ASL Recognition

Name: Neil McDevitt Graduated from Gallaudet Univ. 1996 Deaf Brother of a BU student 215-393-9373

I read Dean Henderson’s letter regarding the decision to exclude American Sign Language from the foreign language requirement with interest.

I’m a deaf person who grew up learning to speak and lipread and later learned ASL when I attended Gallaudet University in Washington, DC.

I’m glad Dean Henderson recognizes the unique cultural and linguistic properties that make ASL a language in its own right. The logic enumerated in the statement “ASL does not qualify as a foreign language since it is almost exclusively used by inhabitants of North America” would be correct if one accepts ASL as it currently is used.

However, Dean Henderson may not realize that ASL is heavily based on the linguistic principles of the French language. In fact, ASL was formalized when Laurent Clerc, France’s first deaf teacher, came to these shores and established the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, CT. For more information, go to http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/Literacy/MSSDLRC/clerc/

I believe Dean Henderson brings up a chicken-or-egg argument when he says that ASL has not generated enough legitimacy outside of the deaf community to be offered as a foreign language at BU. One could easily argue that this would be easily resolved if more colleges offered ASL as a foreign language.

The reality is that ASL is viewed by most inhabitants of North America as a foreign language. Just as individuals speaking Mandarin Chinese in a crowded subway car would elicit stares from their English speaking counterparts, the deaf community receives a variety of responses when we use ASL. Most people stare out of curiousity. Some feel ASL is an abberation and only voice should be used. Some people try and join in the conversation.

It’s a shame BU isn’t doing more to help more people join the conversation.