When I was speaking with my Spanish professor after class one day, I asked her why the World Languages and Literatures (WLL) Department did not offer any American Sign Language (ASL) courses here. According to her, the decision reflects long-standing debates surrounding the culture of the deaf community and its relation to ASL. The College’s consensus as of now is that there aren't sufficient, if any, cultural relics to justify creating courses in ASL. This long-standing notion, accepted by both Skidmore College and the greater United States, disregards the experiences of non-hearing members and their use of ASL as part of their cultural experience within society. In this article, I attempt to dispel assumptions about the deaf community and situate components of ASL alongside the WLL Department Objectives. I also seek to demonstrate the benefits that learning ASL holds for students who may struggle with learning other oral languages.
The opinion that ASL lacks profound cultural elements in comparison to other linguistic groups within the United States is a result of society’s valuation of people who are born with or develop cognitive and physiological deviations (Sloan). “Fixing” the hearing deficit is presented as the only viable option for the individual to foster appropriate personal and social development, and this perspective is weaponized as an excuse to exclude deaf voices from the media, politics, and education. Many deaf people in the United States do not identify as disabled, but as members of a linguistic sub-group associated with shared values and symbols, as demonstrated by those who make the personal choice not to receive cochlear implants or hearing aids. Once we understand that the hearing-impaired employ sign language as a form of communication to foster a collective identity, rather than to compensate for an individual characteristic (Sloan), its categorization as a cultural and linguistic subgroup can be contextualized.
Anthropological theories define culture to be a network of symbols, language, and practices that are shared amongst a particular group that shapes a human’s social development and how they interact with the world around them. The art of each culture possesses unique properties that reflect how individuals with that society have formed meaning and adapted within their particular environment. Sign language is no exception, as it encompasses a wide range of mediums. Looking back to pre-COVID times, attending a concert with a sign language interpreter is one instance where we are exposed to the artistic aspects of communication that are used to convey meaning to the consumer. However, singing exists beyond providing translations from English lyrics and stands alone as its own musical genre, with deaf artists composing works for deaf audiences. The development of an ASL performance is described by Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, a music critic for the New York Times, to be an intricate system that combines physical body movements with rhythmic currents. She explores common patterns with this particular form of deaf art, stating: “The parameters of sign language — hand shape, movement, location, palm orientation, and facial expression — can be combined with elements of visual vernacular, a body of codified gestures, allowing a skilled ASL speaker to engage in the kind of sound painting that composers use to enrich a text.” Taking these elements into account, it is clear that sign performance is so much more than translating speech; it uses elements both accessible and situated in appropriate socio-cultural contexts to the performer and audience in order to convey a particular emotion or motif. These symbols serve a purpose unique to the deaf experience, constituting a particular cultural function.
Implementing ASL on the collegiate level is not as unorthodox as the WLL Department may think. Many academic institutions that have a reputation for academic excellence, such as Northeastern University and the University of California, Berkeley, offer multiple sign language courses, with the number of universities participating only growing. Skidmore has a wonderful opportunity in introducing sign language and interacting with forms of deaf culture by joining a wave of progress while setting a precedent for other liberal arts colleges.
Here are the six Student Learning Goals as presented on the Department website in order to further demonstrate how ASL actually aligns with the objectives:
“Communicate effectively, in their language of choice, in multiple settings and for multiple purposes;
Interact with cultural competence and understanding;
Connect with other disciplines and acquire information and perspectives in order to use the language in academic and professional settings;
Develop insight into the nature of language and culture in order to act with cultural competence;
Communicate and interact with cultural competence in order to participate in multilingual communities at home and around the world; and
Recognize and examine the current and historical social, political, artistic, and/or economic lives of marginalized people across the world and the United States.”
If the WLL Department took into account the full panoply of deaf culture and its historical progression within this country, they would find ASL to be an appropriate addition to the curriculum. It has the ability to foster effective communication useful in many situations, provides insight into the deaf experience, connects back to fields such as disability studies and social work, and sheds light on the marginalization of deaf individuals within a particular society.
One issue that might be raised is that it is not globally well-known, as ASL exists primarily within the realm of the United States. However, there is a lack of consideration as to how sign-language systems used across the globe have influenced one another in their development, with ASL having origins in its French counterpart, and is used similarly in Canada, England, and Australia. Perhaps if implemented, the curriculum could address this, and potentially discuss deaf culture and experience in other parts of the world as well.
Learning ASL does not only benefit those who are interlinked with the deaf community, but also students experiencing barriers in fulfilling a language requirement. People with learning differences such as dyslexia and dysgraphia face academic challenges on a more severe level in language study than those who are neurotypical. Reading and writing take more effort even within the student’s native language, so being asked to incorporate into a language they have little or no exposure to, is bound to increase frustrations for both the student and teacher. This is not to say students with learning disabilities cannot or should not take verbal languages, but to emphasize how sign language is a viable solution in dismantling achievement gaps within education.
As of right now, Skidmore’s solution to combating the dilemma that arises within gaining a language requirement for students who struggle in one or multiple means of communication is to merely exempt them from having to complete a course in the proposed ones. ASL could be an alternative option if a student wishes to pursue it. The courses would not only satisfy an all-college requirement, fundamental within the liberal arts experience but would also foster an inclusive learning environment where every student can meet their fullest potential.
I graduated from a small independent high school that upheld a mission to cater to students with learning differences while maintaining a rigorous academic environment. In order for all students to have a fair chance to master a language while meeting the requirements necessary to enter college without increased academic anxieties, my school offered ASL courses from beginner to advanced levels. My friend Stella, who suffers from dyslexia, was generous enough with her time to tell me about her experience taking courses in the language and the benefits it brought not only to her personally, but those around her as well:
“I really enjoyed having ASL as an option in high school because it allowed me to feel slightly normal when it comes to fulfilling a language requirement. I took Spanish freshman year and I felt horrible about my academic abilities because I just couldn’t get it. This was the first time where I really excelled in a language... I loved being able to communicate with my teacher and other deaf people outside of the classroom. At work, I felt confident using my ASL skills with deaf customers. They were so happy to see a ‘hearing’ person learn ASL. Some even got emotional because they were not used to this type of support.”
An ASL program provided Stella the opportunity to demonstrate skills beyond reading and writing, as well as engage with an entire population of people with whom she could not before. Her acquired skill translated well into other components of life and gave her a sense of academic accomplishment that was not fulfilled by other language classes. The most satisfying indication of content mastery does not come from a letter grade, but those moments where something just “clicks” within your brain and it all makes sense.
While it may not be feasible for the department to create an entire sub-category designated to ASL for the foreseeable future, perhaps the community might find value in introducing it to the Self Instructional Language Program alongside Portuguese, Russian, Hebrew, and Korean. Learning ASL has value beyond practicality as it engages students in connecting with and celebrating deaf cultures that continue to thrive despite minimal representation in mainstream narratives. My most recent conversations with the department look rather promising, and although the process for getting a new program approved is quite lengthy, I am confident ASL courses will become available before I graduate in the Spring of 2023.
Sources
American Sign Language: What You Need To Know And Why It’s Unique, Kristine Thorndyke,
https://iwillteachyoualanguage.com/blog/american-sign-language.
The Right Not To Hear: The Ethics of Parental Refusal of Hearing Rehabilitation, Serena Byrd 1, Andrew G Shuman, Sharon Kileny, Paul R Kileny, 2011.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21792972/
Critical Multiculturalism and Intersectionality in a Complex World (Second Edition), Lacey M. Sloan, Mildred C. Joyner, Catherine J. Stakeman, Cathryne L. Schmitz, 2018.
How ASL Is Conquering The Ivy League, Christopher Rim, 2019,
Perspectives: An Open Introduction To Cultural Anthropology , Nina Brown, Thomas McIlwraith, Laura Tubelle de González, 2020.
http://perspectives.americananthro.org/Chapters/Introduction_to_Anthropology.pdf
At-Risk Students and the Study of Foreign Language in School, International Association for Dyslexia, 2020
people.strugglehttps://dyslexiaida.org/at-risk-students-and-the-study-of-foreign-language-in-school/.
Making Music Visible: Singing in Sign, Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, 2021
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/arts/music/asl-music-deaf-culture.html.
American Deaf Culture, Minnesota Hands & Voices, 2021
https://www.mnhandsandvoices.org/resources-information/american-deaf-culture.