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American Sign Language, or ASL for short is a language that is based on hand gestures and their placements related to the body, facial expressions, head movements, and body language. Sign language is used by and was created for deaf and hard of hearing people all over the world. In 1620, a man named Juan Pablo de Bonet created American Sign Language because he wanted the deaf to be educated on how to communicate with each other to express their thoughts. In 1775, Abbe Charles Michael de L’Eppe was the first person to have the first sign language school. De L’Eppe school led to the beginning of finger spelling hand movements that symbolized phrases and words. In 1817, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet came back to America after studying French and found …show more content…
the first deaf school in America. American Sign Language is a part of the Deaf community and needs to be taught as a foreign language.
With being deaf, the behaviors and the shared communities that goes on within it is why ASL is so important and their main communication. A person who is hard of hearing can try their best to lip read but it’s not always easy. What is important is that with so many hearing people in the world, I believe that everyone should know the basics when it comes to signing. With a certain number of deaf people in the world, it can become difficult with trying to communicate with them. In today’s world, there are many people who speak numerous languages all throughout different countries. It goes from English, French, Spanish, Latin and so on. But the one language that people find hard to learn is ASL. I think that singing should be taught during Elementary school so that when they get older it could benefit them. I say it will benefit them because if their exposed to the language, the easier it is to learn it. The reason for having sign language is because it helps and supports the deaf culture and separates them from hearing people. Sign language have brought deaf people together having them communicate and understand each other the best way they can. Signing is like any other language to learn that includes the thoughts of deaf people’s thoughts and …show more content…
feelings. According to an article in the Odyssey “Why Sign Language Should Be Taught in Schools” by Hannah Gill, Gill stated that “if sign language was taught in schools, then children who aren’t hearing impaired or deaf can see the opportunities of learning to sign.” She also said that what would we do or how would we feel if we couldn’t communicate with anyone? To know that communicating with people such as family, friends, and class mates can be difficult. We need to see the fact that the deaf community is growing every day and we should try to do something now while we can. With the lack of communication with the deaf, I think that it makes it harder for them than us. Even though not everyone wants to learn sign, it would nice to know a little ASL because being deaf in a hearing world can make you feel singled out. Especially since they can’t understand anyone who doesn’t know sign language. A deaf person would have to literally write out everything they would want to say if they didn’t have an interpreter with them. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), 2 to 3 out of every 1,000 children in the U.S are born with hearing problems in either one or both ears. With more than 90% of them being born to hearing parents. Now the benefits of learning sign language is to help improve social skills, and can make you interested into learning more about the culture of the Deaf.
Children benefit from it as well. If it’s taught at an early age then the child could learn quickly and catch on fast. Having ASL in schools allows the deaf children to have much of a normal life while going to a public school with children who can hear. The parents of the child shouldn’t have to send their child to a private school and spend lots of money just for their child to learn. Also, with sign in school, it gives the other students a way to communicate with students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Personally I think that everyone should know the basics of ASL. I used to sign with my mom when I was younger because of my mom’s college course, but after the class was done she didn’t really sign much after that. I’ve always been interested in signing so that’s why I’m taking ASL in college as a minor. I’m not as fluent in the language like I thought I would be but I would hope to keep learning to the point where I could have a full conversation with someone. Plus you never know, it could brighten up someone’s day when they see you can sign back to
them. In high school, they should be able to offer more languages then just French, Spanish, or Latin. ASL should be included in foreign languages for students who are interested in learning it. Then if they want to continue the study of singing, it will prepare the students for it in college, and maybe even a career as they advance. It gives the students the opportunity to really understand the deaf community and their everyday challenges in life. Teaching sign in elementary and high schools can be helpful to both hearing and deaf students. They will have a better communication with each other and can prevent the deaf students from feeling isolated In the same way, with being deaf I’m sure that certain deaf people wouldn’t want to be isolated just because they can’t hear. Even though they don’t have much access to a proper education like hearing people do. With being able to hear, you can understand what’s being taught without having any difficult problems. A deaf person would have to have an interpreter with them in class so they can know what the teacher is talking about. It’s not always a bad thing but you would have to keep your focus on your interpreter the whole time.
This issue is important because if you try to force the Deaf to hear, they might not grow because they will have no form of communication to use with other people. Even though the doctors might say to not use ASL, this will greatly hinder your child's well-being in the long run. I learned a lot about Deaf people, ASL, and/or Deaf Culture after reading this book. Deaf people are normal, just like anybody else, and they should not be treated any differently. Some people treat deafness as a disease that needs to be cured, but it's not.
The movie “Audism Unveiled” was a very interesting and powerful movie. I never realized that deaf individuals are discriminated against. This could be partly because I have never been immersed in or educated about the deaf culture until this year. One of the things that struck me the most while watching “Audism Unveiled” was the many heart wrenching stories about children being unable to communicate with their own non-signing hearing families.. The deaf child would have to ask their family members, why everyone was laughing or what’s going on. The family members would just tell them “I’ll tell you later” or “Nevermind. It’s not important”, resulting in the individual feeling isolated. Personally, I agree with people saying that if a parent has a deaf child they should learn how to sign; communication is what brings families together. As a result, the most intriguing thing to me was the stories of family members never learning American Sign Language; leaving their family member isolated.
In my family, I have a close cousin who is Deaf, and I know that many of my family members have questions about Deaf culture but are too afraid to ask. I felt the same way, which was a main reason I decided to take the ASL class. The class not only opened my mind to the study of American Sign Language, but also how Deaf culture is used in our society. This book has helped me learn a lot, from ways to respect Deaf people and to understand them, which is why I have advised my family to give the book a look as well. I definitely agree with points this book makes, because nearly all of them relate to today’s society and the world that we live in right now. Although, occasionally, some points were a bit confusing and took me off-guard, I performed some critical thinking on it and made a list of those I didn’t quite understand or agree with.
In Ben Jarashow’s Journey Into the Deaf World, he explained Deaf culture and how it feels to be deaf within the world of those who hear. People who are born deaf have a loss of what is commonly viewed as the most important sense, hearing. This leaves them with four senses instead of five; most important sense now being sight followed by touch. In return, this means that a language must be developed that is based heavily on sight. In the United States, it was not until 1960 that American Sign Language (ASL) was recognized as its own language.
Many hearing people do not take the time to listen to the Deaf community as they just assume that they are being “selfish” as they do not want to change. The Deaf community does not want the hearing community to change them. If we try to change the Deaf community, we are trying to change their language and culture. The Deaf community relies on American Sign Language just as many of us rely on English. We would not want anyone to try to convince us to change our language just so we can communicate with the general population. Being deaf is not a disability, but rather a culture that most of the hearing community is going to have to
In this article, “The Deaf Body in Public Space,” Rachel Kolb explains how interacting with people who do not understand sign language could be difficult. With her hearing disability she struggled to communicate with her peers. Kolb further explains the different situations she has encountered with people and comments that are made with first intercommunications. Going further she also mentions how she struggles with two languages and two modes of communication.
...at sign language was a last resort if the child did not pick up lip reading and oral communication. Thomas now met someone who signed and spoke and realized that signing is a language in its own and its importance to people who could not hear the oral language. This began their quest to learn sign language and use it with Lynn despite the school and public opinion.
I believe that this is important because if a young Deaf/hard of hearing student has a hard time learning what will their view on learning become? I also don’t agree with the fact that the article suggests the use of MCE (Manually coded English). Manually coded English, is similar to ASL But, follows the grammatical setup of English. Whereas ASL has its own grammatical setup. I believe that a Deaf/C.O.D.A teacher is the best opportunity for the students. Young Deaf students should be taught by Deaf/C.O.D.A teachers because ASL is most likely the students first language. Consequently ASL would be the easiest way to learn English. From the perspective of a Deaf person, ¨I had a hard time learning English, I had both a Deaf teacher and a hearing teacher. I learned English easiest from the Deaf teacher” (S. White, personal communication, February 16, 2016). Also, young Deaf students should be taught by Deaf teachers because Deaf/C.O.D.A are good language models. Language models are important to have because who else would be a good model for ASL? Throughout this article I will be exploring and sharing with you why Deaf/C.O.D.A teachers are important to the education of young Deaf/hard of hearing
Acquiring a Language: American Sign Language vs. English In the Unites States and Canada, an estimated range of 500,00 to 2 million people speak/use American Sign Language. According to the Census Bureau, ASL is the leading minority language after Spanish, Italian German and French. ASL is the focal point of Deaf Culture and nothing is dearer to the Deaf people’s hearts because it is a store of cultural knowledge and also a symbol of social identity, and social interactions. It is a fully complete, autonomous and natural language with complex grammar not derived and independent of English.
“Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things” (American). For centuries, people from all walks of life have been using their hands to communicate with one another, and for centuries people from all walks of life have been learning. Today I am following in their footsteps with a passion from God for the deaf language, culture, and souls. For almost a decade, an intense ardor for American Sign Language and a desire to reach its native users for Christ seeded itself in my soul, wove its roots deeper and deeper, and blossomed into one of the greatest loves of my life. American Sign Language is a unique language with a rich history that not only provides a service to people in the deaf culture, but also to hearing people who seek to attain fluency.
Sign language is a natural human language, they have their own vocabularies and sentence structures. Sign language comes into practice wherever Deaf societies come into existence. Sign language is not identical worldwide; every country has its own language and accents; however, these are not the verbal or transcribed languages used by hearing individuals around them.
It “is an important part of the social, cultural, and educational context of the hearing-impaired child’s development” (Stahlman, 349). If a person cannot communicate effectly then they may not thrive and develop while having a hearing or speech impairment. In both American Sign Language and Pidgin Signed English, a person who is hearing-impaired must learn to communicate with the world using only his hands and facial expressions. American Sign Language and Pidgin Signed English is a way for the unable to communicate. Both ASL and PSE can be taught in many different ways however, ASL is normally taught in school while PSE is normally self-taught but either way they are both a unique method of communication and can be used all over the world and can be translated and spoken just like any other language can
When children are born and as they grow most of what they learn to speak is from hearing their parents talk but what if they couldn 't hear? How would they learn? Its pretty simple actually. They wouldn 't learn. Those who were born hearing but got sick or eventually lost their hearing learned a few things and use them but, eventually they turn to ASL to be able to communicate with others and be able to further their education. When having to learn this language you have to keep many things in mind such as handshape, palm orientation, location, movement and facial expression, all of those things are crucial to being able to speak this language correctly. While this language has been around for many years there are still things that don 't have an ASL name and in those cases you would do something called finger spelling, where you spell out what you are trying to say in order to get your point across.(Learning Sign Language,2) As every language you are learning a whole different way of saying things and you are also opening yourself to those who can’t really open themselves to you. The deaf community do really try to not be a burden to us. They learn to read lips or even talk because they were forced to. A couple a years ago they were restricted from learning ASL and were punished if they tried to sign. (About sign
THESIS STATEMENT: American Sign Language didn’t begin around 1814 which is fairly new language compared to modern languages such as English, Spanish, and French. ASL started when deaf education was first introduced in the United States. In this speech, we will be discussing the following: where, when, and why did ASL started, the history of Martha’s Vineyard, recognition of ASL as a real
I also feel that ASL is a beautiful language and should be given as a choice in language requirements in all grade levels. This language that was brought to us over 150 years ago could sustain and still be useful today for within our own country unlike Italian, French or German. It has some kind of magic that makes us want to learn and speak it when we do not have to. The fluent and rhythmic motions are mesmerizing and captivating and anyone with the means to learn it should.