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http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/06/07/homeroom/doc4487781b540db109182339.txt
The Nebraska State Board of Education adopted a policy Wednesday recognizing American Sign Language as a national language that can be offered in elementary through high school classes.
ASL relies on gestures, facial expressions and body language. The silent language has its own grammatical rules and syntax.
While used primarily by the deaf and hard of hearing and their friends and families, ASL is attracting a growing number of hearing students.
Approval of the policy will help bring about broader acceptance of ASL as its own language, which the deaf community has been seeking for several years, said Linsay Darnall Jr., a consultant from Polk who uses ASL.
“I’m a very happy man today,” said Darnall said through a sign language interpreter. “There are so many, many paths and avenues that will open up.”
ASL has become one of the most popular “foreign” languages taught to the hearing at high schools and universities nationwide — booming over the last five years.
Forty-one other states recognize ASL as a language for public schools and more than 100 four-year universities accept it for foreign language requirements.
David Conway, associate dean of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s College of Education, said earlier ASL can be more difficult for some to learn than a spoken language.
A survey of state education departments by the Teachers College of Columbia University showed at least 701 public high schools offering sign language classes in 2004, up from 456 in 2000 and 185 in 1995.
Demand for ASL is also strong in higher education.
A 2002 survey of foreign language enrollments in U.S. colleges and universities by the Modern Language Association showed ASL increasing by 432 percent, to some 61,000, from 1998 to 2002. That’s more than four times the increase of any of the 15 most commonly taught languages on those campuses.
The popularity can be traced in part to the growth of advocacy groups for the deaf and changes required of businesses and government by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Some linguists argued that ASL is not a foreign language, even though it isn’t based on English, because it is primarily used in the United States and Canada and differs from sign languages of other countries.
ASL proponents say that a language’s place of origin has little to do with its status as a foreign language.
ASL teachers say many students want to learn the language so they can better serve the deaf community and gain a skill that may give them a competitive edge in professions such as medicine, social work, counseling and emergency services.
Sen. Roger Wehrbein of Plattsmouth introduced a bill (LB946) last session to recognize ASL, but the measure died in committee.
The Nebraska State Board of Education adopted a policy Wednesday recognizing American Sign Language as a national language that can be offered in elementary through high school classes.
ASL relies on gestures, facial expressions and body language. The silent language has its own grammatical rules and syntax.
While used primarily by the deaf and hard of hearing and their friends and families, ASL is attracting a growing number of hearing students.
Approval of the policy will help bring about broader acceptance of ASL as its own language, which the deaf community has been seeking for several years, said Linsay Darnall Jr., a consultant from Polk who uses ASL.
“I’m a very happy man today,” said Darnall said through a sign language interpreter. “There are so many, many paths and avenues that will open up.”
ASL has become one of the most popular “foreign” languages taught to the hearing at high schools and universities nationwide — booming over the last five years.
Forty-one other states recognize ASL as a language for public schools and more than 100 four-year universities accept it for foreign language requirements.
David Conway, associate dean of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s College of Education, said earlier ASL can be more difficult for some to learn than a spoken language.
A survey of state education departments by the Teachers College of Columbia University showed at least 701 public high schools offering sign language classes in 2004, up from 456 in 2000 and 185 in 1995.
Demand for ASL is also strong in higher education.
A 2002 survey of foreign language enrollments in U.S. colleges and universities by the Modern Language Association showed ASL increasing by 432 percent, to some 61,000, from 1998 to 2002. That’s more than four times the increase of any of the 15 most commonly taught languages on those campuses.
The popularity can be traced in part to the growth of advocacy groups for the deaf and changes required of businesses and government by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Some linguists argued that ASL is not a foreign language, even though it isn’t based on English, because it is primarily used in the United States and Canada and differs from sign languages of other countries.
ASL proponents say that a language’s place of origin has little to do with its status as a foreign language.
ASL teachers say many students want to learn the language so they can better serve the deaf community and gain a skill that may give them a competitive edge in professions such as medicine, social work, counseling and emergency services.
Sen. Roger Wehrbein of Plattsmouth introduced a bill (LB946) last session to recognize ASL, but the measure died in committee.