FHPO 1 - Grade: A+ PDF

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here is an asl essay...

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As I began to read chapter one of the text, one phrase stuck out to me: “ASL is not ’bad English,’ ‘broken English,’ ‘short English,’ or any kind of English.” The book emphasizes thatASL is its own language, such as Morse Code and Braille. Even though I do know a little ASL, the fact that it has its own syntax baffles me overtime I am made aware of it. I interpret at my Church and help in school sometimes, but I use English synth because I was trained in that form of signing. I am very interested in the fact that ASL is its own entity that people take for granted. ASL is not a deaf person’s English, whereas it is a deaf person’s language. To continue, the fact that ASL stems from LSF is both surprising and obvious to me. It is surprising because I would think that it either stemmed form ESL or came about on its own. Yet, in hindsight it seems obvious due to the fact that many English words stem from French themselves. So it does sort of make sense that ASL would stem from the same country that English did because, although they have different grammar and syntax, vocabulary remain the same. As the chapter continues, it discusses the prejudice that has fallen to the deaf community in the twentieth century. The fact that the deaf were made to feel bad or less than others for signing is appalling in all honesty. Signing in school and in public is the same as speaking a foreign language and that is acceptable by the masses. I have seen this first hand in that, whenever I sign with friends or just sign for general practice in public, people stare with scolding eyes. It is not only hurtful, but simply rude. ASL is a way to communicate, same as talking is. Yet people are not as quick to eavesdrop as they are to stare. Also, in one of the “did you know sections” of the chapter, I found it amusing and fantastic that ASL is bug-proof, in that it cannot be nice by the CIA. Since I am going into politics and intend on working in the White House, the idea that ASL conversations cannot be heard gives all the more reason for people to know it that are in power. When the book went on to describe the history of ASL in the classroom I was intrigued at the idea that it began with Dr. Cogswell because his favorite child was deafened by spotted fever. It is just interesting to me that a disability that impacts a favorite family member is enough to get an entire movement begin. This is not only amazing but inspirational to me as a visually impaired person who is starting career in disabled activism. Also, as the book continued to discuss that the sign for the word “president” was invented by a student who saw Monroe’s tricorn hat is humorous to me because the sign for such a prestigious figure in the US was made through spontaneity. Furthermore, Laurent Clerc as the first deaf person to speak before Congress utterly inspires me. It takes a great amount of lobbying and work to go before Congress and for someone with a disability to is amazing to me. My dream is to go before Congress to advocate for disabled equality. So, in reading this fact I am not only astonished, but driven to continue what I am trying to do and work harder to go before Congress. To continue, the fact that President Monroe was the first to have direct conversation with a deaf person is interesting at first, and then fantastic to me. Presidents and people rely on interpreters now to communicate with the deaf and do not really try to learn ASL, which further makes me want to strive for what my goals are.

The figure presented in Chapter 7 was what caught my eye at first. 60% of ASL signs are derived from a background in French which interests me since most are logical to me as what you would think of as a sign for a word in English. Also, it is interesting that even though ASL is derived from LSF, it was brought to the United States before LSF was, which sounds more paradoxical than practical.The book simplifying ASL syntax as “the way it is” in logic helps me understand the structure better. Since I know PSE I was nervous I would not be able to understand the structure of ASL, however the simplification hips me gain a beginning understanding of it. The quote, “it owes nothing to English’ is sort of audacious, but also true when thought of. Americans have this notion that they know best and either the world is agains them or must follow in their footsteps from politics to language. Yet, this quote and idea shows that it is not that way. People in the deaf community owe nothing to those who can hear and speak English. There is a clear distinction between the languages and people who use them. So therefore, ASL cannot be characterized as a bad form of English since it is a whole other entity in itself. To continue, the English language has different sentence structures to get the point across, which I believed is pretty flexible. Yet, as the book states, there are much more structures and variations in syntax in ASL that are all correct and possible. Also, with this variance, there is an emphasis with each order which makes sense, but can also be confusing to begin. The idea hat English is sequential and dry, whereas ASL is more expressive is an interesting thought for me. In English, here are nuances is one’s tone and word emphasis. Yet, in ASL one cannot hear the emphasis so the body and face are used as a tool in order to express emphasis and emotions. Some people who are uneducated may think that those using ASL are over expressive, which supports the initial point made. Because ASL is visual, the whole person must visually enact what they cave since the same motion can mean two different things depending on the expression go the signer. It is for this reason tat I actually fell in love with ASL because, as the book puts it, the expressions are virtually limitless and multidimensional. With these expressions, it is also interesting that they are grammatical in use to show a question or negation for example. One would think facial expressions would be used for emotional emphasis, but with the idea that it is used for grammar not only makes hindsight sense, but also shows its necessity to the language. To continue, the preference of object, subject, verb sequence of sentences seems logical in going back to the idea that ASL is the way something is. Yet, it may be difficult to not only remember, but get used to since English has a much different sequence that I am used to. Also, in the notes section of this chapter, I found that and ASL signer can understand LSF. Even though ASL is considered universal, it is not since all languages have their own form of sign language. Yet, the fact that because ASL is derived from LSF. that means those languages can be understood by their respective tigers is so intriguing and amazing in the sense that if one learns ASL, they can also understand another language. So, even though there are differences in sentence structure across sign languages, this chapter did show me the structure of ASL in an easier sense so that I may try to implement it more often then my PSE signing.

What first stuck out to me in chapter nine was the fact that now census for ASL speakers or deaf ASL speakers have been taken. The United States gives out censuses every ten years with many questions to pinhole people into small categories so it is quite shocking that ASL has not been part of these categories. The deaf population can generously be two million which is a lot of people even though it is so small compared t the US population; still those that are deaf are there and must be taken into account despite some people’s ignorance. The census focusses on the medical aspect of being deaf, which is upsetting since ASL is a language that so many people use and learn whether hearing or deaf. Further, there is not really a distinction that shows ASL is a non- English language. Since it uses English words some may argue it is non- English. This claim continues to baffle me because those who use ASL and are deaf need an interpreter in order to communicate like anyone else that speaks another language that is not English. The book concludes that the deaf community would have to take its own census in order to get an accurate representation of how many deaf and ASL speakers there are in the United States. As a political Science major and a future human rights and disabled activist, this makes me angry in honesty. The government was meant to represent and work for the people of the country and they cannot put down in a census filled with many questions putting people in categories whether they know ASL or not. Yes, the size of the figures would be minuscule compared to the population, but at least there would be a hard, factual number. The census and the country knows the exact figure of those visually impaired and those having other disabilities, but not deafness. The government therefore leaves it to states to see how each one hods ASL even though it does not do this for other languages. Also, ASL, as shown by an MLA survey, is the third most popular foreign language taken by students, surpassing German and spoken French. This figure therefore should show that there needs to be a figure made by the government to know how many people know ASL at the least. The book also writes what Dr Wilcox states about ASL as a foreign language in colleges and universities, in that they do not accept it either from misunderstanding or some “not very nice prejudices.” He also states that people use preconceptions and assumptions to draw logical conclusions that ASL is not technically a foreign language. Yet, because these assumptions are just that, and false, it is innately wrong to say ASL is not a foreign language. The argument however, hat ASL is not foreign is wrong, but as Dr Wilcox phrases, foreign is “in the eye of the beholder.” This can actually be true even though it is a joke since everything is technically in the eye of the beholder and everyone sees and thinks differently. So it is not that far fetched to say that because depending on how one is raised and their experience, they will see ASL as a foreign language or not. Therefore, even though ASL is seen as the third most used language in the United States by the population, it is not listed in censuses to b counted. ASL speakers do not eve have a finite number since no one cares enough to add it to the census. States make their own laws as to if it is even a foreign language. This fact is defined by hearing politicians and people in government who have assumptions about ASL without consulting with those who are impacted bytes laws....