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Students at La Mirada High School have several ways to meet college foreign language requirements. They can take Spanish, French or even Korean.
Now they can also take American Sign Language.
Sophomore Amanda Heatherly, 15, thought that option might be easier than taking Spanish. Turns out, it wasn't, Heatherly said.
"It's not hard but just more work to remember,' she said.
Taught by Denise Renay Lopez, the class of 36 students, including five who are deaf or hard of hearing, is part of a growing trend among high schools and universities now offering American Sign Language to fulfill the foreign language requirement.
The University of California has accepted the sign language class as a foreign language requirement since 1992, Lopez said. Forty states also recognize American Sign Language as a foreign language, allowing students to receive credit for it in high schools and colleges.
"Linguistically, it's a full- fledged language,' said Robert Blake, director for the University of California Language Consortium.
"It just doesn't have sounds. It has fingers, signs, gestures and some of them are grounded loosely in the real world. There are grammatical markers and syntax,' he added.
So far, however, relatively few college students have taken the course to meet the foreign language requirement.
"It's still very small,' Blake said. "It's a blip on the radar screen.'
Craig Wiblemo, La Mirada High School assistant principal, said his campus decided to offer the class as a way to broaden its curriculum for students.
"It was a nice fit,' he said. "Students can take the class and get college prep credit because it meets college requirements,' he said.
Unlike other foreign language classes, Lopez uses some unusual methods to help the students learn sign language. For example, she gives every student a set of ear plugs. She also asks them not to speak.
"If they're speaking and signing at the same time, their receptive skills won't be as keen,' she said. "When you can hear, you tend to use your ears to listen. If you're not allowed to hear, you tend to use what is able to take in the information, which is vision.'
Lopez said the class helps not just hearing students, but also the deaf.
"Students are required to take four years of English, but deaf kids have never had the opportunity to be taught their own language like other kids,' Lopez said.
Before this class, deaf students at La Mirada High tended to stick to themselves, she said.
"In this one semester, all of my deaf kids have friendships,' Lopez said. "They will now have friends they're communicating with in their own language.'
The hearing students in Lopez class say they enjoy being able to communicate with deaf students.
"I can hold a conversation and speak a couple of sentences,' said senior David Pollard, 17.
By Mike Sprague
Now they can also take American Sign Language.
Sophomore Amanda Heatherly, 15, thought that option might be easier than taking Spanish. Turns out, it wasn't, Heatherly said.
"It's not hard but just more work to remember,' she said.
Taught by Denise Renay Lopez, the class of 36 students, including five who are deaf or hard of hearing, is part of a growing trend among high schools and universities now offering American Sign Language to fulfill the foreign language requirement.
The University of California has accepted the sign language class as a foreign language requirement since 1992, Lopez said. Forty states also recognize American Sign Language as a foreign language, allowing students to receive credit for it in high schools and colleges.
"Linguistically, it's a full- fledged language,' said Robert Blake, director for the University of California Language Consortium.
"It just doesn't have sounds. It has fingers, signs, gestures and some of them are grounded loosely in the real world. There are grammatical markers and syntax,' he added.
So far, however, relatively few college students have taken the course to meet the foreign language requirement.
"It's still very small,' Blake said. "It's a blip on the radar screen.'
Craig Wiblemo, La Mirada High School assistant principal, said his campus decided to offer the class as a way to broaden its curriculum for students.
"It was a nice fit,' he said. "Students can take the class and get college prep credit because it meets college requirements,' he said.
Unlike other foreign language classes, Lopez uses some unusual methods to help the students learn sign language. For example, she gives every student a set of ear plugs. She also asks them not to speak.
"If they're speaking and signing at the same time, their receptive skills won't be as keen,' she said. "When you can hear, you tend to use your ears to listen. If you're not allowed to hear, you tend to use what is able to take in the information, which is vision.'
Lopez said the class helps not just hearing students, but also the deaf.
"Students are required to take four years of English, but deaf kids have never had the opportunity to be taught their own language like other kids,' Lopez said.
Before this class, deaf students at La Mirada High tended to stick to themselves, she said.
"In this one semester, all of my deaf kids have friendships,' Lopez said. "They will now have friends they're communicating with in their own language.'
The hearing students in Lopez class say they enjoy being able to communicate with deaf students.
"I can hold a conversation and speak a couple of sentences,' said senior David Pollard, 17.
By Mike Sprague
