American Sign Language (ASL) is the fourth-most studied modern, foreign (not English) language in the United States. There is a nation-wide debate whether ASL should be considered a foreign language and universities differ in how they define language.
Northern Illinois University has declared ASL to be an official foreign language for two reasons – (1) it is different from spoken English and (2) students experience cultural immersion as in other languages. Other colleges define language by attributes such as having literature for study or sharing elements of culture not available in ASL. However, ASL has other kinds of cultural components, including poetry, history, and culture.
Sign language should be considered a language. We definitely need to have ASL-fluent citizens who can work with the deaf in fields such as education and health care. Furthermore, students who study ASL learn about a new culture. Cultural immersion in ALS includes a “silent dinner” during which students learn about deaf culture from their deaf instructor. Moreover, students learn to think differently. I was very interested in the example provided in the article.
"APPEAR tooth = PAIN ++BAD DENTIST GO NEED"
It means: "It seems I have a toothache; I need to go to a dentist."
Therefore, people who use ASL think differently in ASL when compared to English. The study of languages focuses heavily on understanding a new way of thinking and meaning. Because ASL learners need to find other ways of getting a point across, they are learning a different way of thinking, as evidenced in another article I read.
New studies show that teaching a baby sign language will improve his ability to read. Readers transfer visual information (Print) into Phonological Information (like Spoken Language); that is how they are able to process print. People who know ASL develop neural pathways that connect the visual world with meaning. Thus, babies who learn ASL are more readily able to transfer visual information into linguistic information. In learning that visual symbols are meaningful, a baby can make the connection between what he sees and what something means.
All the more reason to learn ALS and give it the credit it deserves!
Articles
Is American Sign Language a ‘foreign’ language?
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-met-sign-language-20100416,0,2337497.story
Sign Language Can Help Children Learn to Read
Source: http://www.opposingviews.com/i/sign-language-can-help-children-learn-to-read
I find the example of ALS very interesting. It doesn't have typical English sentence structure, so it makes me wonder if the deaf have any trouble between reading English and using ALS.
ReplyDeleteI agree however that ALS most definitely has it's own culture to learn. After all, the deaf experience life in a different way than the hearing do. It's important to realize their shortcomings/successes while learning ALS.
I would like to further discuss the article about infants and sign language, since it seems to have a strong background in neuroscience.
I agree - ASL should be considered a different and foreign language. Learning ASL completely changes a students perspective on the world. Students have to discriminate different features that a normal english speaker would not. They also have to learn a completely different grammatical structure. And in doing so this helps to change and broaden their thought process. More importantly, being immersed in the culture of ASL, will truly help to increase awareness of the deaf community. Through activities like deaf dinners, students will start to understand the difficulties that accompany this condition. Therefore, not only does learning ASL change a student's mindset but it hopefully increases compassion and empathy for the hearing impaired.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you all think about the current and ideal relative presence of ASL classes and other foreign language classes (such as Spanish and Mandarin) in the education system? Where in one's education should the option to take one of these non-English languages be posed? How should resources be allocated to each one?
ReplyDeleteI took ASL as an "elective" class in my middle school. It was definitely an interesting class, but because I only studied ASL for a few months, I have since lost what I learned. I feel as though this really shows how one must have a sustained study period with any given language, which is problematic now in schools that are significantly underfunded. And, how should we balance ASL with other languages, when many language programs in general are being cut?
Clearly this is a difficult issue. I think that ASL has great importance, and I agree with Yuliya in that it is not receiving the recognition it deserves. I believe that ASL is on par with other foreign languages that are taught in schools, and thus should have equal funding. I would be interested to see statistics about the number of people who are deaf in the US as well as how many people use ASL. I think this would give us a better idea about the necessary measures to take regarding funding.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I wonder if there are any dual language programs involving ASL? I think this would be a fascinating program, especially after reading that ASL helps babies make connections about the meanings of things they see. In addition, how do ASL learners stack up in school against other bilinguals?