Letters to the Editor

Comments, Questions, and Answers at the Sign Language Programs at Gallaudet College; it had no date; there was no reference to how the information had been gathered; it was received by me indirectly and it did not even deal with ASL, but rather "manual communication ." The list did not mention even one of the 11 institutions in North Carolina. The editor apologizes for highly unprofessional reporting. Data from Dr. Shroyer's study are available in A Decade of Interpreting Awareness, in a Century of Deaf Awareness published by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, 814 Thayer Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910. The Communication Skills Program at the National Association of the Deaf, also 814 Thayer Ave. as above, has recently completed a survey of some 460 colleges and universities on this same topic. The survey will be published in the Proceedings of the 1980 National Symposium on Sign Language Research and Teaching , probably off the press some time around April 1981. COMMENT—The extent of instruction in manual communication offered to the public may be somewhat understated when it merely numbers those institutions offering such instruction . For example, Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland is one which has classes in sign langauge, but the interesting fact is that the college has 17 sections of its classes, mostly in those for beginners but there are classes in intermediate and advanced sign language. With a limit of 15 students per section , an estimate of the number taking these courses must be something around 200 students . One possible contact person might be Mr. Frank Peters, Department of English, University of Trondheim, College of Arts and Science, N-7055 Dragroll/Norway. Bruce F. Godsave SUC Geneseo, NY REPLY—I agree with Mr. Godsave that American researchers are often unaware of captioning research being done in other countries. This is a deplorable situation, and I strongly encourage better international communication. On the other hand, Mr. Godsave implies that researchers in other countries have already finished investigating the captioning topics American researchers are currently working on. This is not true. Perhaps a reasonable assessment of the situation is that while Europe has had broader experience in captioning for purposes of translating from one language to another, the United States has done far more in the area of captioning research and services for the deaf. Carl Jensema, Ph.D. Director of Research National Captioning Institute COMMENT—The second national conference on creative arts for the handicapped will be held at Texas Women's University, Denton, on April 2-4, 1981. A feature of the conference will be a performance by the American Deaf Dance Company (of SPECTRUM—Focus on Deaf Artists ), which will be in residence at the university during the conference. All conference sessions will be interpreted into sign language. Claudine Sherrill Texas Women's University COMMENT—I am surprised, each time I read research on captioning, to find most bibliographies void of any references of captioning from European, British and Scandanavian researchers . These countries have been concerned with captioning, translation, readibility , and such matters since the advent of film. They have evaluated the placement of captions, translation/interpretation limitations, rate of presentation, viewer characteristics, and many of the other variables the American researchers are presently manipulating. I would hope future research works would include a review of relevant foreign literature. Letters to the Editor To the Editor: I wish to commend Becky Reimer for her article describing an "eclectic" approach to utilizing signing and fingerspelling in educational settings. ("A Viable Classroom Model for Using Various Communication Modes," American Annals of the Deaf, 1979,124, 838-846). Especially commendable is her willingness to use both sign and oral communication in a A.A.O. I February 1981 Letters to the Editor manner that considers both educational goals and the skills and needs of each student. Ms. Reimer suggests that "meaning based manual communication systems (among which she includes American Sign Language) primarily be used: (a) for initial development of language skills; (b) when the material is extremely complex; (c) for rapid presentation activities such as guest speakers and school assemblies; and (d) when the purpose of the setting is for pure transmittal of meaning." I...