William Stokoe Jr

In 1955 Stokoe, a linguist, became fascinated with American Sign Language, the language of the deaf, when he went to teach English at Washington DC's Gallaudet University. At the time, deaf students were expected to learn from writing and lip reading. Long thought to be simple gestures that mimicked spoken English, when Stokoe watched students communicate among themselves by signing he realized ASL was a language unto itself, with its own vocabulary and grammar. In 1960, his book Sign Language Structure was published, and four years later he co-wrote A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles. These new scholarly studies gave ASL new respect, and ended its banishment in schools for the deaf. Stokoe died April 4 at home in Chevy Chase, Md. He was 80. From This is True for 9 April 2000 Suggestions for further reading: Learning American Sign Language: Levels I & II--Beginning & Intermediate (2nd... by Tom L. Humphries, Carol A. Padden Amazon Price: $41.20 Customer Review: Top rate learning aid! This is a regional teaching/learning aid. The schools for the Deaf in the Pacific-NW area use this book/DVD and the Bravo series. The grade schools, high schools, colleges and universities use this book...   Signing Naturally: Student Workbook Level 1 by Ken Mikos, Cheri Smith, Ella Mae Lentz Amazon Price: Customer Review: I bought the book as a reference for a ASL class and while it is good for the basics it can be pretty vague without a teacher to clarify. A lot of the signs are undefined and given very ambiguous general labels like "Responses" or "Verbs". The book d...   Basic Course in American Sign Language by Tom Humphries, Carol Padden, Terrence J. O'Rourke Amazon Price: $25.05 Customer Review: I have used this book several times and find it very helpful. Some signs are old, but it continues to be effective to learn ASL and grammar.   For Hearing People Only by Matthew S. Moore, Linda Levitan Amazon Price: Customer Review: This book showed up in time for my class. It was in great condition just as it was listed to be.   Teach Your Baby to Sign: An Illustrated Guide to Simple Sign Language for Babies by Monica Beyer Amazon Price: $12.21 Customer Review: I bought this book about a month ago and have chosen a few basic signs to start using with my 7 month old. She's not to where she can sign back yet, but this book has provided me with some great signs to get started with. Because some words can hav...   Newsfeed display by CaRP

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