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http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/04/16/local/doc4441819b704e2653038879.txt
Linsay Darnall Jr. sat watching the conversation earlier this month among members of the state Board of Education and state Department of Education staff.
In the face and gestures of interpreter Tanya Wendel, he saw their caution about accepting a proposal to make American Sign Language an official world language for the state’s K-12 schools.
He could not hear, but caught board members’ hesitation in Wendel’s gestures as she signed their comments.
Board President Fred Meyer of St. Paul said it might be wise to study the proposal, which would add ASL to such language courses as Spanish, French and German in public schools, a little more.
Member Bob Evnen of Lincoln was not comfortable until he better understood the implications of such a proposal.
“I was kind of surprised they had some concerns,” Darnall signed later as Wendel interpreted. “I didn’t think they had any problem before. I’m surprised there are still questions.”
Darnall, the Nebraska School for the Deaf Alumni Association president, also wondered about the effect of having a state education policy rather than a state law.
Sen. Roger Wehrbein introduced a bill in the Legislature this session that would recognize ASL as a distinct language and authorize schools to offer it as a world language credit.
But the Legislature’s Education Committee thought a Department of Education policy may be the better way to recognize the language, and to establish a curriculum, said Wendel, executive director of the Nebraska Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
“This really has been an emotional issue for the deaf community,” she said.
In 1911, the Nebraska Legislature banned the use of ASL in the state.
Now, with 41 other states recognizing the legitimacy of the language, the community has wondered: Are we second-class citizens if our language is not recognized?
American Sign Language is made up of gestures, facial expressions and body language and has its own grammar and structure. It’s part of a distinctive deaf culture that has its own history, arts and customs.
In the past few years, it has become a popular language for hearing students to learn at high schools and universities across the country. The proposed policy to make it a world language in Nebraska says it would help to integrate the deaf and hearing communities and stimulate interest in such careers as sign language interpretation and deaf education.
Darnall is optimistic a Department of Education policy would work, especially if Nebraskans look at ASL as an opportunity.
With course offerings in high schools would come a need for teachers. Assuming those teachers would need an endorsement in ASL, the University of Nebraska at Omaha could respond to that need, said David Conway, UNO associate dean of the College of Education.
UNO has a program to train interpreters, with 19 hours of sign language already offered, Conway said. Teachers and students seeking endorsement could also take such classes as the sociology of deafness, language development in deaf children, discourse analysis and comparative linguistics. A practicum would also be developed.
Some community colleges and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln also offer signing classes.
Nebraska has a shortage of interpreters, said Carol McClain, who is on the Education Department’s management team for special populations. In smaller communities, some interpreters have had only one sign language class.
“That’s not enough,” she said.
If the policy is accepted, and public schools decide to offer the classes, districts could offer students up to 20 units, or two years of credit.
It may be difficult to find teachers, McClain said.
Distance learning could be one solution for districts seeking to offer the classes, she said.
The state department will gather more information and talk to world language teachers about the proposal. The board likely will address the policy in June.
Darnall said people who would like to know more about the language and the deaf community can visit the Nebraska School for the Deaf Museum in Omaha. The first goal of the museum is to preserve Nebraska’s deaf heritage, he said.
The second is to educate people about the state’s deaf community.
“Deaf people are not a medical model,” he said. “We are people with a distinct language, history and culture.”
Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.
American Sign Language
* Forty-one states recognize it.
* Employment opportunities for students of sign language: Teachers and interpreters for health care, police departments, courts, government, churches, entertainment venues.
* American Sign Language credits are accepted at Midland Lutheran College and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and on a case-by-case basis at Creighton University.
* Credits may be accepted at Dana College, the University of Nebraska at Kearney and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Deaf school museum
Nebraska School for the Deaf Museum, 3223 N. 45th St., Omaha, is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 1-4 p.m., except holiday weekends. The school closed in 1998.
On the Web:
www.nsdmuseum.org
Linsay Darnall Jr. sat watching the conversation earlier this month among members of the state Board of Education and state Department of Education staff.
In the face and gestures of interpreter Tanya Wendel, he saw their caution about accepting a proposal to make American Sign Language an official world language for the state’s K-12 schools.
He could not hear, but caught board members’ hesitation in Wendel’s gestures as she signed their comments.
Board President Fred Meyer of St. Paul said it might be wise to study the proposal, which would add ASL to such language courses as Spanish, French and German in public schools, a little more.
Member Bob Evnen of Lincoln was not comfortable until he better understood the implications of such a proposal.
“I was kind of surprised they had some concerns,” Darnall signed later as Wendel interpreted. “I didn’t think they had any problem before. I’m surprised there are still questions.”
Darnall, the Nebraska School for the Deaf Alumni Association president, also wondered about the effect of having a state education policy rather than a state law.
Sen. Roger Wehrbein introduced a bill in the Legislature this session that would recognize ASL as a distinct language and authorize schools to offer it as a world language credit.
But the Legislature’s Education Committee thought a Department of Education policy may be the better way to recognize the language, and to establish a curriculum, said Wendel, executive director of the Nebraska Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
“This really has been an emotional issue for the deaf community,” she said.
In 1911, the Nebraska Legislature banned the use of ASL in the state.
Now, with 41 other states recognizing the legitimacy of the language, the community has wondered: Are we second-class citizens if our language is not recognized?
American Sign Language is made up of gestures, facial expressions and body language and has its own grammar and structure. It’s part of a distinctive deaf culture that has its own history, arts and customs.
In the past few years, it has become a popular language for hearing students to learn at high schools and universities across the country. The proposed policy to make it a world language in Nebraska says it would help to integrate the deaf and hearing communities and stimulate interest in such careers as sign language interpretation and deaf education.
Darnall is optimistic a Department of Education policy would work, especially if Nebraskans look at ASL as an opportunity.
With course offerings in high schools would come a need for teachers. Assuming those teachers would need an endorsement in ASL, the University of Nebraska at Omaha could respond to that need, said David Conway, UNO associate dean of the College of Education.
UNO has a program to train interpreters, with 19 hours of sign language already offered, Conway said. Teachers and students seeking endorsement could also take such classes as the sociology of deafness, language development in deaf children, discourse analysis and comparative linguistics. A practicum would also be developed.
Some community colleges and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln also offer signing classes.
Nebraska has a shortage of interpreters, said Carol McClain, who is on the Education Department’s management team for special populations. In smaller communities, some interpreters have had only one sign language class.
“That’s not enough,” she said.
If the policy is accepted, and public schools decide to offer the classes, districts could offer students up to 20 units, or two years of credit.
It may be difficult to find teachers, McClain said.
Distance learning could be one solution for districts seeking to offer the classes, she said.
The state department will gather more information and talk to world language teachers about the proposal. The board likely will address the policy in June.
Darnall said people who would like to know more about the language and the deaf community can visit the Nebraska School for the Deaf Museum in Omaha. The first goal of the museum is to preserve Nebraska’s deaf heritage, he said.
The second is to educate people about the state’s deaf community.
“Deaf people are not a medical model,” he said. “We are people with a distinct language, history and culture.”
Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.
American Sign Language
* Forty-one states recognize it.
* Employment opportunities for students of sign language: Teachers and interpreters for health care, police departments, courts, government, churches, entertainment venues.
* American Sign Language credits are accepted at Midland Lutheran College and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and on a case-by-case basis at Creighton University.
* Credits may be accepted at Dana College, the University of Nebraska at Kearney and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Deaf school museum
Nebraska School for the Deaf Museum, 3223 N. 45th St., Omaha, is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 1-4 p.m., except holiday weekends. The school closed in 1998.
On the Web:
www.nsdmuseum.org