American Sign Language Research Paper
The History of a Language: American Sign Language
American Sign Language (ASL) is an intricate language using complicated hand gestures mixed with very animated facial expressions and body posturing. It is the primary form of communication among the deaf and hard of hearing in North America. In these modern times it is not uncommon to see two deaf people communicating in sign language or colleges teaching ASL as a form of foreign language. But ASL or deaf people in general weren’t always so openly accepted in society. The deaf community was shunned, but despite the way the rest of society treated them deaf culture flourished.
Before contemporary times, the deaf, or any sort of physically handicapped weren’t treated very kindly. In fact, in …show more content…
However in the 1760’s, the French Priest, Charles Michel De L’epee, “founded the first public school for the deaf… using a system of standardized signs and finger spelling” (“Deaf Timeline”). Deaf children all across the country came to attend the school, the students brought the signs they learned back to their neighborhoods. As a result the language that L’eppe used became the standard sign language for the country known as Old French Sign Language. De L’eppe helped create a bridge between the hearing and deaf world and is often times considered the father of sign language.
Before the creation of ASL, there was no form of education for deaf children in America, so the parents were forced to send their children to private academies that specialized in deaf education in Europe. In 1815 Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, an American minister decided to learn abroad to study the European methods of the …show more content…
Oralists were totally unsympathetic and completely ignorant to the deaf community and how difficult it would be to learn how to speak without being able to hear. Their ideas were based off of delusions that all deaf people could lead the same lives as hearing people, not realizing that signing lead to the life that they were dreaming of. Their goal had good intentions, they wanted to homogenize deaf and hearing people by having the deaf act the same as the hearing. But in the end, oralism was the result of the majority oppressing the minorities.
Sign has been around for quite a long time, a sequence of events starting with the persecution of deaf people and sign language, the workings of Abbe De L’eppe, the creation of deaf schools around the world, the fight for manualism and the “Deaf President Now” movement. Through it all sign endured, and even reached the state of an “official” language. The future of ASL is promising as community continues to grow. ASL is now the third most used language in America. This gain in popularity will only continue to bridge the gap between the vibrant cultures of
American Sign Language (ASL) is an intricate language using complicated hand gestures mixed with very animated facial expressions and body posturing. It is the primary form of communication among the deaf and hard of hearing in North America. In these modern times it is not uncommon to see two deaf people communicating in sign language or colleges teaching ASL as a form of foreign language. But ASL or deaf people in general weren’t always so openly accepted in society. The deaf community was shunned, but despite the way the rest of society treated them deaf culture flourished.
Before contemporary times, the deaf, or any sort of physically handicapped weren’t treated very kindly. In fact, in …show more content…
However in the 1760’s, the French Priest, Charles Michel De L’epee, “founded the first public school for the deaf… using a system of standardized signs and finger spelling” (“Deaf Timeline”). Deaf children all across the country came to attend the school, the students brought the signs they learned back to their neighborhoods. As a result the language that L’eppe used became the standard sign language for the country known as Old French Sign Language. De L’eppe helped create a bridge between the hearing and deaf world and is often times considered the father of sign language.
Before the creation of ASL, there was no form of education for deaf children in America, so the parents were forced to send their children to private academies that specialized in deaf education in Europe. In 1815 Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, an American minister decided to learn abroad to study the European methods of the …show more content…
Oralists were totally unsympathetic and completely ignorant to the deaf community and how difficult it would be to learn how to speak without being able to hear. Their ideas were based off of delusions that all deaf people could lead the same lives as hearing people, not realizing that signing lead to the life that they were dreaming of. Their goal had good intentions, they wanted to homogenize deaf and hearing people by having the deaf act the same as the hearing. But in the end, oralism was the result of the majority oppressing the minorities.
Sign has been around for quite a long time, a sequence of events starting with the persecution of deaf people and sign language, the workings of Abbe De L’eppe, the creation of deaf schools around the world, the fight for manualism and the “Deaf President Now” movement. Through it all sign endured, and even reached the state of an “official” language. The future of ASL is promising as community continues to grow. ASL is now the third most used language in America. This gain in popularity will only continue to bridge the gap between the vibrant cultures of