Dispute between Sign Language and Pure Speech Method in the Education of the Deaf and Dumb in the Early Showa Era

Research Project

Project/Area Number	07610293
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	Educaion
Research Institution	Nayoro City College
Principal Investigator	SEINO Shigeru Nayoro City College, Professor, 教授 (50128865)
Project Period (FY)	1995 – 1996
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 1996)
Budget Amount *help	¥1,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000) Fiscal Year 1996: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000) Fiscal Year 1995: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Keywords	dispute between singn language and pure speech method / Osaka City School for the Deaf and Dumb / ORA system / Takahashi, Kiyoshi / Kawamoto Unosuke / pure speech method / 手話・口話論争
Research Abstract	This study shows the actual state of the combined method in Osaka City School for the Deaf and Dumb (ORA system). Criticism of the school by Kawamoto and members in the main stream of deaf education and the arguments and practice of sign language preservation group against those opinion will be discussed. The following is an outline of the report of research results. ・History before the dispute between the sign language group and the pure speech method group : This study shows what Kawamoto, who lead the spread of pure speech method, claimed and how he behaved in his position within the world of education. ・What is pure speech method? : My study shows how the pure speech method was defined in the early Showa Period. ・The first dispute : This shows what I think to be the first dispute between Kawamoto and Takahashi in the general meeting of the National Society of Education for the Deaf and Dumb. ・Practices of the Osaka City School for the Deaf and Dumb : This study outlines the history of OCSDD from its establishment to the installment of Takahshi as president, including a description of his history and character and introducing, with a list of their papers, the school's teacher group made to protect sign language. ・System of ORA and criticism by Kawamoto : This study shows, with documents and pictures of the school, what the ORA system of OCSDD was, making clear the character of the school which respected the subjectivity of the students and accepted their disability. It introduces criticism by Kawamoto of the ORA system and presents documents looking back at the situation of a school promoting the pure speech method at that time. ・The teaching staff of OCSDD : Using 'Yearbook of the Deaf and Dumb' (1935) characteristics of the teaching stuff, such as the facts that over 1/3 of the stuff were deaf and dumb and that few teachers graduated from teacher's traning school, are discussed.