ASL: Access, Benefits, and Quality
Rosen
states in 1997( Kreeft-Peyton, 1998) 32 in 1999( Jacobowitz, 1999), 38 in 2004( Gallaudet Research Institute, 2004) and 45 in 2014( Rosen, 2015). The results of deaf community work in ensuring recognition of ASL and deaf community and culture at the state government level were carried over to high schools, colleges and universities( Rosen, 2006).
Colleges and universities. ASL as second( L2) or additional( Ln) language was initially offered in colleges and universities in conjunction with collegiate programs that prepare individuals to work with deaf children or adults. In particular, these classes were developed in the fields of deaf education, speech pathology and vocational rehabilitation. The broader idea of studying ASL as part of meeting the foreign language requirement took over and shaped the educational landscape in a profound way. It did not matter if students had plans to work with deaf children or adults. ASL was now seen as a language worthy of study in itself.
The rise of ASL for study by hearing students has been documented in various scholarly sources. Shroyer and Holmes( 1982) identified five higher education institutions in 1980 that accepted ASL in fulfillment of requirements for proficiency in a foreign language. McIntire( 1984) listed eight higher education institutions in 1983 that did not teach sign language but accepted it in fulfillment of foreign language requirements, which increased to 12 in the following year( The Reflector, 1984). Delgado( 1984) added that there were 20 higher education institutions that accepted sign language in fulfillment of the foreign language requirement for their graduates.
A study by Corwin and Wilcox( 1985) attempted to ascertain policies on ASL as a foreign language from over one hundred higher education institutions. Most of the universities reported that they did recognize ASL as a language but did not accept it as suitable for foreign language credit. Since then, this resistance seems to have lessened. Wilcox and Wilcox( 1991) found that ASL was accepted as one of the foreign languages that meet the requirement for undergraduate admission in 48 U. S. national research universities as of 1991. The number had grown to 93 in 1997( Cooper, 1997), 148 in 2006( Wilcox, 2006), and to 181 by 2015( Wilcox, 2015). Delgado( 1984) took a national survey of community and junior colleges, and found that 373 institutions offered sign language classes.
Goldberg, Looney, and Lusin( 2015) produced some of the most solid findings. This group of researchers conducted a survey of foreign language enrollments in higher education for the Modern Language Association and found that 756( a third) of colleges and universities in 2013 offered ASL classes. In addition, an increasing number of colleges and universities offer formal degree programs in ASL Studies with coursework not only in ASL but also ASL linguistics, history, sociology and the anthropology of deaf community and culture, and ASL and Deaf arts and literature. Goldberg and his colleagues added that the number of higher education institutions that offer bachelor’ s degrees for ASL majors has increased from 28 undergraduate colleges and universities in 2005-2006, to 35 in 2008-2009, and 43 in 2012-2013.
High schools. The impetus for introducing ASL for foreign language credit in public high schools was the presence of signing deaf students in mainstream classrooms. According to Rosen( 2006), the mainstreaming of ASL and deaf community and culture was initially framed by Individuals with Disabilities Education Act( IDEA) provisions and practices that promoted the use of speech and hearing for students with deafness. This legislation covers what is known as special education, which is a powerful force in the public school system. A pathological orientation towards deafness was criticized in the scholarly literature as“ audist,” and places spoken language in a superior position( Bauman, 2004; Eckert & Rowley, 2013; Lane, 1992). This attitude has created communication and language barriers between deaf and hearing students in public education classrooms( Foster, 1989; Gaustad & Kluwin, 1992; Stinson & Liu, 1999). In the 1997
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