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http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/030907/geo_8490731.shtml
American Sign Language would be accepted by Georgia public schools as foreign language credit or elective credit if Senate Bill 170 passes and is approved by Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Sponsored by Sen. Preston Smith, R-Rome, the bill would allow students to fulfill their foreign language requirement by demonstrating a proficiency in American Sign Language, or ASL, an alternative to spoken foreign languages such as French or Spanish.
Although the legislation is being introduced by Smith, it is actually the combination of two Senate bills.
Sen. Regina Thomas, D-Savannah, introduced SB 206, which also would allow ASL to be accepted for high school credit. However, her legislation additionally contained a section that recognized ASL as a "fully developed, autonomous, natural language" as well as the official state language for Georgia's deaf community.
After consulting with Smith, Thomas said they decided to attach that section to his bill and kill SB 206.
"You want to be involved and understand," Thomas said, "but when you don't need something, like hearing and speaking, it becomes remote to you and you take it for granted."
"The change in the law is long overdue," said Lee Shiver, director of the Georgia School for the Deaf.
According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, ASL is "a complete, complex language that employs signs made with the hands and other movements, including facial expressions and postures of the body."
It is considered the fourth most commonly used language in the United States and Canada behind English, Spanish and Chinese.
American Sign Language would be accepted by Georgia public schools as foreign language credit or elective credit if Senate Bill 170 passes and is approved by Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Sponsored by Sen. Preston Smith, R-Rome, the bill would allow students to fulfill their foreign language requirement by demonstrating a proficiency in American Sign Language, or ASL, an alternative to spoken foreign languages such as French or Spanish.
Although the legislation is being introduced by Smith, it is actually the combination of two Senate bills.
Sen. Regina Thomas, D-Savannah, introduced SB 206, which also would allow ASL to be accepted for high school credit. However, her legislation additionally contained a section that recognized ASL as a "fully developed, autonomous, natural language" as well as the official state language for Georgia's deaf community.
After consulting with Smith, Thomas said they decided to attach that section to his bill and kill SB 206.
"You want to be involved and understand," Thomas said, "but when you don't need something, like hearing and speaking, it becomes remote to you and you take it for granted."
"The change in the law is long overdue," said Lee Shiver, director of the Georgia School for the Deaf.
According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, ASL is "a complete, complex language that employs signs made with the hands and other movements, including facial expressions and postures of the body."
It is considered the fourth most commonly used language in the United States and Canada behind English, Spanish and Chinese.