ASL as a Foreign Language

By Julia Summers

American Sign Language• ASL should be considered a foreign language for school

credits.• It is used in everyday life in the Deaf community, with people

with special needs, and people who can’t hear or speak• If someone knows ASL, there are many job opportunities for

them. For example:• Careers in human services • Special education teacher• Audiologist• Career counselor• Interpreter• Speech language pathology

Origins of ASL• Dr. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet• Alice Cogswell

• Laurent Clerc• Old French Sign Language (OFSL)

• American School for the Deaf• 1817

• Gallaudet University• Edward Miner Gallaudet

Controversy• What people say:• ASL is just another version of English• It’s not a real language if it’s not spoken• It’s only used in the United States and Canada, so it’s not

considered foreign

Responses• American Sign Language is a language just like any other, it is

used by a group of people who are dependent on it for communication.

• For example, if a person who is deaf was suddenly able to hear, they would not be able to recognize the sounds of English, just like people who know English do not automatically know Spanish. They would have to learn English, just as if a foreigner was learning English. They may be able to read and write in English, but they cannot speak or understand it being said.

States that recognize ASL as a foreign language

ASL is a real language• Here in the United States, American Sign Language is the

primary language of an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 Americans. • This includes native deaf signers, hearing children of deaf

parents, people who are hard of hearing, people who are not necessarily deaf but have trouble with speech, and fluent deaf signers who have learned ASL from other deaf people.

• Most of the time, ASL is offered in education, speech, or communication disorder departments rather than in foreign language department• One reason for this is that there are not many licensed ASL

teachers.

Deaf Community• The difference between deaf and Deaf• A person who is deaf cannot hear• A person who is Deaf is not necessarily deaf; they are a

part of the Deaf community and use ASL as their main way of communication. Someone who is deaf is not necessarily a part of Deaf culture.

• Alexander Graham Bell• He encouraged oralism and speech training instead of a

signed language• He thought that being deaf was a curse and he tried in

any way he knew how to prevent deaf children from being born

Conclusion• ASL classes:• increase socialization between hearing and deaf students,• Increase students’ interest in becoming interpreters, which may

eventually even out the shortage of interpreters, • increase acceptance of having deaf people as employees and co-

workers, • and increase interest in becoming educators of the deaf, creating

more jobs in teaching sign language• "If there are deaf people, there will be sign language...“

George W. Veditz President National Association of the Deaf 1904-1910

Video• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDrNZuZ-Dr0• Difference between the hearing and Deaf cultures

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http://www.pbs.org/weta/throughdeafeyes/deaflife/bell_nad.html• Best Paying Jobs of the Future. (2012, August 30). Retrieved from Wall Street Journal : http://247wallst.com/2012/08/30/the-best-paying-jobs-

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http://www.gallaudet.edu/Gallaudet_University/About_Gallaudet/History.html• American Sign Language . (n.d.). Retrieved from NIDCD: http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/pages/asl.aspx• American Sign Language as a Foreign Language. (n.d.). Retrieved from Center for Applied Linguistics :

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