Asl Reflection

Reflective Paper Before I enrolled in this ASL course I wasn't sure what to expect, I had no real experience with the language or deaf culture for that matter. I didn’t think I would be able to understand someone signing quickly at me especially when I had no idea what the signs meant. I thought that anyone who was deaf was part of the deaf culture. I also didn’t know that not all deaf people have deaf accents. I had many misconceptions of ASL and deaf culture that I later learned to be untrue. In the beginning of the class I was pessimistic because so many of the motions were not only hard to read but also hard to perform.But, the class went on and I learned more about ASL and deaf culture. As time passed I grew more confident in my ability to communicate using ASL.

We began the course the same way that any course begins, with the basics. My first impressions were pessimistic, I was having trouble memorizing a lot of the letters, let alone words and was surprised by how quickly everyone seemed to be learning. Looking back I think

I got that feeling very much from before taking the class. In What is American Sign Language? I learned that not all deaf people use ASL because they don't see themselves as part of the Deaf community. I previously thought that anyone who was deaf was part of the deaf community. In What is a “Language” Cokley and Baker discussed how each language is separated by more than the “symbols” they use to describe things. That as the culture changes so does the language and the fact that the change happens solely within a culture is why it can be so difficult to learn a new language. These articles proved a few of my misconceptions wrong as well as confirmed a few of my beliefs that I had before joining the