Afterword
Meier
expression of visual imagery in the two language modalities that may arise from the
differing resources available to signed and spoken languages?
Our focus shifts to the imagery invoked by ASL poetry when we read Karen
Christie’s paper. Christie asks how ASL poetry is an expression of Deaf identities. For her,
Debbie Rennie’s “Black Hole: Color ASL” represents the spiritual journey of Deaf people
(and in her recent addendum, Christie notes the variety of Deaf experiences—there is not
just one Deaf journey). In her commentary, Heidi Rose raises the issue of the increasing
mainstreaming of deaf children; with mainstreaming, deaf children may have less access
to ASL. Vibrant digital spaces for ASL poetry may, she suggests, become a crucial means
for mainstreamed children to access the artistic achievements of their language.
ASL in Deaf Education
By 1989, the intellectual foundation that Stokoe had laid in 1960 was strong. Robert
E. Johnson, Scott Liddell, and Carol Erting could build on that foundation in their policy
paper, “Unlocking the Curriculum”, on the role of ASL in deaf education. They also built
on their own distinguished research careers working on the linguistics of ASL and on the
language development of deaf children.
Johnson, Liddell, and Erting were deeply concerned about the outcomes of deaf
education. The system of deaf education in this country was failing all deaf students,
whether those children came from hearing or Deaf families. What should we do? They
argued that a natural sign language is the best vehicle for the education of deaf and hard-
of-hearing children. While citing Stokoe (1960), they succinctly note (p. 5) that ASL,
because of its history, timecourse of language acquisition, and structure, is a natural
language. In contrast, sign-supported speech and total communication are not natural
languages, are not used effectively by teachers, and are not even effective means of
teaching English.
Their proposal was that all deaf children should all have early access to ASL. Early
access to ASL would provide access to the full school curriculum. Early access to ASL
would also provide a foundation for acquiring English as a second language (see Mayberry,
Lock, & Kazmi, 2002). In her commentary, Laura Blackburn points us to the work of Sam
Supalla and others (with Blackburn herself being a member of the team) as showing one
way that we can begin to unlock the curriculum for deaf children.
Concluding Thoughts
The papers collected here demonstrate the power of scholarly research on ASL.
Through such work we have come to know more about what human language is. The efforts
of William Stokoe and those who followed after him helped to validate an understudied
and often stigmatized human language—ASL—as a vehicle for artistic expression and as
a medium of educational instruction. The work collected here has set the conditions for
positive social change.
Continued scholarship on signed languages may help to arm downtrodden
communities and to protect threatened languages. Future scholarship on ASL and other
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