A Research Paper on American Sign Language

Examples/Details/Anecdotal Evidence: In American Sign Language words are more fluent and recognizable than words in Standard English Sign Language. Words are short responded and make more sense than Standard English Sign Language where every word has their own sign word for word.

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was a hearing minister that designed American Sign Language, which is the first language used by deaf and hearing people in the United States and Canada. Two thousand hundred million people are using ASL, and at least five thousand hundred people are using it as their most important way of communication. Throughout a period, Deaf people in America were already using sign language, in the early 1800’s; Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet had become friends with a young Deaf girl named Alice. Gallaudet started to teach the girl a few words, and succeeded at doing so. In 1815, Gallaudet went to Europe in search of methods of teaching the Deaf. He approached a number of program directors, the signs used at the school for the deaf, and the signs began to develop into American Sign Language. American Sign Language in America also has

Sign language is one most common ways for deaf individuals to communicate without using of their voices. Different cultures and languages will typically have their own version of sign language so signs are not always universal, just like gestures are not universal. Signs are culturally bound in communication just like verbal languages and gestures are culturally bound. I will examine the history of American Sign Language, as well as how it has been viewed culturally with positive and negative social implications in the U.S.

Throughout high school, the number one thing I looked forward to everyday was American Sign Language class. There, I was taught not only just the receptive and expressive aspects of the language but also the culture behind it, and the people who made it to be what it is today. Learning about lots of the challenges and discrimination that many deaf and deaf blind people have faced and continue to face almost on a daily basis opened my eyes to issues and abilities of people that I otherwise would have never known about.

In learning about the deaf culture I have taken on a new understanding about the people it includes. Through readings and the lessons, I have learned that being deaf has both its hardships and its blessings. The beauty of the language alone makes one want to learn all that he or she can about it. In this paper I will discuss the beauty of the language and the misconceptions the hearing world has about deafness.

Getting parents involved is essential to supporting the development of a child with hearing loss. Counselling parents on the type and degree of hearing loss their child has and the effects of hearing loss is important. It is important to not focus solely on what the child cannot hear but also what the child can hear. Parents will need a lot of support in the beginning and it is my job as an audiologist to provide information and my professional advice. The goal is to help parents make the choices that are right for them and create positive outcomes for the child. It is necessary for parents to understand the benefit of amplification or intervention services so that everyone involved is working towards a common goal. Parents should also be knowledgeable of the services available to them and be prepared to advocate for their child. The school system provides supports for children with hearing loss and parents need to know how to obtain the services for their child. The audiologist can act as a resource for parents at any point as the child develops there will be new challenges. There is a partnership between the parent and the audiologist based on trust and a mutual understanding to provide the best care for the

An average of 90% of all babies born deaf or with some type of hearing loss are born to hearing parents. Deafness can be caused by a variety of things both genetic and environmental. Upon learning their child is deaf, most hearing families try to find ways to fix what they feel is a defect. However, deaf families rejoice in their child's deafness because now they have another person to strengthen the deaf community and carry on the American Deaf culture.

As part of daily life, we communicate and connect ourselves with certain communities. School, jobs, families, sports, extracurricular activities, and many other communities are just a few we come into contact with. Although these may seem to appear the same, there are specific types of communities such as a discourse community. A discourse community is a group of people involved in and communicating about a particular topic, issue, or in a particular field (Webcourses, N.d, Website) that has a share a common set of goals and attempt to achieve these goals (Swales, 1990). According to researcher and educator, John Swales, there are six characteristics that define whether or not a community is considered a discourse community. Following the criteria Swales states is necessary to be a discourse community, I did an in depth research on the American Sign Language community. Through my study, I was able to meet all six characteristics.

Many people are asked what they would do if they had a baby with a hearing problem or a baby with a disease or sickness. When a baby is born there are many things that go through their parents mind. Unlike everyone else I can’t make the decision until I have come across something related to the result of having a deaf child. In many essays that I have read they have talked about the benefits of a deaf child getting an implant early in life and how much they will exceed.

The American Medical Association, which happens to be the largest association of physicians, stated, “The main concern of the cochlear implant supporters is for the deaf child to have access to the mainstream, or ‘normal’ hearing world”. In fact, the AMA continues to state that the benefits from a cochlear implantation ranges from a person being able to detect sounds to understanding lip reading. It’s understandable how important it is for hearing parents to be able to communicate with their deaf child because being deaf is a communication barrier. Hearing parents would be giving their deaf child unlimited opportunities throughout their life to achieve equal amounts of success as the next hearing person. However, trying to normalize a child against can be increasingly more harmful to the child’s physical, mental, and intellectual stability. Rather than helping, most parents in these cases can cause their child to be less accepting and comfortable about being deaf instead of demonstrating to them that being deaf does not mean you can not have a normal life. Besides hearing parents can find a way to close the communication barrier with their child by learning sign

The school I did my observation at was Bloomfield Hills High school for the American Sign Language class. The reason I have been tasked with observing an American Sign Language class is because that is my goal as a future educator, to teach American Sign Language from K to 12. I also would like to be able to educate the deaf students from K to 12, but that’s for another program, Deaf Education master’s program, in the future. I had four classes to observe, from 9th grade to 12th grade students for ASL (American Sign Language) classes. They were mostly white, some African American, and smaller number of other races such as Middle Eastern and Asian. Many of the students had special needs, the most common one would have to be ADD and ADHD, a few were hearing impaired, and I had one who was autistic. The average number I had for each class about 18 to 20 students. Now to discuss about my meaningful experiences, strengths and weaknesses of both my cooperating teacher and myself, my professional goals, and finally my reaction to the field experience.

American sign language can be a really fun language to learn. But behind the language there is an entire culture with the Deaf community. They have events, their own traditions, and most importantly, rules. What may be polite in our culture may not be in the Deaf community. That’s why I’m here to help you out with some of the do’s and don’ts in Deaf culture.

American Sign Language is the interesting, logical, and fun to learn. ASL is the fourth most-used languages in the United States. ASL is used for hearing people to get the messages across to Deaf people and Deaf community. Deaf people use American Sign Language to communicate with their friends, family or their loved one who is deaf. Now parents are teaching their babies to learn ASL. The American Sign Language gives children, their confidence, and self-esteem in their lives. Deaf Community vs. Hard of hearing is a different point of view, and their impact was to have opportunities to have new friendships, connection to other people in the hard-of-hearing community and to be able to talk with hard of hearing people easier.

If I were to have a theoretical deaf child I would look into all aspects to give the child equal opportunities to bridge the gap between the deaf and the hearing world so they can fluently interact with both worlds. I would do this by giving them a Cochlear Implant, enroll them into a English and ASL teaching school, and constant practice with speaking and signing at home to try and make their life better.

-Pidgin Sign Language: Pidgin Sign Language falls on the line between American Sign Language and English Sign Language. Pidgin Sign Language, while it does not have set rules, mostly follows the grammar of ASL rather than following the grammar of English Sign Language. Basically, PSL is where a person will transition from English to ASL, but has not fully transitioned into ASL. During this transition, people will often include English idioms into their signing. A personal example of a “Pidgin” language would be the Hearing language Hawaiian. People, mostly Hawaiians, have merged the Hawaiian language and the English language into a Pidgin language.