Why Our Journal is in English
A Note from the President By Samuel J. Supalla
Why Our Journal is in English
Since the last newsletter issue, a lot of things have happened with the SASL Journal. You may be wondering when the first journal issue will come out, and the answer is around January. I must say that the process of creating the journal has been much more labor intensive than originally thought! Dr. Jody Cripps of Towson University, the journal ' s editor, has been busy with soliciting papers from presenters of our last conference in November, 2015( see http:// www. societyforasl. org / celebration-of-sign-language-2015-documentary. html). All of the papers are subject to the peer review process. I appreciate that many reviewers from around the country have agreed to help out. Hopefully, all six papers will be accepted for publication in the first SASL Journal issue. And the big question remaining is: Why will the SASL Journal be published in English and not ASL?
This question is a hard but fair one. I know of at least two journals that have been published in ASL. This means that contributors sign, and their‘ text’ is videotaped and posted. I must say that it is experimental, to say the least, to have a scholarly paper done through the oral means, that is, signing in ASL. I have watched some scholars attempting to sign a text academically on video, however, I became restless and inattentive to their efforts. As an academician, I find it engaging and thoughtful to read a scholarly paper that is written. I have come to believe that the written language consistently represents the scholarly content best. If ASL had a writing system, I can imagine how we could benefit from a journal written in ASL. Unfortunately, ASL has been a non-written language throughout its 200-year history. The fact that there are multiple writing systems developed for ASL over the years, but is not yet part of deaf education is something to consider. While I attended a school for the deaf and am a native signer, I was never taught to read and write ASL.
Another point to make is that scholars have long recognized the distinction between oral culture and print
culture. The American deaf community is part of an oral culture. Deaf people possess oral traditions and have a large body of ASL literature that is signed. I
have no reservations regarding an ASL literary piece published through the video or DVD format. My published work " For a Decent Living " as part of the ASL Literature Series in 1994 proves that. The ASL Literature Series is an anthology and not a journal. For me, scholarly journals belong in print, and we should not try to change that.
I hope that the rationale I outlined explains why the SASL Journal will be in English. With SASL being a newly formed organization, we are fortunate that ASL literacy has been written into its mission. Thus you will see some scholarly papers coming out on signed language writing and reading through the SASL journal. The scholarly attention to ASL literacy is unprecedented and much needed, especially considering this discussion!
( Continue on page 5)
The Power of ASL 4 Winter 2016 – Issue 4