The Power of ASL 4 Summer 2016 – Issue 2
( Continued from page 1 )
Rochester Institute of Technology who accepted to present their ASL literature works at the following MLA conference , which was held in Vancouver , British Columbia on January 10 , 2015 . The session was called “ Understanding American Sign Language ( ASL ) Literature as Part of a Minority Study Program ” presided by Guillaume Chastel from University of Rochester . Dr . Supalla ’ s presentation was entitled , ASL Literature Series as a Model for the Study of Literary Work in an Unwritten Language ; Dr . Schlehofer ’ s presentation was “ Valli ’ s ‘ Hands ’ in American Sign Language ’ and Dr . Bahan ’ s presentation revolved around tools of ASL literary artists and genre formation . For the first time , Drs . Supalla and Schlehofer attended the MLA conference along with Dr . Jody H . Cripps and his colleague Mr . Ronald Fenicle from Towson University , who discussed their analysis of an ASL curriculum and its implementation for L2 pedagogy .
The following year , in January 2016 , two special sessions “ ASL and Deaf Cultural Studies as Academic Disciplines ” and “ Teaching ASL ” were held at the MLA conference in Austin , Texas . Dr . Supalla from University of Arizona described some considerations for the uniqueness of ASL and Dr . Schlehofer from Rochester Institute of Technology ( RIT ) explored how literary theory of ASL evolved in directions . Dr . Russell Rosen from College of Staten Island ( CUNY ) offered an historical perspective of issues and trends in curriculum , instruction , and assessment , as well as presented the second paper on secondary students ’ motivation for ASL as a foreign language . In his paper “ Inside a Closer Look : Critical Social Inquiry and the Deaf Cultural Studies Program ,” Dr . JMatt Searls from RIT discussed the specialized study of minority groups from a cultural perspective and explained that the field of cultural studies surrounded the contextual definition and meaning that created a thorough understanding of the values , identities , social roles , and expectations . Co- Director and lecturer Norma Tourangeau from University of Rochester showed initial findings from survey data collected from students majoring and minoring in ASL within the University of Rochester ’ s four-year undergraduate program ( see the photo ).
For the 2017 MLA convention in Philadelphia , two sessions have been created with two new incoming presenters Dr . Flavia Fleischer , Department of Deaf Studies from California State University of Northridge and Dr . Andrew Byrne , Department of World Languages from Framingham State University in addition to Drs . Supalla and Schlehofer . We look forward to new ideas and collaborative spirit with the MLA and other universities pursuing intellectual inquiry in the field of Deaf / ASL studies .
Allied Organization Phase
In Austin , Texas , some of the SASL committee members , who are current MLA members , held a private meeting about how to become allied with the MLA in the presence of Deirdre Henry who is Coordinator of Allied Programs and Convention Programs on Saturday , January 9 , 2016 . The SASL explained its history of having attended the MLA annual conventions for the past two years and would like to be active in future convention sessions — presenting a paper , serving as a roundtable panelist , facilitating a workshop , or presiding at a session . The SASL is committed to this goal in order to attract a wide audience , as well as to promote the recognition of ASL literature within the area of Minority Studies . Deirdre Henry has agreed to work closely with SASL in helping how to become allied with MLA . Dr . Deirdre Schlehofer is a liaison between MLA and SASL .
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