American Sign Language Analysis

The deaf language is known to be more of an “American language” than English is. But it is still being known as the minority language and foreign in America (Harrington, 2015). At hearing colleges in the 1980’s and 1990’s, many did not accept American Sign Language and that it did not exceed the language and credit requirements. But if American Sign Language was the true American language, why was it not accepted in more if not all colleges and universities? “ASL is a fully developed human language, one of the hundreds of naturally occurring signed languages of the world. It is not a derivative of English. It is not a "simplified" language -- it contains structures and processes which English lacks (such as ASL's rich verbal aspect and classifier systems) (Wilcox, 1991).” In many states, American Sign Language is accepted by law in high school academic foreign language graduation requirements (Wilcox, 1991). With this being said, many would presume that all colleges and universities would do the same. That isn’t the case. Though many do,
“LibGuides. Sign Language. ASL: Academic Acceptance and Official Recognition.” ASL: Academic Acceptance and Official Recognition - Sign Language - LibGuides at Gallaudet University Library, Gallaudet University Library, June 2015, libguides.gallaudet.edu/content.php?pid=114804&sid=991858.

Wilcox, Sherman. “ASL as a Foreign Language Act Sheet.” ASL as a Foreign Language Fact Sheet, University of New Mexico, 1991, www.unm.edu/~wilcox/UNM/facts.html.

Steenport, Nathan. “American Sign Language as a Foreign Language.” American Sign Language (ASL), 28 Apr. 2003, www.lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/asl_foreign_language.htm.

Lourgos, Angie Leventis. “Is American Sign Language a 'Foreign' Language?” Is American Sign Language a 'Foreign' Language?, Chicago Tribune, 18 Apr. 2010,