While most Americans confess that they do not like the educational system in the US, and an infinite supply of solutions continually are offered by politicians and educators alike, there remains a small group of people that is often overlooked (more on that shortly). The political ramifications of this group may well further define a number of other political issues, ranging from English as an “official” language to the best possible way to facilitate a child’s education.
First, many Americans seem to feel English is the only language that ought to be spoken, taught and utilized in every facet of Americans’ lives. Others disagree and state that the United States has a long history of embracing various cultures and even languages and is the basis for the existence of this country. One need not look further to the symbolic meaning of New York’s Ellis Island, as well as its long history of welcoming immigrants from all over the world.
But, in the US, there still exists a governmental policy to continue teaching American children a foreign language as a first language. Schools have been funded through state and federal government programs. Additional schools that teach this foreign language have also popped up in various community colleges and universities across the nation.
The results have been disastrous: a majority of the children taught this foreign language lack the appropriate reading and writing skills to function within the larger American society. High unemployment, suicide and drug abuse rates and other socially deviated behavioral patterns are consistent for this older members of this group as well. Even worse, attempts to restrict the educating of American children an inefficient first language has resulted in claims of “cultural genocide.”
Welcome to the world of deaf people and American Sign Language (ASL). During the early part of the 20th century, many schools of deaf children initially demanded that no mechanical (or manual) signing systems were to be used, and instead, intensive focus on lip reading, writing and speaking skills were stressed – this is called an “oralist” approach. Conversely, by the 1970’s, many researchers of deaf and hard of hearing educational systems began touting ASL as a “native” language of deaf people and began demanding ASL only be taught in deaf residential schools. Interestingly, anthropologists and linguists alike debated the claim that ASL was a true language and challenged the basis for the existence of a “deaf culture” built around ASL on the premise that a culture cannot exist without a language, among other things.
Today, many colleges and universities across the country are offering ASL classes as a foreign language elective. It has become widely accepted by many in deaf communities that ASL is a legitimate language – even going so far as to claim that ASL is the only language deaf people ought to use. Evidence of the impact of the political controversies surrounding ASL and “deaf culture” can be found during the 1988 Gallaudet University protests which were initiated by ASL-militants who demanded that ASL be the only language taught on the campus.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Your article is extremely informative - and is an object lesson for all those in the juvenile left who prattle on and on about cultural diversity without paying attention to the fact that they are talking about people and not puppies - and that cultural identity has consequences.
2 - Baronius
Wow. A well-written article on a subject I knew nothing about. The internet is so cool.
3 - moonraven
Good article.
But I don't see why in other situations learning a foreign language would be a disservice to the learner.
The resistance on the part of folks in the US to learning other languages is a reflexion of xenophobia, as well as of the hatred of the native peoples who were subjected to genocide in order for the US to realize its "manifest destiny".
Learning another language opens up another part of the world to the learner--as well as another way of looking at the world we live in.
Since the folks in the US are determined now to torpedo any immigration reform, they will soon (if 2012 doesn't end this silly phase of the planet's evolution that has included people), ironically, find themselves in a situation which requires learning Spanish.
The plus side to that is that Spanish is a much richer language than English.
4 - What ever happened to Personal attacks not being allowed?
I do not have the time nor inclination to point out all the fallacies in this article. Below are very obvious examples of personal attacks on people with deafness (ASL-speaking or not):
"ASL-militants" - Using the word militant frames the issue with binary conceptions of militant versus peace-maker, rational versus irrational, etc. Plus, the word "militant" is such a loaded word in our post-9/11 world. If "militant" is ok, then is "terrorist" too?
"the number of these people on Social Security Disability benefits
Poverty, unemployment, drug abuse and high incidences of suicide, coupled with poor educational backgrounds have created an uneducated class of self-repressed Americans." - Where is your data? This statement essentializes all people with deafness as poor, jobless, drug abusers with no education.
"taught to rely upon the government for welfare." - Really? I have not seen a school for the deaf mission statement that reads this way. Again, what data supports this view, other than ignorance?
5 - Paotie
There was no personal attack on any one person. And, the above comment clearly reflects the "militant" (semantics aside) aspect of deaf culture.
Paotie is also deaf.
:o)
Paotie
6 - Clavos
@#4:
The prohibition against personal attacks applies only to not attacking other commenters, not everyone in the world.
7 - A Concerned Citizen
Spanish is a much richer language than English.
I don't know how you can say that. . . they're just different. Besides, English has about twice as many words as Spanish -- a result of the French invading England (or something like that).
All I'm saying is that both languages have their richness. Hopefully we'll see another merge of languages as in the Middle Ages; this time, however, between English and Spanish.
8 - Fact check
There are no programs that I know of that teach ASL as a "first" language in the sense of postponing English instruction.
There ARE programs that use the "bilingual" approach in which Deaf children are taught BOTH English AND ASL. Good quality bi-lingual programs (and the key phrase here is "good quality") generally produce students who read near, at, or above grade level.
Most deaf education programs, unfortunately, do not produce these results -- but most are not bilingual programs. Most of today's deaf adults grew up with (and many of today's deaf children are still taught in) programs that are either still oral or use some form of signed English. This is not to say that oral, signed English, cued speech or other forms of instructions can't lead to successful students -- sometimes they do. But for you to claim that bilingual ASL/English instruction automatically leads to failure for large numbers of students shows quite clearly that you have simply not done your homework. You seem to conflate different types of programs (and possibly different threads of research) in trying to make your point.
9 - Zedd
Paotie,
Is the sentence structure the same in ASL as it is in English?
10 - Paotie
Zedd -
Nope. ASL has little in common with English. There is no written form of ASL.
Paotie
11 - Zedd
Paotie,
To give an example, so that I know what you are saying, what is the direct translation for the phrase " I really enjoy reading. It makes me very happy" in ASL?
12 - Paotie
Zedd ..
Go to www.aslpro.com
:o)
Paotie
13 - Clavos
Paotie,
Your article is very interesting.
I'm not deaf, and don't even know anyone who is, so I know very little about deafness, or about ASL.
Your article was, for me, a real eye-opener. I never realized, for example, that being taught ASL could actually marginalize a deaf person in terms of functioning in the larger society, though I suppose it should have been obvious to me.
One thing does puzzle me; given the obvious difficulties you outline that those who are taught ASL as a first language encounter, why are so many of them opposed to those who learn English also?
I understand that there's an "us versus them" aspect to the question, but why doesn't simple self interest encourage more culturally deaf youngsters to learn the skills necessary to function in the greater society? Is it just the indoctrination and peer pressure? Or is it the lack of facilities open to that idea?
Whatever the reason, it's, as you pointed out, a terrible situation.
14 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
The wife of my godfather, z"l, became deaf, and had learned to lip-read in the decades before I was born. So I had to learn to enunciate words clearly for her benefit. My father, z"l, had trouble with his hearing (though when money was being talked about, his hearing always seemed very good). And three decades ago, I knew a young lady who had learned both ASL and lipreading and who had earned a doctorate. Her hearing was nearly non-existent. So, I never viewed deaf people as "unfortunates."
But given the way "unfortunates" have been treated in American society in the last 30 odd years, the problems with ASL that Paotie describes come as no surprise to me.
Segregation from the larger society without the resources to sustain that segregation as an independent sub-group takes a toll, and this is what we see here.
15 - STM
"The French invading England (or something like that)."
Only in their dreams.
I can visualise it now. Armed with day-old baguettes that had turned into baseball bats, cheap aftershave, lung-busting cigarettes, vinegary plonk, ill-fitting berets and intellectual pretence, they came in their thousands, setting up authentic French cafes and saying things like: "Merde! Why bother to invade? Existentialist thought suggests that only the bourgeoisie benefit from such an invasion. For the working classes, it only contributes to the meaningless of life. Waiter, could I 'ave anuvver plonk, thanks?. Waiter, excuz a moi? Waiter ... waiter ... waiter. Merde, he's fucking blind - and deaf."
No, the French never invaded the hallowed shores of beautiful Albion.
Ah, yes, but the Normans did, and they were Normans, not Frenchies.
As for English having more words than Spanish, true.
But French is a far wordier language than both. That comes from trying to appear intellectual by using five sentences to say something meaningless when it could have been said in one.
16 - Dr Dreadful
The French couldn't even manage to invade England when they had Napoleon, so I'd like to see them try now!
Unless the large number of French players in the Premiership is a stealth invasion...
The Normans were certainly not French. They were Vikings pretending to be Frenchmen. Although quite where they got those silly haircuts from is anyone's guess.
17 - STM
DD: "The Normans were certainly not French. They were Vikings pretending to be Frenchmen. Although quite where they got those silly haircuts from is anyone's guess."
Obviously from their French neighbours, DD. If the English were a nation of shopkeepers, according to Napoleon, the French could best be described as a nation of hairdressers.
But not QUALITY hairdressers. Too much reliance on product. France has always been a place where form has triumphed over usefulness. Style over substance, if you know what I mean ...
18 - Michael J. West
Wait a minute, Paotie.
Where, exactly, are the sources for all of this information?
You point to a single Washington Post article regarding Gallaudet's accreditation prohibition, which says absolutely nothing about problems based around ASL vs. English or any other specific issue beyond the disunity that came on the heels of this winter's protests.
Meantime, in that same paragraph you make statements like, "Americans whose first language is ASL seemingly don’t learn English at sufficient levels" and "published reports indicated a significant number of deaf graduate students were illiterate"...two inherently vague statements that demand sourcing. Where are some of these published reports?
For that matter, where do you get the information that the 1988 Gallaudet protests "were initiated by ASL-militants who demanded that ASL be the only language taught on the campus"? You refer to the Deaf President Now protests, in which the object had nothing to do with ASL, but simply the students' demand that Gallaudet's board install the first ever deaf president of the university. One of the initiatees, in fact, went on the record as saying, "Never mind the mode of communication our president would choose or his background, as long as he was deaf."
There is absolutely nothing here that would support your statement that deaf culture has struggled against learning English, either in written or in oral (lip-reading) form. If you tried to publish this as an editorial in even the most virulently anti-ASL publication, any editor worth his salt would return it to you and demand better sourcing.
I'm not deaf and don't subscribe to deaf culture, so the fact is you may be right in all of your assertions. But you do an incredibly poor job of giving them any sort of foundation. Even if they're true, the word "baseless assertions" more than applies.
What amazes me, and disappoints me, is that so many others walked right past these blatantly insubstantial statements, willing to take your word for everything you've said without any basis.
19 - Clavos
Stan. DD:
C'mon guys, get off the fence.
Tell us what you really think of the French...
20 - Silver Surfer
Lol. Are we that obvious? Yes, it must run in the genes. It does go back centuries, which is why I will never understand how you blokes managed to get into bed with those buggers (in all honesty, I quite like them ... but it's fun).
I'd like to read Paotie's article BTW, but I am getting the stuff from down the side over the story
Perhaps tomorrow, as the bits I have been able to read sound interesting.
21 - Zedd
The French have automatic cool points (they cant help it... they are the only really white Whites who are just cool/funky/suave/imaginative/passionate). Unlike the spazzing out Anglos and Germans. However the Scandinavians are pretty laid back. But French have that "I don't know what".
22 - Silver Surfer
Zedd: "But French have that "I don't know what".
You're right about that Zedd, they certainly have that.
The problem is, the reason for that is because they haven't got a fucking clue about anything :)
23 - Clavos
SS #20:
If you're using Mozilla Firefox as your browser, install this.
Problem solved...
24 - Silver Surfer
Clav, seriously, I wouldn't have a clue what I've got. I have to get a Chinese bloke (named Henry - what else?) to come and look at my computer every six months to fix it up.
That speaks volumes really about my level of competence computer-wise: Q: "What browser do you use?"
A: "The one installed by the Chinese computer guy I met at the Lotus Garden while I was picking up my crispy-skin duck" ...
25 - Clavos
"A: "The one installed by the Chinese computer guy I met at the Lotus Garden while I was picking up my crispy-skin duck" ..."
Personally, I like girls better; and I find bars to be better pickup places than Chinese restaurants, but, to each his own.
Look at the topmost bar on your screen. Does it say "Internet Explorer" or "Mozilla Firefox?"