Florida: Calling All Deaf Advocates!

[Nancy Frishberg]

I have in the past (like many others on this list) made formal
arguments in favor of giving university level credit for ASL (or
other sign languages) before the Academic Senate, the Curriculum
Committee or other august bodies, depending on the university.

Addressing the Faculty Senate (or its committees) means understanding
their reasoning.

Academic credit for ASL is a done deal.
The repeated need for these arguments is precisely what drove Sherman
Wilcox to edit the book "Academic Acceptance of American Sign
Language" (Linstok Press, 1992) and create the website
http://www.unm.edu/~wilcox/ASLFL/asl_fl.html
Sherman has written several articles, including one which appeared in
the Chronicle of Higher Education in 1991 or 1992 (and may be one of
those now archived at ERIC).  He doesn't read SLLING-L, but you can
contact him directly.

The book is unfortunately now out of print, but enlist your
librarians to get a copy ASAP through inter-library loan.  It
addresses the most frequent arguments offered against ASL (is it
foreign? is there a distinct culture to teach? what about the
literature component? is ASL processed like another language
cognitively? and probably several questions you or the faculty at UCF
haven't thought to ask).  Among the authors are several people who
don't "know" ASL, but are recognized scholars who support academic
studies in ASL.

And I often remind myself that universities are medieval
institutions:  they don't like to change much.  So letting UCF know
that they are joining a long list of respectable and respected
institutions may reassure a lot of them.

What arguments are being offered against ASL?
Besides Theresa Smith's very wise categories that might be concerning
the UCF faculty (repeated here):
scientific question ("Is ASL truly a language?"),
a curricular question ("Does ASL satisfy the curricular goals for
requiring a foreign language?")
an internal political one ("What are the implications for the French
department if ASL is recognized and accepted?")

I'd add one more which has been alluded to:
    * a quality and standards question ("Do we have the ability to
judge the quality of the program or the individuals who are teaching
in it?  How shall we assure that students who are complete courses or
stand for examination meet the standards of university level work?")

This last question is purely pragmatic, and would not prevent the
University from recognizing ASL.  I wouldn't bring it up until they
bring it up, but I'd be prepared for it as the terms of the
discussion change. The UCF faculty could decide in principle to
accept ASL as a language and then refuse to hire anyone to teach it,
because they couldn't find a "qualified" candidate pool.

The way that Universities manage quality and standards questions in
the other departments is by the widely recognized degrees and
publications system.  Doctorates are the entry ticket for University
faculty status, and the more "serious" a university wants to be, the
higher proportion of its faculty must hold this terminal degree
(Ph.D,  Ed.D. or the European equivalents).

Notice that the internal political argument above also has an
economic component.  The university wants to offer courses which
students will pay money to take.  The French department (or
substitute your favorite other foreign language) wants to make sure
the enrollments continue at the undergraduate level in their courses
so they can continue to offer the graduate programs (and spend time
on research).  ASL (and Deaf Studies) must present themselves as
economically viable, and bringing in new populations to language
study, rather than poaching from the existing language departments.

While I believe the discussion here is about undergraduate credit, I
have also examined candidates (in graduate programs) who presented
themselves for a "reading" language qualification, much as I had to
present French as a reading language (and pass the College Board's
exam at some minimum level).  (I'm not fluent in French, but I can
gather the main meaning in texts aimed at my specialized topics, and
it's to this standard that I have held the graduate students who
wanted ASL competency recognition).

  -- Nancy

At 2:14 PM -0500 2/19/04, Alysse Rasmussen wrote:
Calling All Deaf Advocates!
UCF ASL Professors Need Help

Thursday, February 26th, 2004
4:00 PM
University of Central Florida
Student Union
Key West Room
Orlando, Florida

UCF offers 84 BA programs, 64 MA programs, 23 PhD programs and yet
still refuses to recognize ASL for exit credit in spite of recent
legislation.  You can help change this.  Just come to UCF for ONE
hour on Thursday, February 26th, and tell the Faculty Senate how you
feel.

On February 26th at 4:00 PM the UCF Faculty Senate will vote, once
again, on whether or not ASL (American Sign Language) will be allowed
to satisfy the foreign language graduate requirement.

This is very important for members of the Deaf community.  If ASL is
not accepted, the quality of signers and services will remain poor.
Students who might elect to take ASL to fulfill a foreign language
requirement will be forced to take other languages.  They will never
learn about the beauty and artistry of ASL.  They will never learn
about Deaf people.  They will continue to believe "Deaf people can't".

If ASL is accepted, the program will grow.  Qualified signers,
interpreters, and professionals, who are aware of what ASL means to
the Deaf community, will be able to get the kind of professional
scholarship they need to help ALL Deaf people succeed.  They will
know "Deaf people can do anything!"

In spite of the passage of state legislation mandating ASL as a FULL
and TRUE foreign language, there is a great deal of Faculty Senate
opposition to this issue.

If you are a Deaf person or someone who wishes to support Deaf
people, please attend this meeting and support this vote.  This is
VERY important for everyone who is a member of the Deaf community.
Please tell all your friends.  Please come help.  Your presence will
make all the difference.  If the Faculty Senate sees that Deaf people
really exist -- and care about the quality of interpreters and
signers -- they will do the right thing.

WHERE?

UCF is set up like a wagon wheel.  The Student Union is the center
"hub" of the campus.  It is in the middle of the campus.  Here is a
map:  <http://www.ucf.edu/campusmap/>http://www.ucf.edu/campusmap/

The adddress is 4000 Central Florida Blvd.  It is right off 434.
Here is a map:
<http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=US&countryid=250&addtohistory=&address=4000+Central+Florida+Blvd.&city=orlando+&state=fl&zipcode=&submit=Get+Map>http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=US&countryid=250&addtohistory=&address=4000+Central+Florida+Blvd.&city=orlando+&state=fl&zipcode=&submit=Get+Map

Thursday, February 26th, 2004
4:00 PM
University of Central Florida
Student Union
Key West Room
Orlando, Florida


--
Nancy Frishberg  +1 650.556.1948  nancyf at fishbird.com
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