What seems clear is it's better not to strive for one number that is meaningful in all contexts. I think we have an obligation to use accurate numbers with accurate definitions of the numbers. There are consequences in different contexts. When language programs in colleges and universities need or use these numbers, for example, it may be that they are interested in the number of signers, the number of learners, and the number of people who have completed ASL courses. That would yield specific numbers. In another context, in K-12 education, for example, the number might be different and might include only school age deaf/Deaf signers and possibly their parents and be more flexible in including signed English varieties. For Linguists, the number may be native or near native signers of ASL. Context does matter and there are consequences quite serious to the hopes,aspirations, and safety of deaf/Deaf people (there are many ways under or over reporting numbers of users in various contexts can do harm).<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 2:35 PM, Barbara Gerner De Garcia <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:barbara.gerner.de.garcia@gallaudet.edu">barbara.gerner.de.garcia@gallaudet.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Interesting - the 2005 article lists ASL as the 3rd most used language- but Wikipedia has it as the #1.<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>
Barbara</font></span><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 5:12 PM, Christopher Greene-Szmadzinski <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:christopher.blue@gmail.com" target="_blank">christopher.blue@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Additionally, here's a research study that explains the numbers behind<br>
ASL users and why it is problematic to determine "rank" of language<br>
use when it come to ASL especially in the United States:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://research.gallaudet.edu/Publications/ASL_Users.pdf" target="_blank">http://research.gallaudet.edu/Publications/ASL_Users.pdf</a><br>
<div><div><br>
On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 5:07 PM, Barbara Gerner De Garcia<br>
<<a href="mailto:barbara.gerner.de.garcia@gallaudet.edu" target="_blank">barbara.gerner.de.garcia@gallaudet.edu</a>> wrote:<br>
> Yes, most certainly :)<br>
> Barbara<br>
><br>
><br>
> On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 4:49 PM, Mark A. Mandel <<a href="mailto:mamandel@ldc.upenn.edu" target="_blank">mamandel@ldc.upenn.edu</a>><br>
> wrote:<br>
>><br>
>> May I have your permission to quote that paragraph, attributed to you, as<br>
>> a citation on the article's Discussion page for deleting that sentence?<br>
>> -- Mark<br>
>><br>
>> On 12.01.31, at 2:30 PM, Barbara Gerner De Garcia wrote:<br>
>><br>
>> American Sign Language is the most used minority language yet almost the<br>
>> only minority language which lacks official government recognition.[citation<br>
>> needed]<br>
>><br>
>> I just taught a course on language rights Fall semester and this statement<br>
>> is totally inaccurate. First of all, ASL is not the most used "minority"<br>
>> language. According to the US Census publication Language Use in the US 2007<br>
>> (Shin & Kominsky, 2010), over 34 million residents age 5 and over speak<br>
>> Spanish at home. When we cite statistics for ASL "users" we tend to include<br>
>> hearing people who have learned ASL (high school and college students). If<br>
>> we add those groups to the number of people in the US who "use" Spanish, you<br>
>> can see that the number easily would exceed the number of those who "use"<br>
>> ASL. Second, the phrase "official government recognition" is vague. In the<br>
>> U.S., there is no official language, period. We do have protections in the<br>
>> U.S. against discrimination based on the language a person uses, but there<br>
>> are no "affirmative" or "positive" language rights that guarantee a person<br>
>> the right to use their language. The WFD has linguistic human rights for<br>
>> sign language users at the core of its positions, and the UNCRPD - UN<br>
>> Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities also expresses sign<br>
>> language rights as the core issue for people who are Deaf and Deaf<br>
>> education.<br>
>><br>
>> Barbara Gerner de Garcia<br>
>> p.s. Although I am guilty of often using Wikipedia, this statement helps<br>
>> illuminate why my university suggests that faculty include a statement on<br>
>> their syllabi that the use of Wikipedia is prohibited for student work (BTW,<br>
>> I do not have such a statement on any of my syllabi).<br>
>><br>
>> On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 1:42 PM, Mark A.Mandel <<a href="mailto:mamandel@ldc.upenn.edu" target="_blank">mamandel@ldc.upenn.edu</a>><br>
>> wrote:<br>
>>><br>
>>> The Wikipedia article "Minority languages" includes the paragraph<br>
>>> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_language#Controversy" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_language#Controversy</a>)<br>
>>><br>
>>> ---<br>
>>> Signed languages are often not recognized as true natural languages even<br>
>>> though they are supported by extensive research. In the United States, for<br>
>>> example, American Sign Language is the most used minority language yet<br>
>>> almost the only minority language which lacks official government<br>
>>> recognition.[citation needed]<br>
>>> ---<br>
>>><br>
>>> How accurate are these statements? Can the paragraph and the article be<br>
>>> improved with reliable and recent data?<br>
>>><br>
>>> --<br>
>>> Mark A. Mandel<br>
>>> Linguistic Data Consortium<br>
>>> University of Pennsylvania<br>
>>><br>
>>><br>
>>><br>
>><br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> --<br>
>> Dr. Barbara Gerner de Garcia, Professor and Chair<br>
>> Department of Educational Foundations and Research<br>
>> Gallaudet University<br>
>> 800 Florida Ave NE<br>
>> Washington, DC 20002-3695<br>
>><br>
>> Phone: <a href="tel:202-651-5207" value="+12026515207" target="_blank">202-651-5207</a><br>
>><br>
>><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> --<br>
> Dr. Barbara Gerner de Garcia, Professor and Chair<br>
> Department of Educational Foundations and Research<br>
> Gallaudet University<br>
> 800 Florida Ave NE<br>
> Washington, DC 20002-3695<br>
><br>
> Phone: <a href="tel:202-651-5207" value="+12026515207" target="_blank">202-651-5207</a><br>
<br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Dr. Barbara Gerner de Garcia, Professor and Chair<br>Department of Educational Foundations and Research<br>Gallaudet University<br>800 Florida Ave NE<br>Washington, DC 20002-3695<br>
<br>Phone: <a href="tel:202-651-5207" value="+12026515207" target="_blank">202-651-5207</a><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br>Tom Humphries<br>Associate Professor &<div>Vice Chair<br>Department of Education Studies<br>&<br>Associate Professor<br>Department of Communication<br>
University of California, San Diego<br><a href="mailto:thumphries@ucsd.edu" target="_blank">thumphries@ucsd.edu</a></div><br>