Standard English Sign Language (ASL)

Standard English Grammar takes priority in teaching from kindergarten to college and university. The Standard English Grammar sets rules on the way both professional and nonprofessional writing is conducted; these rules place priority on the structure of a sentence, where punctuation is placed, and consistent tenses. While the issue of consistent verb tenses within writing is valid, the punctuation and structure of a sentence itself should not have priority over what is “good” and “bad” writing due to colloquialism. Colloquialism allows for a more fluid writing, writing that mimics that of common languages. The importance of a piece of writing should be placed on the meaning and understandability of a sentence rather than minute details within …show more content…
Colloquialism even transcends verbal language into Sign Language. While every language has their own Sign Language, for the purposes of this essay, I will focus on Standard English Sign Language and American Sign Language (ASL). Standard English Sign Language has slowly been faded out of ASL due to how long and specific the standard used to be. Standard English Sign Language had a sign for every article, conjugation, plural, etc. very much like the traditional English Language. But, in the end, it is too “English-y,” or too long for interpreters and speakers. Instead, ASL has condensed the language into an easier to speak version in which unnecessary words like articles and conjunctions for example have been removed from speech. For example, in the Disney song “How Far I’ll Go,” from Moana, a line is “I wish I could be the perfect daughter, but I come back to the water no matter how hard I try,” which translates literally to “I wish …show more content…
The purpose of taking grammar classes at a university level is to prepare a student for professional writing such as drafting e-mails, writing grant proposals, and writing intellectual essays. But, writing classes, specifically creative writing classes, fall in a limbo with grammar. Poetry tosses the rules of grammar out the window unless it is used as a specific device within a poem; creative non-fiction uses proper grammar the most due to its base in essay forms, but dialogue is off limits for proper grammar due to its “authenticity” to real life in scene; fiction falls into a very weird limbo itself, colloquialism battles proper grammar in that, like creative non-fiction, dialogue is off limits, but narration can be proper or colloquial depending on how close the narrator is to the point of view. One of the most famous pieces of colloquial fiction writing is Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston uses colloquialism throughout her novel to capture the authenticity of southern african american speech patterns during post slavery times. Generally, English and Creative Writing Departments allow for a leeway when it comes to grammar (unless it is Professional Writing of course), the other departments, on the other hand care a lot more about grammar than expected. A study has shown