Is American Sign Language (ASL) an indigenous language?
Others say a language must have literature for proper study. That means in order to be a true language, it must have some kind of written form. We have ABC's. Egyptians have hieroglyphics. Chinese have logograms. What about ASL? There are many ASL gloss, SignWriting, for example.
Does American Sign Language lack a true writing system?
The reality is the definition of the word, "foreign" is changing slowly. In fact, many foreign language departments all over schools in the USA were renamed or in the process of renaming the departments to "world languages" or "classical and modern languages." The reason they are doing this is because they realize how there are countless numbers of languages that are indigenous or may not have a written system, but at same time they are still being accepted as a true language. Did you know that most languages around the world, including many African languages, do not have a written system?
So let me ask you again.
Why is it so difficult to accept ASL as a foreign language?
Good point, but I would go a step further. When will Deaf culture be accepted as a sub-culture?
ReplyDeleteWhat gives you an idea that ASL is a foreign language? It is NOT a foreign language to deaf Americans, but it IS a foreign language to deaf people of other foreign countries as well as to hearing people of ANY country.
ReplyDeleteASL is not a written language. It is a signed
language, or a visual language, for that matter.
Pure and simple, n'est-ce pas?
Jean Boutcher
To Nikki,
ReplyDeleteExcellent point. Now the next question is what are the differences between a culture and a sub- culture? What defines a sub-culture?
And to Jean,
n'est-ce pas? (isn't it so?) Haha. You are right. ASL is not a foreign language to Deaf Americans. However, is ASL foreign to the rest of America?
Keep this up! This is a great philosophical conversation.
Thanks!
What's with people who keep trying to define things to see if it fits? And why when something doesn't seem to fit give people excuses to ignore it or push it away. Even if it is real and common? How about a new term for it, and make sure it is treated equal as foriegn language.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point. It seems to be impossible to agree on a perfect definition for any word. Languages (and cultures) are constantly changing. Therefore, it's natural for perspectives to change as well. I think as long we are willing to listen to new ideas, we'll be okay.
ReplyDelete