By Eddy Laird, McDaniel College
ASL, I believe, matters. Knowledge of ASL matters, as does knowledge about ASL. Attitudes and beliefs about ASL matter, as well. And yet, for the most part, Deaf people are not only bilingual, but also know very little about ASL and its linguistics. Whereas knowledge of English may be almost universally accepted as among the characteristics of educated Deaf people, the same, at least in the United States, cannot be said to be true for either knowledge of ASL or for knowledge about ASL. Such ignorance is not simply sad, either; it, too, makes a difference. The knowledge of( and about) ASL does have considerable value and should not be undervalued.
ASL is, unquestionably, at the core and heart of the Deaf experience. ASL is not only what makes Deaf people unique, but it is arguably the one of the most important tools that they use in maintaining a democratic society. ASL is, in fact, like the glue that holds virtually everything else that they value as human beings. In essence, ASL is a human language.
I applaud the Society for American Sign Language( SASL) whose members have spent their lives studying, learning, and teaching ASL. They have not only an affection for ASL that they study and teach, but also a desire to share that affection with Deaf people, colleagues, and friends. I do know, however, that apathy( and even antipathy) are by far the most common responses among people toward ASL. Many, perhaps even most people, have fundamental misconceptions about the nature of ASL, its attributes and characteristics, social and cultural functions of ASL, and the role of ASL in human society.
There has been a long-standing debate among ASL educators and those interested in ASL education about the interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning ASL. Teachers have an incredibly complex and daunting task; however, in the context of ASL education, this means that they should have achieved a high degree of competence in ASL. There are, interestingly enough, evidences that their ASL proficiency is rarely evaluated. This is especially significant because Deaf students often view teachers as their language and cultural models. Their job is not only to teach them the linguistics of ASL, but also provide them with an introduction to Deaf culture, ASL literature, and indeed, the DEAF-WORLD. Unfortunately, I must admit that all too few Deaf students have any solid understanding of ASL grammatical terminology, yet, it is quite common to find that hearing students
know more about ASL grammar in their‘ foreign / world language’ classes.( Continued to page 7) The Power of ASL 6 Summer 2016 – Issue 2