A Comprehensive Bibliography on American Sign Language (review)

Reviews note "the different types of oralism" represented in the symposium and suggested research be done on the various systems. In the end, oral education was defined as "an educational system in which education (teaching) is conducted exclusively through spoken and written language" (p. 535). Thus, the participants do not define themselves by what they support but rather by what they oppose—any form of manual communication. Clearly, they represent a small minority of educators of the deaf. Of even more significance, they represent a minority of oral educators of the deaf. Donald F. Moores, Ph.D. Director Center for Studies in Education and Human Development Research Institute Gallaudet College Washington, D.C. 20002 A Comprehensive Bibliography on American Sign Language, Tom Federlin, xi and 84 pp., $4.95, Published by author, N.Y., 1979. Because this reviewer wrote a general Foreword to the Federlin bibliography without having access to more than one of its sections, the review, despite its negative cast, deserves to be read as an extension of the Foreword. The title is inaccurate; listings are far from comprehensive and they deal with manual communication , pedagogy, and "general" matters as well as ASL. The index is annoyingly inaccurate; 8 out of 12 index entries selected at random gave the wrong page for the item indexed. False duplication (the same item as manuscript and as published is given two listings), errors in abbreviating and expanding (CAL, Center for Applied Linguistics appears as California!), errors in spelling names (Aaronson in the index is spelled Arnason in the body), errors in journal names, errors in page, volume, edition numbering, and dating—all these errors and more make the bibliography as a whole untrustworthy . It is difficult to think of a use for a bibliography that must be checked on every point. But there is also a doubt about the method of compilation. Certain omissions and inclusions in the items listed support the supposition that Federlin's book utilized a computer data base now containing references to more than 900 documents but that this was used made without knowledge of its nature and purpose. (Those who wish to consult this LING-data base, which can be searched for author, title, and subject and also scanned to see what documents, if any, combine subjects (e.g., acquisition AND signing) can inquire of James Bourg at the Gallaudet College Library or William Stokoe at the Gallaudet College Linguistics Research Laboratory [LRL].) This computer data base is actually a supplement to standard works on the shelves of the LRL library and so omits these—unfortunately the unauthorized user of the data base has no way to discover this important omission. So to inaccuracy this book adds omission of works of major importance. I cannot recommend it for any purpose. William Stokoe, Ph.D. Linguistics Research Lab Gallaudet College Washington, D.C. 20002 A.A.D. I June 1982 319 ...