Essay About Dennis Galvan And Kozol Presentation Combines Wit

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Gesture as a Mediating Factor in Speech
and Sign Language Storytelling
By: Talibah E. Buchanan*
There are many hearing individuals who do not
know sign language but move their hands when
speaking. Chances are these people would have a hard
time telling the same story if asked not to use their hands.
Additionally, the story told without the assistance of
gesture would likely seem lackluster by comparison. The
question becomes, to what degree is gesture an integral
part of effective storytelling and how much does it add
to the complexity and richness of a story? How does
the gesture used in oral storytelling compare to that
used in American Sign Language (ASL) storytelling? If
gesture is taken into consideration, will the complexity of
information conveyed be equivalent between languages?
These are questions that Drs. Sarah Taub, Dennis Galvan,
and Pilar PiД±ar sought to answer in their recent study
on the contribution of hand and body movements to the
complexity and depth of ASL, English, and Spanish
storytelling (Taub, Galvan, & PiД±ar, 2004).
Dennis Galvan Pilar PiД±ar Sarah Taub
Psychology Foreign Languages Linguistics
Forming Questions
The inspiration to explore the above questions
grew from the .ndings of Galvan and Taubs previous
study (2004) in which they compared narratives by
native ASL and English users. Results from this study
indicated that when compared with English users, ASL
signers consistently incorporated much more conceptual
A Publication of the Gallaudet Research Institute at Gallaudet University Spring 2005
Kozol Presentation Combines Wit,
Wisdom, Outrage, and Compassion**
By Robert C. Johnson
Jonathan Kozol, author of such
books as Death at an Early Age
and Savage Inequalities, gave a
presentation at Gallaudet on March
30 called “Shame of the Nation: Resegregation,
Inequality, and Over-
Testing in Public Education.” The
talk was sponsored by the Gallaudet
Research Institute as part of its
Schaefer Distinguished Lecture Series.
In addition to the presentation, Kozol participated in
several other sessions with Gallaudet faculty and students
in which he reported learning a great deal about deaf
students and their educational needs. He said he was
particularly intrigued to learn from Gallaudet Department
of Education faculty and studentsЖdeaf and hearingЖ
that the statement “separate is never equal” does not
necessarily apply to deaf students, many of whom thrive
in education programs outside the mainstream. Kozol said
his focus has not been on separate programs that are well
designed and effectively meeting students needs. His
concern is that current governmental and socioeconomic
factors in America are depriving many students of quality
educational experiences because of “racial apartheid”
which is forcing too many minority children to stay
in inferior learning environments. During a question
and answer session with Kozol, Dr. Barbara Gerner de
Garcia, a faculty member in Gallaudets Department
of Educational Foundations and Research, pointed out
that many of Kozols concerns do indeed apply to deaf
children. Over forty percent of deaf children are from
minority populations, Gerner de Garcia said, and many of
these are living in disadvantaged communities.
When one audience member asked Kozol what effect
his books have had on U.S. educational policy, he said
* Talibah E. Buchanan, a .fth year doctoral student in the Clinical
Psychology program, is the 2004-2005 Walter G. Ross Graduate Fellow.
She can be contacted at [email protected]
** An abbreviated version of this article appeared in the April, 15 issue
of On the Green, a Gallaudet publication.
Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 3
Jonathan Kozol
2 Research at Gallaudet Spring 2005
“None. Many people, including teachers, parents, and civil
rights groups have gotten insight and comfort from my
books, which for