Chapter 7 :)

For Hearing People Only-  Chapter 7 

Before reading chapter 7 I did not realize that glossing was not simply written ASL. When I am confused or don't know a sign, I go to the internet to see a video for clarification. I have never used an ASL dictionary, but I have gone to my course workbook for reference on certain signs and it was difficult for me to understand what the signs were supposed to look like in 3 dimensional form. Learning the grammar for ASL I think would be even more difficult from a dictionary, because it would be hard to depict sentences through pictures of people signing and there is no true way to "write" ASL. I think that the closest way of writing ASL however is through Glossing.
While I don't find the ASL dictionary to be very helpful, in 1965 when Dr. Stokoe published the book, I am sure it was a remarkable accomplishment. The first ASL dictionary was not Dr. Stokoe's only great accomplishment, he also devised the 5 parameters of Sign Language which we are still learning today (HOLMS). The concept of HOLMS, in my opinion helps explain signs better than a dictionary could.