[EDLING:582] Re: 'Sign language classes are on the rise'

[Miriam E Ebsworth]

I don't know the details on what happens when deaf babies have no sl
input. But you raise an interesting question. I believe the research I
read had been done through Galudette, but I'll contact my associate at
NYU who may be able to give you specific sources.


Miriam Eisenstein Ebsworth, Ph.D.
<MEE1 at nyu.edu>
Director of Doctoral Programs in Multilingual Multicultural Studies
New York University,635 East Building
239 Greene St., New York, NY 10003

----- Original Message -----
From: Hyun-Sook Kang <hyunkang at dolphin.upenn.edu>
Date: Monday, January 24, 2005 6:07 pm
Subject: [EDLING:581] Re: 'Sign language classes are on the rise'

> Dear Dr. Ebsworth,
>
> First language development of ASL for deaf children mirrors first
> language
> development for other L1's.
>
> -- Thank you for sharing your experiences about ASL. I have a
> question about
> ASL acquisition, though. If a deaf child has deaf parents and
> learn ASL from
> their parents, then it would be a case of first language
> acquisition of ASL.
> Yet if a deaf child has parents with normal hearing and with no
> ASL background
> (which may not be uncommon), then would it be L1 acquisition or L2
> acquisition
> of ASL? I was just curious..., and would appreciate it if you
> could let me
> know if there is any research done at NYU addressing that case.
>
> Thanks very much, and hope to hear from you soon,
> Hyun-Sook
>
>
> Quoting Miriam E Ebsworth <mee1 at nyu.edu>:
>
> Dear Shannon and group,
>
> >From my somewhat limited perspective ASL, despite the "A" for
> American
> qualifies as a separate language associated with a separate
> culture.
> Although it lacks traditional phonology, it has distinct syntax,
> semantics, lexicon, and also have physical/spatial/movement
> dimensions. As most of you are probably aware,unlike signed
> English,
> ASL is NOT based on any variety of English- in fact I think it
> was
> developed from French sign language and is based on English
> mostly
> when finger spelling is required. First language development of
> ASL
> for deaf children mirrors first language development for other L1's.
>
> For many years at NYU we had a program for teaching the deaf, and
> I
> was fortunate enough to take an introductory class in ASL and
> serve on
> some dissertation and research committees. However, to my dismay,
> when
> we had bilingual ed federal fellowships, ASL and English were not
> accepted as "bilingual."
>
> I'd like to read other perspectives on this.
>
> Cheers,
> Miriam
>
> Miriam Eisenstein Ebsworth, Ph.D.
> <MEE1 at nyu.edu>
> Director of Doctoral Programs in Multilingual Multicultural Studies
> New York University
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Shannon Sauro <totoro2 at dolphin.upenn.edu>
> Date: Monday, January 24, 2005 10:59 am
> Subject: [EDLING:571] Re: 'Sign language classes are on the rise'
>
> > I find Henderson's rationale for Boston University's current
> > policy of not
> > allowing ASL to fulfill its foreign language requirement,
> namely
> > that it
> > is a North American language and does not provide access to the
> > culture of
> > another society, both interesting and troublesome.
> >
> > It is interesting that this policy seems to place value on
> > learning about
> > language and cultures which only exist overseas.  Of course, I
> am
> > assuming
> > that Henderson's concern about the North American roots of ASL
> > also
> > applies to Spanish and French, so that the varities of Spanish
> and
> > French
> > being taught on campus are not of the North American kind.
> >
> > What is troublesome is that this policy also seems to be based
> on
> > the
> > assumption that the society and culture of the deaf in North
> > America is no
> > different from that of English-speaking/hearing society.
> However,
> > as
> > someone who is not a member of the deaf community, my
> perspective
> > on this
> > is limited to the books I have read on the subject.
> >
> > I would love to hear what others of you have to say on this
> matter
> > and
> > what your universities' policies are on recognizing the study
> of
> > signed
> > languages in fulfillment of foreign language requirements.
> >
> >
> > Shannon Sauro
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Hyun-Sook Kang
> Ph.D. candidate in Educational Linguistics
> Graduate School of Education
> University of Pennsylvania
> Homepage: http://dolphin.upenn.edu/~hyunkang
> "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live
> forever." --
> Gandhi
>
>