The population of people who speak Sign Language is between 500,000 and 2,000,000 Americans (Harrington). Regardless of whether the number is half of a million, or two million, there are a plethora of citizens in the United States who use American Sign Language, or ASL, in their everyday lives. These people include the deaf, the hard of hearing, the disabled, victims of mental illness, all of their family members, and so much more. There are a profuse amount of people who rely on American Sign Language as their primary method of communication and yet, there are still those who believe that it should not be considered an official foreign language. Teaching ASL in public schools and colleges would give people the opportunity to learn the about
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However, if ASL receives recognition as a foreign language, students wouldn’t have a problem earning the needed credits in the language they want to learn. The article "Miami Signs Off on ASL as a Foreign Language Option" explains how Miami University is expanding its Sign Language program. Students now can take enough ASL classes to meet the foreign language requirement for the College of Arts and Science. Before this change, the University offered only one beginning ASL class (Morris). Now, students have the opportunity to obtain their degrees and learn ASL in the …show more content…
These people primarily use technical arguments to support their claims, but nearly all of their assertions can be discredited. For instance, some make the case that ASL is simply a derivative of English. In other words, these people try to claim that Sign Language is essentially English in a visual form. They are wrong, however. ASL is a complete language with its own unique syntax and grammatical structures (Wilcox). In like manner, one could argue that bringing American Sign Language into schools involves other issues with the schooling itself. Starting a new ASL program in school brings topics like qualified teachers, the curriculum, and student evaluation into consideration (Wilcox). However, these discussions also arise with the implementation of any foreign language, not just one such as ASL. Sherman Wilcox, author of “Foreign Language Requirement? Why Not American Sign Language?,” writes “the study of ASL affords students the same challenges and rewards as more traditional foreign languages.” Thus, American Sign Language, by all means, is a foreign language and should be recognized as
However, if ASL receives recognition as a foreign language, students wouldn’t have a problem earning the needed credits in the language they want to learn. The article "Miami Signs Off on ASL as a Foreign Language Option" explains how Miami University is expanding its Sign Language program. Students now can take enough ASL classes to meet the foreign language requirement for the College of Arts and Science. Before this change, the University offered only one beginning ASL class (Morris). Now, students have the opportunity to obtain their degrees and learn ASL in the …show more content…
These people primarily use technical arguments to support their claims, but nearly all of their assertions can be discredited. For instance, some make the case that ASL is simply a derivative of English. In other words, these people try to claim that Sign Language is essentially English in a visual form. They are wrong, however. ASL is a complete language with its own unique syntax and grammatical structures (Wilcox). In like manner, one could argue that bringing American Sign Language into schools involves other issues with the schooling itself. Starting a new ASL program in school brings topics like qualified teachers, the curriculum, and student evaluation into consideration (Wilcox). However, these discussions also arise with the implementation of any foreign language, not just one such as ASL. Sherman Wilcox, author of “Foreign Language Requirement? Why Not American Sign Language?,” writes “the study of ASL affords students the same challenges and rewards as more traditional foreign languages.” Thus, American Sign Language, by all means, is a foreign language and should be recognized as