Let Your Hands Do The Talking

Lena Ess

Shaun Roundy

English 120-5

27 April 1998

Have you ever been walking down a hall and seen two people gesturing to one another, their arms flailing uncontrollably? Seemingly performing an ancient African ritual? Their hands moving in and out of sync, their face expressing different emotions. Have any of these occurrences ever bothered you? Have they sparked some interest? These hand gestures combined with facial expression and body language are called sign language. More specifically American Sign Language, or ASL. If college students like yourselves would take a sign language class you could better understand ASL, why it's used, and how to use it yourself.

"It is the visual-manual language of a visual people, Deaf people. It is the thread that binds the members of the Deaf-World to one another, and to Deaf people across the ages. It is signed language" (Lane, Hoffmeister, and Bahan 42). Most people are probably aware that most Deaf people use sign language to communicate, but most don't understand why. Deaf individuals could not communicate one with another without sign language. They could write their words on a piece of paper back and forth, but it's hard to express feelings, thoughts, ideas, sentiments, and other emotions on paper. It is faster, easier, and much more comfortable for the Deaf to use sign language. Oliver Sacks has said that "Sign is the equal of speech, lending itself equally to the rigorous and the poetic- to philosophical analysis... with an ease that is sometimes greater then that of speech" (20).

ASL is the language of the Deaf community, and is the core of their culture. Sign language uses body language, facial expressions, and your hands to create a living

language. This language is an incredible art, producing feeling and thoughts that the Deaf can use to communicate with one another and when this art is learned by a hearing person, it can open new doors to each others culture. The Abbe de L'Epee, one of the first hearing teachers of the Deaf said this about sign language: "The universal language that your scholars have sought for in vain and of which they have despaired, is here; it is right before your eyes, it is the mimicry of the impoverished Deaf. Because you do not know it, you hold it in contempt, yet it alone will provide you with the key to all languages" (Lane 42).

Another Language?

"Foreign language acquisition is necessary to be an educated, sentient person with empathy for foreign peoples and cultures, and a capacity to experience the world through other eyes, other words, and from other orientations" (Selover 183). One of the main goals of any college student is to expand their world, try new things, and perhaps start finding out what they want to do and become. One purpose of a second language study is to let the student enter into another culture, and broaden his or her perspective. By looking at other languages and cultures, like ASL, a person can learn more about themselves and other people. You can develop conversational skills that will not only aid in the new language, but will give you a greater understanding of your native language. The cultural behaviors and sensitivity you master in learning ASL will help you to act in a way that is comfortable to the Deaf people and their culture. ASL also furnishes tools to continue to learn the language in their community.

Why ASL?

We can all relate to time spent in high school and college studying other languages and wondering when we'd ever use them. With ASL it's a different story. You can converse within the boundaries of your own town or city. As hearing people learn about deafness- the language and culture- they will feel less threatened when they are approached by Deaf individuals. And when students see them in the halls performing their "rituals," they won't be confused.

"ASL is a subtle, elegant, powerful language of a rich, complex culture" (Smith 82). "The plethora of recent state and federal legislation which has opened professional and educational doors for Deaf people has stirred a desire to learn sign language in an ever-widening circle of people" (Kanda and Fleischer 86). There are about 500,000 to 2 million Deaf people in the United States that use ASL. Because this number increases every year, there are more and more oppertunities for the hearing to work with the Deaf.

Each year in California an estimated 10,000 students enroll in a sign language class. In Utah, the statistics are becoming increasingly similar. "While ASL is well over 200 years old and is America's fourth most commonly used language, it has only recently been widely taught in schools and colleges" (Smith 69).

Learning ASL in class is structured and gives the basics for starting to understand the language. Learning ASL out of class can improve your signing skills immeasurably. But where is the time outside of class? If you schedule at least a half an hour once a week to study the language, your ability to communicate with the Deaf will improve vastly. This time is nothing more than an episode on TV.

How Do You Study ASL?

There are many ways to study including just talking to a Deaf person. Any attempt, even if you are slow and unsure, is appreciated as an act of trying to understand the person. Just breathe, get some courage, and go say hi. Ask them what their name is, where they go to school. Then tell them about yourself, because they will ask. The first time I ever tried to talk to a person who was Deaf I felt nervous. What if I signed something wrong and when I meant to say, "how are you", I signed, "you look ugly"? My thoughts almost took over my entire system, but somehow I did it. I conversed, in very rough sign, to a Deaf person. Learning any language is tense, and becoming nervous is normal. But when studying ASL, you can’t be afraid of the Deaf and their culture.

Other ways to study are to form a study group, surf the Deaf World Web, or go to a Deaf community activity. Forming a study group can be helpful so that you get other people’s opinions and insights on the language. There is almost always someone in the class who knows more about ASL than you do; study with them and most often they will share themselves and what they have learned to get to the point they are at. Surfing the Deaf World Web, or any site on the internet that has information, news, and other stories on the Deaf community is helpful to see the very current issues they are facing.

Going to a Deaf community activity is also fun. In Utah there are several Deaf wards in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Throughout the country there are Deaf community centers and clubs where the Deaf meet and socialize. In fact, Deaf clubs are an important part of their culture. In some states, it is the only place where the Deaf feel at home in their communities. It is where the Deaf meet and share a common language and culture. Look up a local one in the phone book. You will have the opportunity to meet new people, do fun things, and practice ASL at the same time. However, it is best to call the Deaf community center in your area before you go to an activity. Just like anyone else, the Deaf like their privacy and prefer politeness to someone just showing up and expecting a cultural experience.

To succeed in an ASL class there are a few things you should do to make the time count while you are in the classroom. First, pay attention to what is happening in class, especially the communication that goes on between the teacher and students. When watching a person sign, concentrate on their face, not on their hands. Develop active listening behaviors. For instance, when a person is signing to you, don’t break eye contact, nod, respond with "huh?" "wow," "really?" Whether you are hearing or Deaf, knowing that you are truly being listened to is like really cool man. Leave your voice outside the room. If you force yourself not to talk, then you force yourself to use ASL, which leads you to better learn it. Finally, try not to miss class, especially in the beginning. As in most other subjects, one concept is founded upon the comprehension of another. Developing these habits in your study of ASL will improve you capabilities much faster.

A lot of college students might take ASL because it looks easy. Some of the college students I talked to thought of ASL as just a bunch of basketball plays, only you could sign more than numbers. Some feel that it is not a real language, because real languages are spoken. A few people think that ASL is just a bunch of pictures that you make with your hands. Others thought they knew all the sign language they ever needed to know because they could swear with one of their middle fingers. One student claimed that "flipping the bird" was the most universal and widely understood sign. However immature these answers to my survey seemed, they were at least honest.

Yes, ASL does include being able to sign numbers, but there is so much more to this language. If you were to take the time to study ASL, you could see that it can express all of the worlds’ languages, and then some. Sign language uses more than one finger, and if you really want to, you could learn how to swear with more than one finger.

ASL is not just a bunch of pictures expressed with the use of hands. If sign language was pictorial it would be immediately understood and easy to learn; it is not. ASL has its own grammar unlike spoken languages. When a person studies ASL they must begin to think in ASL. That is why most teachers of ASL don't begin teaching you the English word equivalent of a sign. They will most often draw a picture of the concept they are trying to explain, sign it, then have the class sign it with her. For instance, a teacher could draw a picture of a tree on the board, sign a sign for tree, then you would sign it yourself. In a sense you are speaking in concepts, not just pictures. You have to use your brain in a completely different way than you are used to.

Sign language is not hard, but it's not easy either. It's just as difficult as any other language and requires the same level of dedication. When you take a language class, or any other kind of class for that matter, you have to commit to studying to get a good grade or succeed. With ASL, if you study the language, how it's used in real life, and how the Deaf themselves use it, you can succeed in mastering the language.

I've seen the challenges which confront Deaf people on a daily basis, and believe me, the communication barrier that exists between hearing and Deaf persons is the largest obstacle to be overcome. "This barrier prevents access to full participation and freedom by Deaf people within society at large" (Selover 153).

As mentioned before, there are many Deaf people in the United States. Because the Deaf can do anything but hear, there is a need for sign language interpreters. I know of many companies in Utah who hire out interpreters who sometimes have to turn the Deaf people away because they don't have enough interpreters available to work for them. There are technical devices the Deaf can use, but can machines really substitute for common human interaction?

I Don't Know Any Deaf People

Whether or not you know a Deaf person is not relevant. How many people who learn French, German, or Russian actually know a person of that culture? The fact is, your chances of having an opportunity to actually use ASL in the United States, or Utah, are great. The opportunity to use any other language is definitely not as prevalent. The opportunities with ASL are endless because of the large communities of the Deaf, especially here in Utah.

The Deaf community in the United States is clearly a subculture, by definition, but it is one which has been shown to have its own quite distinctive cultural characteristics. ASL is the foundation of the Deaf community. The study of American Deaf culture offers the student three special educational advantages. Unlike the great national cultures which the foreign language student usually confronts, American Deaf Culture is among us. The Deaf have no specific place they all call home because they live among the hearing and other people who are not Deaf. They live among all of us.

The second advantage is that an understanding of the Deaf community depends crucially on an understanding of their language. If you do not understand the language of the Deaf, you can not understand them. Third, ASL exposes the student to a different mode of communication. ASL is visual, and students learn that the Deaf hear with their eyes, not their ears.

I Don't Have Time!

"Time is what we want the most, and what we use the worst" (Lane 213). As college students many of us struggle to go to school, go to work, take care of ourselves, and have a social life. As busy as this lifestyle may seem, within the school category there are basic requirements for any major. One of those requirements is to learn a foreign language When you are thinking about a course to take, ASL is an exceptional choice. It offers a lifetime of opportunities. If you look at ASL’s career possibilities, learning the language could actually save you time in the future. After taking enough classes to familiarize yourself with the language and involving yourself in the Deaf culture, it is possible to pass the Utah interpreter certification test and become an interpreter without all the time and money it takes to get a degree.

Fear is a driving factor in everyday life. Some people fear more than others, but trying new things can improve you. It can make you a stronger person and help you to try even more new experiences. Trying to understand the Deaf and their language is a new experience that many people are afraid of. Most people don’t understand ASL, and because they don’t, they have fears of learning the language and in communicating with Deaf people. Don’t be afraid of the unknown. You’ll never know what a wonderful, culturally-rich language ASL is until you try it!

Most Deaf people are very blunt. If your hair looks funny, your clothes don’t match, or you need some more deodorant, they will let you know. Their bluntness is often mistaken for rudeness, but they see it as honesty. Don't be offended.

The benefits of sign language can be anything you would like them to be. The benefits could be a future profession, a wider and more diverse group of friends, an increase in knowledge, or just being able to use your brain in a completely different way. What an amazing concept! American Sign Language, do it today.

Works Cited

Kanda, Jan and Larry Fleischer. "Who is Qualified to Teach American Sign Language?" Sign Language Studies (1992) : 86.

Lane, Harlan. When the Mind Hears. New York: Random House, 1984.

Lane, Harlan, Robert Hoffmeister, and Ben Bahan. A Journey Into the Deaf-World. California: Dawn Sign, 1996.

Sacks, Oliver. Seeing Voices: A Journey Into the World of the Deaf. New York: Harper Collins, 1990.

Selover, Peggy J. "American Sign Language in the High School System." Sign Language Studies (1992) : 153-183.

Smith, Cheri. "Signing Naturally; Notes on the Development of the American Sign Language Curriculum Project at Vista College." Sign Language Studies (1992) : 69-82.

Annotated Bibliography

Goldstein, Naomi E., Robert Feldman. "Facial Expressions and American Sign Language." Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 20.2 (1996): 111-123. Article that explores the relation between knowledge of ASL and the ability to decode facial expressions of emotion.

Hecht, Jeff. "Talking Heads." New Scientist 15 November 1997: 19-21. Highlights a project that is trying to create an electric translator for the Deaf inside a hat.

Jones, Bernhardt E. "Characteristics and Practices of Sign Language Interpreters in Inclusive Educational Programs." Exceptional Children 63.2 (1997): 257-269. Studies the practices of interpreters in an educational setting.

Kanda, Jan and Larry Fleischer. "Who is Qualified to Teach American Sign Language?" Sign Language Studies (1992) : 86. Article about the beauty of ASL and what teachers should know about the subject when they teach.

Klima, Edward, and Ursula Bellugi. The Signs of Language. London: Harvard University, 1979. A book on the different signs and structures of ASL.

Lane, Harlan. The Mask of Benevolence. New York: Alfred A. Knope, 1992. A book about how the people who think they are trying to help the Deaf are really hindering them.

Lane, Harlan. When the Mind Hears. New York: Random House, 1984. Comprehensive book on the history of the Deaf and their struggles and successes in education.

Lane, Harlan, Robert Hoffmeister, and Ben Bahan. A Journey Into the Deaf-World. California: Dawn Sign, 1996. A book that takes you inside the mind of the Deaf-World and how they view the world, ASL, and themselves.

Sacks, Oliver. Seeing Voices: A Journey Into the World of the Deaf. New York: Harper Collins, 1990. A book about a hearing man discovering what ASL means to the Deaf.

Selover, Peggy J. "American Sign Language in the High School System." Sign Language Studies (1992) : 153-183. An article about how ASL can be taught in the high school system.

Smith, Cheri. "Signing Naturally; Notes on the Development of the American Sign Language Curriculum Project at Vista College." Sign Language Studies (1992) : 69-82. Article about what an ASL college class should consist of and how to better teach the subject.

Smith, Cheri, Ella Mae Lentz, Ken Mikos. Signing Naturally: Student Workbook Level 1. California: Dawn Sign, 1988. A workbook about ASL for beginners.

Spradley, Thomas S., and James P. Deaf Like Me. Washington D.C.: Gallaudet University, 1985. A book about the life of a Deaf person.

Stover, Dawn. "All in the Family." Popular Science Feb. 1998: 48-52. Details of Washoe the first chimpanzee to be taught sign language.

Supalla, Sam and Ben Bahan. ASL Literature Series: Bird of a Different Feather. U.S.A.: Dawn Sign, 1994. A metaphorical story about children and cochlear implants.

Vicent, Kiernan. "Linguists Hope a New Computer Program Will Advance the Study of Sign Language." Chronicle of Higher Education 44.11 (1997) : 27-29. Reports on the development of Sign Stream, a computer program which will help linguists study the use of sign language.