaugurates its line of American Sign Language skills development materials. Like the excellent English skills set that precedes it, the ASL materials are designed to help students build intralingual competency in ASL before focusing on interlingual skills. The Teacher’s Set contains everything in the Study Set, along with detailed suggestions for classroom use of the materials and guidelines for assessment. We all know that learning to sign does not guarantee comprehension, and Patrie has assembled a line-up of practical materials that focus on solid strategies for receptive and expressive skill enhancement. Topics include discourse paraphrasing, distinguishing main from supporting ideas, differences in form and meaning, lexical substitution, and summarization. The accompanying DVD contains source texts presented in ASL, and students are encouraged to compose their responses in ASL to maintain the focus on intralingual processing. Also to that end, the book presents screen captures instead of glosses whenever possible. The series will eventually have 5 ASL volumes to match the English series: ASL Skills Development, Cognitive Processing Skills in ASL, Translating from ASL, Consecutive Interpreting from ASL, and Simultaneous Interpreting from ASL. With a great grounding in theory, a step-by-step plan for skill development, and a slew of practical, hands-on exercises and materials, this set is ideal for classroom use or self-study, especially for interpreters in the “gap” between formal schooling and real-world experience.
ASL Skills Development, Teacher’s Set on DVD by Carol J. Patrie. DawnSignPress, 2007. ISBN 1-58121-107-4. $84.95.
ASL Skills Development, Study Set on DVD by Carol J. Patrie. DawnSignPress, 2007. ISBN 1-58121-108-2. $64.95.
This column appears monthly in VIEWS. Please direct questions, comments, or suggestions for resources to highlight in future issues to Kathy MacMillan at info@kathymacmillan.com.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Talking Hands: A Review
Interpreter’s Resource Shelf (appeared in RID VIEWS February, 2008, reprinted with permission)
Kathy MacMillan, NIC, M.L.S.
Talking Hands: What Sign Language Reveals About the Mind by Margalit Fox. NY: Simon and Schuster, 2007. ISBN 0-7432-4712-4. $27.00.
Journalist Margalit Fox applies her own background in linguistics to this fascinating, incisive, and highly readable journey into the heart of a young sign language. In the summer of 2003, Fox joined researchers Drs. Wendy Sandler, Irit Meir, Carol Padden, and Mark Aronoff for a trip to the Israeli village of Al-Sayyid; the book recounts the trip in chapters alternating with background information on sign and spoken language linguistics. The Bedouin community of Al-Sayyid is significant to linguists because, in the space of three generations, a fully formed sign language has arisen there. As in our own Martha's Vineyard, an isolated location, copious intermarriage (in the polygamous Bedouin society, first cousins often marry), and a high incidence of genetic deafness have combined to create a community where deaf and hearing alike use the indigenous sign language every day. Fox presents a fascinating account of the team's attempts to document and analyze Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language, but also examines what their research means to the larger scientific community. The chance to study such a young language allows cognitive scientists to explore how the human brain processes and creates language. Fox has pulled off quite an achievement, creating a book that synthesizes new information with previous research so smoothly that students of sign language linguistics won't become bored with the background information, and general readers will have enough context to understand the importance of the team's work. Fox combines the mind of a scholar with the eye of a journalist, bringing the village of Al-Sayyid to shimmering life in the reader's mind.
This column appears monthly in VIEWS. For questions, comments, or suggestions for materials to review in future issues, please contact Kathy MacMillan at info@kathymacmillan.com.
Kathy MacMillan, NIC, M.L.S.
Talking Hands: What Sign Language Reveals About the Mind by Margalit Fox. NY: Simon and Schuster, 2007. ISBN 0-7432-4712-4. $27.00.
Journalist Margalit Fox applies her own background in linguistics to this fascinating, incisive, and highly readable journey into the heart of a young sign language. In the summer of 2003, Fox joined researchers Drs. Wendy Sandler, Irit Meir, Carol Padden, and Mark Aronoff for a trip to the Israeli village of Al-Sayyid; the book recounts the trip in chapters alternating with background information on sign and spoken language linguistics. The Bedouin community of Al-Sayyid is significant to linguists because, in the space of three generations, a fully formed sign language has arisen there. As in our own Martha's Vineyard, an isolated location, copious intermarriage (in the polygamous Bedouin society, first cousins often marry), and a high incidence of genetic deafness have combined to create a community where deaf and hearing alike use the indigenous sign language every day. Fox presents a fascinating account of the team's attempts to document and analyze Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language, but also examines what their research means to the larger scientific community. The chance to study such a young language allows cognitive scientists to explore how the human brain processes and creates language. Fox has pulled off quite an achievement, creating a book that synthesizes new information with previous research so smoothly that students of sign language linguistics won't become bored with the background information, and general readers will have enough context to understand the importance of the team's work. Fox combines the mind of a scholar with the eye of a journalist, bringing the village of Al-Sayyid to shimmering life in the reader's mind.
This column appears monthly in VIEWS. For questions, comments, or suggestions for materials to review in future issues, please contact Kathy MacMillan at info@kathymacmillan.com.
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