American Sign Language (ASL) is the first language of many deaf Americans. Sight is the most important device to use to communicate. Sign Language is a complex language that makes use of signs made using hand shape, position, movement, body movements, gestures, and facial expressions as a means of communication for the deaf. The National Institute on Deafness and other communication disorders states that “The American Sign Language is said to be the fourth most commonly used language in the United States.”
The origin of ASL is unknown. Many believe that ASL formed from the French Sign Language (FSL). Others believe that ASL was in America even before FSL. FSL was introduced to the United States in 1817 when a French teacher, Laurent Clerc, came to the United States and founded the first school for the deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. Many of his students were already fluent in their own form of sign language that they had developed through local culture. He began teaching his students FSL. It is said that today’s ASL most likely contains elements from early FSL.
American Sign Language is very different from the English Language. ASL contains its own fundamentals for grammar, sentence order, and punctuation. Every language spoken around the world has its own unique aspects. ASL is no different. For example, ASL users may raise an eyebrow or widen their eyes to ask a question. In the English language we use a certain tone of voice for asking a question. Unlike spoken languages where there is just one serial stream of phonemes, sign languages can have multiple things going on at the same time. This multiple segmentation makes it an exciting language for linguists to study and a frustrating language for Deaf-impaired (aka, hearing) people to learn. A person’s age, ethnicity, or gender may affect their ASL usage. Just as English words are said differently in different regions of the country, ASL has its slight differences throughout the country. ASL is not a universal language. It varies from place to place.
In order for a person to become fully fluent in any language, acknowledgement must be made at a young age. This is the same principle for ASL users. The earlier you are exposed to a language the better your communication skills will be come. This even applies to ASL. Researchers suggest that babies should be screened for deafness within the first month of life. If a child is diagnosed deaf within the first month of life, this gives the parents a head start on opening the window of communication for their baby. The earlier they start the learning process, the more their child will be able to communicate.
American Sign Language is a widely used form of communication for the deaf. Its different variations are used all throughout the country. The ASL is an important language that gets over looked by our culture. We don’t realize how many people in this world are deaf and how much effort it takes for them just to be able to communicate. ASL should be taken more seriously by our culture.
After doing a study on American Sign Language, I realized just how much of an impact it can have on people. Being able to sign will be beneficial to children when they begin school. They will already know punctuation and grammar without even realizing it. If a young child knows how to sign, they will be able to express themselves even before they can talk. Children that have a disability and can not communicate through words usually end up hurting themselves or others, ASL gives the child a way to communicate without having to hurt themselves.
Learning so much about ASL also made me realize how many people around the world are deaf. I can't imagine being a deaf parent and sitting at my child's baseball game and never hearing the crowds cheer when he hits a home run, or sitting at a piano concert and never hearing a note. These are the parents that will never hear their child's name be called at graduation.
In the video above, you can see that the ASL user sings the song in sign language. You can see that he uses various facial expressions to express the way he is meaning to say something. You can also see that the man not only uses sign lettering, but hand motions to represent a single word or phrase, a common characteristic of sign language users.
SOURCES:
http://learnlanguages.maxupdates.tv/how-to-learn-american-sign-language/
http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/asl.html
http://www.deaflibrary.org/asl.html
