American Sign Language Learning

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

Classifiers are handshapes we use in American sign language (ASL) to show the movement, placement, orientation, size, and shape of a noun. Since ASL is a rule-governed language when using classifiers you must first identify the noun, then you can use the classifier to show how the object moves or is placed in relationship to other objects (Aron). American sign language uses eight different kinds of classifiers for specific categories.

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.

The report concludes to show that the use of stories has benefits to children in various ways and this is not limited to only EAL children. It also has the potential of significant impact on communication. It further did have the potential to impact definitely upon communication between practitioners and parents with EAL. Keywords in the form of cue cards with English and Spanish used and these keywords incorporated into circle time and during the marking of register, choosing of activities and to support simple instructions. Benefits identified included: less frustration and enhanced behaviour due to understanding of setting routines; better concentration levels; providing a means by which children can start communication and make choices which also support language acquisition. Nevertheless, these

During the Through Deaf Eyes, I realize that no one should judge one another even if we can hear or deaf because at the end of the day, we are all the same kind which is being a human.. During the film, what blew my mind away is that deaf people say “I can” while the hearing people say “I can’t.” Deaf people are more brave than hearing people and they embrace their pride and do not want to be cure. The American Sign Language is a way to communicate with one another therefore, it is so important for deaf people to communicate. They would have to go through a deaf speech class with teachers helping them from step by step using their hands motion to learn American Sign Language.

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.

Statistics drawn from a federation of the deaf shows that there are 70 million users of the sign language in the world.

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.

William Vicars, ASL is an “augmentative and alternative communication tool” which gives an alternative method of communication instead of speech. Individuals who have difficulties with, or cannot, communicate orally because of either a speech or language disorder, gain a way to communicate efficiently. Using ASL may either be a temporary or permanent solution to a problem (Vicars, 2016). As an example, Dr.Vicars uses a child with apraxia. This child would have the “ability to make the sounds of speech but have difficulty doing so.” Learning to sign first may be helpful because it gives this child a way to communicate that can be used in oral therapies later on. Using ASL can be used to facilitate oral language. (Vicars,

Language plays an essential role in the development and unification of a culture or nation. American Sign Language (ASL) is a combination of expressions, movements, and gestures that enable the Deaf Community to communicate with one another. ASL is a visual language and without having any words spoken, thousands of ideas and emotions could be expressed. Two films that help convey the significance of ASL are Beyond Silence and Love is Never Silent. These works revolve around the lives of Children of Deaf Adults (CODAs) and the struggles that they have encountered by being born into deaf families.

The visual language used by most deaf people in America is American Sign Language. Within ASL, fingerspelling is an important part of ASL. ASL signs are referred as fingerspelling signs. Fingerspelling creates a way by representing the symbols of written English (Valli & Lucas, 2000). Research on fingerspelling conducted by Robbin Battison, an ASL linguist, found English word in print is characterized with ASL signs because of the letters of fingerspelling represents the letter handshapes resembles the English print which has direct contact. Some deaf children receive an opportunity accessing and acquire ASL at home before entering school (Padden & Ramsey, 1998). Previous researches have demonstrated early acquisition of ASL fingerspelling

American Sign Language is considered a natural and true language. A person who is able to speak ASL in addition to another natural true language such as English, Spanish, French, etc. is considered to be bilingual, just like any other person who speaks two languages. ASL classes are relatively easy to find. They are taught at many schools and universities across the country. Classes are also frequently found at community centers, churches and in some workplaces.

The strategy that I want to focus on is to reduce my dependence on English as I listen and communicate in American Sign Language. I chosen this strategy because I know that a habit is form my doing a behavior repeatedly after a consecutive number of days. Also by using this strategy, I will benefit to learn objects and everyday terms with the appropriate sign. Therefore, by not being distracted with writing notes and grammar or rules of this new language, I can focus on the actual way this language is communicated among people. By only listening and conversing in American Sign

Gulati stated that an L1 was a child’s first language which translates to the “strong first language” Riker talks about. Without an L1, delays can begin to occur according to Gulati and Riker shadows that statement by discussing how a Deaf child is not ready for Kindergarten due to not developing BICS. Gulati also mentioned how Deaf children who learned Sign Language as an infant did just as well as those who were hearing. This statement was also echoed in Riker’s presentation by stating how Deaf children born to Deaf parents, meaning a strong foundation in a visual language was been developed, were just as prepared for kindergarten as their hearing peers. Both of these lectures reinforce the importance of giving Deaf children accessible language at young

In America, English exists as the standard language. For that reason, it is understood that children will learn this as their primary language. However, according to the “National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders” website, “about two to three children per 1,000 are born deaf or hard of hearing”(Quick Statistics [NIDCD Health Information]) . Moreover, an article by Karen Kalivoda points out that “depending on the age of onset and the severity of the hearing loss, an individual's spoken language development may be radically affected”. Babies learn to speak by parroting the sounds around them; however, a deaf child does not hear these noises and, therefore, the child does not “develop their language” skills