DeafCapricorn

Do you think ASL should be considered a Foreign Language Course?

Does anyone know anything about this...

I've noticed that ASL is not counted as a foreign language... why is that?

Just wondering...

Deafness

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Silentwolfdog

I think it's because people don't understand that ASL is not based on spoken English. It's only recently that ASL is recognized as language separate from English.

That's why some states are attempting to get it recognized as national language instead of foreign language for bills so they have better chances of not getting it veto. That way students who take ASL will have it credit as foreign language and this will encourage more students to take ASL classes.

You could say it's a shortcut to get it accepted as language itself and bypass the ignorance congress.

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Mizzou

ASL is foreign language for everybody. School and College now has that course and credit for it.

shel90

I voted yes...it is foreign to the general hearing population, right?

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Silentwolfdog

^ Lol

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jillio

Absolutely. And English is a foreign language to Deaf.

rockdrummer

Yes I do and I also think that it should be taught at public schools as a forigen language that students can get credit for. Maybe then more of the hearing population will know sign language.

authentic

No, I disagree, because for example: when American visit to any countries (China for example), and they identity American as foreigner, right? Now, hearing person who take ASL as foreign course, and hearing person will consider deaf person as foreigner? That doesn't sound right.

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shel90

That was the debate in one of my graduate classes at Gallaudet. LOL!

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authentic

ha!

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shel90

Yea and I remember either I or another student brought up how ASL is foreign to the majority of the population in the US so therefore it should be considered foreign. That stopped the debate right there. We are talking about a language not about the people who use it.

Think about it...I was born deaf but didnt know ASL until 28 years old so all of my life, it was foreign to me. Then, there is my coworker who is a CODA whose first language is ASL so that means she is foreign? No..but instead of looking at the people, look at the language itself.

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Silentwolfdog

^ Ah I can see why it shut up the class. lol What you are saying is true.

English itself is foreign to many deaf people, and yet that doesn't make them foreigner to US.

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jillio

Right. Foreign when applied to a language only means "unknown" or "different".

DeafCapricorn

I think I see what you all mean... Can agree with that...

SweetOrchid

I say Yes it is.

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Princess Orchid

Aleser

It should be counted, yes. It is not simply a different method of conveying the English language- it is a language, with grammar and structure of it's own. One I'm certianly still having enough trouble catching onto.

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DeafCapricorn

True that Alesser... I can barely memorize the structure and there's so many different classifiers and stuff that I can't seem to catch onto...

deafskeptic

That reminds me of a forum that I used to belong to that had mostly American Indians. Many of the traditional Indians still speak their nation's language and they're native too. So yes, their languages and ASL should be considered foreign languages despite the fact neither Deaf or NDNs (indians) came here from different countries.

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Reba

Hmm...If English becomes the official language of the United States, then will ASL truly become a "foreign" language? Or will English become the official spoken and written language, and ASL the official signed language of the United States? There are several twists and turns to this.

sara1981

i would have agree with Reba

i would never learn foreign sign languages before but i little learn in England when im visit in 2002 and some same sign languages in England again i never see that before! and im really like to learn foreign sign languages sometimes who taught as foreign sign languages in England.

but im mostly sign lots in American than foreign

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PuyoPiyo

I voted yes, and always consider the ASL as my first language, consider English as my second language.

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Texan Guy

I voted no. I pretty much agree with authentic up there. Plus, I usually signs in SEE.

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jillio

And both have suffered through the majority's attempts to strip them of their language. Young Indian children were punished severely for using their native language in schools, and young deaf children were punished severely for using their native language in schools. Both were subjected to the belief that they were savages incapable of moral reasoning, and the only way to "save" them was to force them to use the language of the majority. There are many parallels between the way the Native Americans have been treated and the way the Deaf have been treated. Doesn't say much for the tolerance of Americans.

jillio

Sweden has already differentiated between the official spoken and signed languages. I would like to see us follow suit. If that were the case, then for those whose first language is English, ASL could be studied as a foreign language, and for those who have ASL as a first language. English could be studied as a foreign language.

jillio

If you sign in SEE, then ASL is a foreign language to you.

deafskeptic

I remember one of the indians said he could see many parrells between my oral background and what his people went thru when I finally told them about my background.

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Cheri

Yes, ASL is a foreign language because the grammatical structure of ASL is different from English, now if deaf people uses ASL as their primary method of communication then its not a foreign language to them.

I know for matter of fact colleges in Ohio had taught ASL as one of the foreign language course. Students are allow to choose which foreign language they want, I've read in the paper that most students choose ASL because its fun and interesting to them.

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Cheri