American Sign Language Essay

While the definition of American Sign Language varies throughout institutions and settings, Dr. William Vicars defines ASL as “a visually perceived language based on a naturally evolved system of articulated hand gestures and their placement relative to the body, along with non-manual markers such as facial expressions, head movements, shoulder raises, mouth morphemes, and movements of the body” (ASL: a brief description, n.d.). More specifically, ASL may also vary among individuals.
Pidgin Signed English, or PSE, is a combination of ASL and English. Since ASL is a distinct language, it does not translate perfectly into English, with many words and syntax rules differentiating. Most often, people who learn English before ASL, are not culturally Deaf, and/or are hearing do not sign strictly in ASL, but rather mix English and ASL, resulting in PSE. There are many forms of PSE that depend upon the individual and whether ASL or English is more native to them. A Deaf person may use more grammatical structures found in ASL, while a hearing person may …show more content…
I always knew that my signing was more English than ASL, but it is interesting to now know that there is a specific term for it. As a hearing person who learned English as my first language, it is not surprising that I naturally incorporate grammatical structures, words, and phrases from English and translate them directly into my signs. Because of this, it does take extra effort to remember syntax rules for ASL when signing, as it is not intuitive to me. Since ASL is not my first language and I am not deaf, I do not think that I will ever be able to achieve native-like ASL signing nor will I be able to fully master ASL. However, if I were to continue my education in ASL and Deaf studies as well as immersing myself in Deaf culture, I would be able to sign as closely to native ASL as