AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE Chloe M. What is American Sign Language (ASL)? ASL is a form of communication used by deaf or hearing impaired American people, dating back to about two hundred years ago. It is a visual language that is practiced through hand signals, or “signing.” To have a conversation, the speaker must engage all parts of the body into action. The eyes, the hands, and even body movement are all crucial to the language of no words. As the title indicates, American Sign Language is mainly used in the United States and bits of Canada. American Sign Language is not universal, and varying degrees are spoken in some parts of the Middle and East Asian countries. Each country has its own version of sign language, and somebody from Britain would probably not understand ASL, even though both countries are English-speaking. Instead, that person would speak British Sign Language (BSL). According to LifePrint, ASL is spoken by nearly five hundred thousand associates of deaf communities in North America. American Sign Language, in comparison to spoken English, is much more complicated and has a very complex grammar system. This is because most signs have multiple meanings, and in addition, words and phrases are arranged differently. This can make the language very challenging for hearing or hearing impaired people to learn. However, there are some perks to this arduous language. Because ASL is very rich and complex in the field of linguistics, this makes sign language an excellent study resource for future linguists. ASL is very important to the deaf culture in North America and it helps those with deaf impairments to speak without speaking.
“I
hope I inspire people who hear. Hearing people have the ability to remove barriers that prevent deaf people from achieving their dreams.”
-Marlee Matlin
Misconceptions and Myths About Sign Language Many people are interested in the culture of sign language, and ASL has become more present in recent years with help from television dramas and YouTube stars. However, the nation still seems to hold onto some myths that are not true about ASL. For instance, while there are a lot of signers in the world, not all deaf people sign. Many hearing incapacitated people do not sign. After a traumatic injury or event that impacted the deaf person's’ hearing, a person would chose not to learn sign language. This is very visual in older adults because American Sign Language is one of the most tedious languages to learn due to its complicated structure. Another very common misconception people have about ASL is that it is a visual form of English. While English and American Sign Language have some things in common, the two are completely different from each other. In fact, they are so unlike that it becomes very laborious from a speaker of either English or ASL to learn the opposing language. In spite, some words in sign language are based off of the English alphabet, and spelled with the hands, using the ASL alphabet.. This “fingerspelling” method is ideally used with words in ASL that do not exist (ex. names and places). In addition to this traditional form of sign language, “signed English” is another type of ASL that is commonly used within the deaf and hearing communities. Signed English is not customary and it is mainly used among hearing people, simply because of the complexity of the language.
What is the history behind ASL? The story behind the making of American Sign Language is quite unique, and revolves around a man named Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and his deaf friend, Alice. Thomas was very fascinated by his friend, and became increasingly excited about trying to tutor and train her. He taught her a few words and became inspired at her quick wit and favorable outcomes at what seemed like a new language. Thomas’ father became inspired too, and persuaded his son to make a school for deaf people. He also motivated the professor to make an entire language, which was very impressing considering the fact that ASL was invented in the 1800’s. Gallaudet soon embarked on his adventure: the creation of American Sign Language. He met up with interpreters and teachers of the deaf, Sicard, Laurent Clerc, and Jean Massieu, who gave him a basic idea of what he wanted the language to consist of. In LSF (langue des signes de français) the French language and reasonable gestures are used to convey ideas. When Gallaudet discovered this, he had a structure for his language, and immediately went back to Connecticut. As he traveled back to the United States, he begged Laurent Clerc to go with him, and the two created the first successful deaf education program in Hartford, Connecticut in 1817. However, this was not the first incident of sign language. At Martha’s Vineyard, many people signed (or knew how to) regardless of their hearing capabilities.
“Deafness isn’t the opposite of hearing. It’s a silence full of sound.” -Mark Medhoff
What are some jobs that include ASL?
Because ASL is an official language, there are ore than a few jobs that include sign language speakers in their careers. Some examples of these occupations are interpreters, ASL instructors, and occupational therapists. Having said that, some of these jobs are still exclusive to just auditory people. In particular, American Sign Language interpreters must be hearing in order to do their jobs. They are usually assigned clients to interpret for, be it deaf or hearing-impaired. They must be fluent in ASL because they will have to translate for both sides: English to ASL and ASL to English. Payment of this career really depends on what age the client is, or more importantly, who the client is. According to the PCC Academic Program,
WORKS CITED "American Sign Language Jobs." American Sign Language Jobs, Employ ment | Indeed.com. Indeed, 2015. Web. 06 Nov. 2015.American Sign Language." American Sign Language. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Oct. 2015. Asl Baby Sign Language Clipart - Free Clip Art Images." Asl Baby Sign Language Clipart - Free Clip Art Images. Mgid, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2015. "Common Myths About Sign Language." HubPages. HubPages, 21 May 2014. Web. 06 Nov. 2015."D"De'VIA Hands." De'VIA Hands. National Association of the Deaf, 2014. Deaf Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, 2015. Web. 06 Nov. 2015. PCC. "Portland Community College." Careers in Sign Language Interpretat ion. Portland Community College, 2015. Web. 06 Nov. 2015. Vicars, William G., Ed.D. "History of ASL." History of ASL. LifePrint, 1 Jan. 2001. Web. 06 Nov. 2015. Vicars, William G., Ed.D. "American Sign Language (ASL) Definition." American Sign Language (ASL) Definition. LifePrint, 2001. Web. 04 Nov. 2015 "What Is American Sign Language?" National Asociation of the Deaf. Nat ional Assocation of the Deaf, 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2015 Web. 06 Nov. 2015.
“Those working in the Portland area through grade 12 may earn $16 to $21 per hour, . . . and freelance interpreters, $30 to $50 an hour.” While this is a large range, American Sign Language speakers or non-auditory people may have a hard time finding careers. There are many careers that include sign language, but American sign language is only spoken in the United States and Englishspeaking parts of Canada, making job opportunities a little bit more scarce. Do not be fooled, though, because there are some jobs that include sign language, but many of the jobs deal with interpreting and teaching. If someone is interested in specializing in linguistics or American Sign Language but does not want to teach, be mindful of their decisions and let them know about career choices in the U.S for sign language. Some Things to Know About the ASL Community Deaf children or young people of the deaf community often start to sign when they are very young. Even hearing children who take on a late start with communicating are taught sign language, so parents will not have to guess what the child wants when they cannot speak. Learning American Sign Language as a child can be very beneficial to the learner, but it may be confusing because of the grammar rules that exist in ASL (if the child is hearing). An additional piece of knowledge that deaf culture addresses is that the word “deaf” can have several different meanings depending on the context of the situation. For example, deaf writers can have either the upper or lower case ‘d’ depending on who they are referring to, as in what group of people. According to ASL University, “some authors, when spelling Deaf with an uppercase ‘D’, are referring to the status of being culturally deaf.” The author says that if he thinks there is no reason for ‘deaf’ to be lowercase, he will capitalize it. However, some deaf people do not believe in “Deaf culture” and argue that their culture is the same as hearing people’s. They claim that they have a disability that does not affect their lifestyle in terms of culture. American Sign Language and Deaf culture are things to be conscious of, as many members of the deaf community may get offended.