Accepting American Sign Language In The Classroom

Most people often ask if it is appropriate to call ASL a foreign language. The question of whether ASL is "foreign" depends on what we mean by foreign. ASL is not universal; it is indigenous to the United States and some parts of Canada. According to Sherman, this should not exclude it from it been studied as a foreign language. "The question also arises with other languages indigenous to North America. An example is that, at the University of New Mexico, Navajo is taught and accepted in fulfillment of the foreign language requirement, yet it is not used in a foreign country. One of the educational benefits of foreign language study is that it gives students a fresh perspective on their own language and culture."(Wilcox 1999) This is especially true of ASL. Others may note that foreign language courses teach students about the culture of the group of people who use the language. They may wonder if there is a full and distinct culture associated with users of ASL. Applying linguistic and historical methods of studying ASL and Deaf culture is a great way to intellectually train students. It leaves them with a better understanding of Deaf culture, language, and customs, as well as make them understand their own language and

I have always had a desire to teach, which I believe is defined as sharing knowledge from one's learning or experience with another. I was not sure my calling would be as a teacher, but I have often been told I would be a good teacher. My calling I believe is as a Sign Language Interpreter, but after completing my BA degree in ASL-English Interpretation in K-12 emphasis, I found a desire to teach Interpreters in Education, so that Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing children will benefit from more highly qualified interpreters. The desire led me pursue these courses so I can follow my desire but teaching on-line instead of in a classroom. However, currently I find myself teaching ASL as a stepping stone, which I find is helping my develop my philosophy

In the video “Through your child eyes”, talks about how younger children learns through their senses and language. They mostly learn through the eyes, which is why sign language is important because they learn better through hand movements. Also in the video, parents talk about how they opened a “door” between their child and them, with the “key” being ASL. In addition to kids learning ASL, it also helps their knowledge and brain grow. Besides talking about how ASL impacts young children, it also talked about how ASL can help families communicate better. As well as ASL helping families come closer, it helps kids to think better, do harder things and understand others on a higher level. The children who learn sign language not alone improve

Deaf children are entitled to know that they are heirs to an amazing culture, not a pitiful defect. In order to follow through on that obligation, one of the best things I feel we can do is try to educate other hearing people about the realities of American Sign Language and Deaf culture. Language is one of the most critical aspects of most cultures, and one which sets deafness aside from other defects such as blindness, physical disability, or illness. Sign language is not universal, nor does it always correspond to the spoken language in the same country. For example American Sign Language is native to the United States and Canada. Deaf Canadians might use English, French, or both as a written language. But deaf people in Great Britain, while they may write in English, use a completely different sign language. (nad.org)

Some pupils with a significant loss communicate through sign language such as  British Sign Language (BSL) instead of, or as well as, speech.

ASL is more than a language; it is a miracle. I find myself often perplexed by the difficulty that must have come with making a language solely from hands. It is amazing that there was a nationwide speaking of the hands for the deaf community and anyone who is interested to learn can join in easily, but only if they can hoop over some of the languages major challenges. In the article “Why is Learning American Sign Language a Challenge?” by Professor Mike Kent, he discusses the top 5 ASL challenges he has come across.

More colleges are starting to offer more ASL courses. In many colleges, American Sign Language classes have a waiting list because of the amount of students interested in learning the language. Most languages, such as Spanish, French, and German, increased normally between 2006 and 2009, but American Sign Language classes have increased by 16% in those three years (Lewin). This shows the amount of students interested in taking the class is more than the other languages that are counted as a foreign language, yet schools still do not offer Sign Language in lower education schools and high schools as an elective or a foreign language. Sign Language has become the fourth most popular language in colleges. There is a high interest rate for American Sign Language courses among students, therefore if it was offered in high schools or lower education schools, the students would take it.

To graduate from a college in the United States of America, the general standard of foreign language requirements is either two consecutive years in high school, or six college credits. Most high schools only offer a few options, usually Spanish, French, or German, but most colleges offer ASL as well. When a college student signs up for ASL, they are enlisting in an American Sign Language course, not an English course; to some this may seem redundant, but they are wrong. ASL, is a separate language from American English, British English, and BSL. David M. Perlmutter describes that signing can’t be translated word for word into English because, “a single ASL sign can express an entire sentence that requires three words or more in English”. (Perlmutter, 2) When people are communicating through ASL, they are using hand motions, as well as other body movements.

While researching the Gallaudet website for why no voice or interpreters are allowed in classrooms I can only assume that this is due to creating a culture and not just an atmosphere. American sign language is not just language but it is a lifestyle with acceptance of what the outside world refers to as a disability within the community it is just life. My thoughts are that when I go into your community it is a sign of disrespect to speak using sign language is the preferred language and the one most commonly used and this is where the concept of when in Rome do as the Romans

Our bodies are instruments; they can be tuned and strummed to express different moods and emotions. In many ways, sign language is just like that, notes and bases. In my family, sign language is a vital aspect of our culture. For my family sign language brings us a unique identity that we live by. Sign language is the glue that unifies our family.

However, Opposing views believe that American Sign Language and certain other languages are already used enough throughout culture. There are not as many people in the world who are deaf as there are people who speak different and foreign languages like spanish or french. For that reason, learning sign language as a foreign language may not be as helpful to some people as learning other foreign languages. There are some studies that have been done that explain the reasons why many people do not want to discover how to learn sign language. The number one answer was that they already had too much of a workload. This makes sense due to the fact that when people get older and have jobs they do not have a lot of time on their hands to learn a whole

The area of focus for this study is memory development, and the use of gestures, specifically signing, in aiding memory development. Gesturing has traditionally been considered communicative, but has also been shown to aid learning when used as a teaching strategy. Signing is a type of gesture used as a form of communication. The focus of this study will be on American Sign Language (ASL). The purpose of this study is to test the effects of actively signing while performing a visual-spatial memory task.

The assumption of the general public is American Sign Language, or ASL, is just for deaf and hard of hearing people. People who are mute also use ASL. This includes people who are on the spectrum, deaf and people who have trauma to the area of the body required to speak. For this reason, I believe that ASL, or American Sign Language, need to have more of a presence in schools.

Imagine you are driving down the highway on a warm summer day. It’s nice outside, your window is rolled down, the wind is blowing in your hair, and your sibling is in the passenger seat. In mid-thought, you slam on your brakes and swerve to miss a deer. Your car goes down the hill and hits a tree. No one is around. You check on your brother, he looks unconscious. You are okay, but have a few minor scrapes and bruises. You dial 911, hoping that maybe they could understand what you were saying. You leave your phone on in case they can track your location. When you start walking up the hill, a car pulls off to the side of the road. The person jumps out of the car and runs up to you, appearing very concerned. When you try signing to the girl, she does not understand what you are saying to her. This could very well be a situation that happens in real life. If the person who would have found you and your sibling would have known American Sign Language, they might have been able to help you out in a crisis like this. In society today, we have to be able to communicate with people about anything and everything we do (Kivett). Learning American Sign Language, or ASL, will help every individual that learns it. In order to determine why there is a problem with very few signers, we have to investigate why people don’t want to learn the language, what problems that creates, and what we can do to create solutions to help everyone as a whole.

Sign Language is the use of facial expressions, fingerspelling, and gestures that represent whole phrases or words used to communicate with deaf or hard of hearing people used to communicate with deaf and hard of hearing citizens. While many languages are "dying off," American Sign Language is growing in use every day, as of 1972, it's used by 250,000 to 500,000 people in the United States. Sign language is widely used to communicate with infants. Studies show that learning Baby Sign Language has many developmental benefits including speaking earlier, having a larger vocabulary, a +12 point IQ advantage over peers, as well as the ability to achieve better grades in school. Being bilingual is useful in many jobs and careers such as social service agencies, mental health clinics, government institutions, hospitals and clinics, hearing and speech agencies, and in public and private schools.