My name is MJ Bienvenu. My commentary is entitled “Revolution at Work: ASL Curriculum Revisited.” We will look at how we can change curriculums to incorporate ASL.
We will look at the curriculum within the ASL program at Gallaudet University. I have been teaching in this program for some time. In the program back then, the curriculum emphasized skills in teaching ASL for upperclassmen. During my teachings, I saw that students did not fully grasp nor did they analyze ASL. They were fluent in ASL but they couldn’t discuss ASL at a metalinguistic level. We decided to change the curriculum, and the new curriculum has students dissecting ASL aspects such as numbers, fingerspelling, literature, classifiers, verbs, and so on. Students are now able to understand and discuss ASL at a metalinguistic level. This is for the BA program; in order to teach ASL, you’d need to enroll in a graduate program. I now see that students understand the ASL rules and structure better. I now see more confidence, more understanding of the language, and better discourse. This curriculum is better, but the university curriculum as a whole must change too. The university curriculum has always required all freshmen to take English courses but ASL courses were never required. I feel it is critical for all students to take ASL courses. My proposition is that if all freshmen are required to take English courses for a year, they should also take ASL courses, regardless of their fluency level. People have stated that it seemed odd for students fluent in ASL and from a deaf family and deaf school to take ASL courses, and it seemed difficult to include those from an oral background. Let’s look at English: those skilled in English still must take courses. Those at hearing universities and already skilled in English also must take courses. Why can’t this be applied to ASL? Deaf native signers can look at ASL through an academic lens and understand ASL better, and their quality will improve. For those who aren’t fluent in ASL, remedial courses are available just like remedial English courses are available for foreigners and those learning English as a second language. Remedial ASL courses can be used to gain minimum fluency prior to freshmen ASL courses. I think we must see the need for ASL in terms of equality, recognition, and respect within both languages... ASL has always been inferior. I believe that changing the curriculum will have an impact on Gallaudet University, or even other universities that include ASL programs, for several reasons. Let’s look at bilingualism: if Gallaudet recognizes both ASL and English, that’s great. However, once courses are provided, we see that ASL is missing and there is an emphasis on freshman English, upperclassmen English, developmental English, general courses integrated with English requirements, as well as WEC at Gallaudet, or Writing Enrichment Courses, in which content is taught along with assistance in writing skills. Where is ASL and its requirements? The impact of bilingualism means that students are able to dissect ASL and integrate ASL in all courses; this would mean content is taught along with assistance in ASL expressive skills, as well as writing skills. Once ASL and English are on the same level, this will be true bilingualism. Additionally, if this is accomplished, then schools for deaf children all over can look at Gallaudet as a model in becoming bilingual schools and teaching children to become bilingual. We need to understand that most deaf people are bilingual, but both languages are usually never on the same level. It would be ideal if there is equal fluency in both languages. Again, this would mean a great impact on schools.
Now we look at how we can offer scholarly work in ASL. People often mention that scholarly work is always presented in English, but never in ASL. It is often stated that English is the given language to be used for academic work rather than ASL; this isn’t true anymore. It is quite possible to present scholarly work in ASL. For one, dissertations could be presented entirely in ASL, but it hasn’t been done yet. I will share my personal experience with my PhD dissertation, which centered on monolingual ASL. I provided a review of literature and provided data, and then I realized I couldn’t write this particular information. It had to be signed. The concept of ASL could be defined via sign language, but how could it be put in words? Translation loses its meaning and impact. After deliberation with the university, they approved the presentation of the 5th chapter in ASL, provided that the prior chapters also supply prior information and a foreword, with the 6th chapter supplying a summary. There was no issue with this. If ASL is recognized, how about creating dissertations in ASL, especially within fields like Deaf Studies? It’s quite possible. ASL can clearly demonstrate critical thinking, data, and the like. The same principle can be applied to creating theses and exams. Scholarly work in ASL follows the same strict editing procedure as those in English, rather than just accepting minimal ASL expression. Signing must be clear, paced well, and fingerspelling correct, along with other critical aspect just like in English. As for homework, it can also be done in ASL. I attempted this in my classes. When I taught Structure of ASL, I required all homework in ASL. Students were taken aback and weren’t sure how to deal with logistics. I realized that there was no prior experience and no prior model in doing this. For English, models for content and format are easily shown through prior papers and this has been done throughout our lifetimes. When it comes to ASL, there are no prior models. In another course, ASL Literature, I instructed that homework assignments were to be in ASL and the students first asked, “How?” This should never happen. With the current technological advances in the early 21st century, this should mean all assignments in ASL. One recurring question regarding works in ASL has to do with cited works; how is it possible to cite resources for research papers? Should it be fingerspelled; should it be explicitly cited in ASL; should a slide be included with the citation in English; should the footnotes be signed? This is still being explored and I encourage people to play with various possibilities and seek the best solutions. I’ve read various books, including one particular book by Paulo Freire from Brazil, and I caught one section in which his words were first in English and then in Portuguese or Spanish. I then imagined the same scenario in which an English version is presented, followed by an ASL version. This could be done; again, I encourage people to experiment with different possibilities because even if scholarly works in ASL are done, citation is still critical in order to recognize others’ work.
Another important aspect to consider is the ideological barrier. The world’s ideology emphasizes the written form as the only way to present academic and scholarly works. We know that barrier has to be broken through. Signed videotapes are a new form. We know that documentation, when written, becomes permanent, and when people see this, it is considered scholarly and academic. When it comes to videotapes and other signed forms, it is documentation just the same. When printed on DVDs and tapes, it becomes just as permanent. This thinking has to change in order to view alternate forms just as equal. We also have to recognize that there is unconscious audism and linguicism within our thinking, in which we still view ASL as inferior to English. We see claims that we support and cherish ASL, but we then evaluate how people express thoughts such as, “S/he is smart, s/he writes well.” How did we automatically equate writing well to intelligence? This implies that weak writing skills also mean low intelligence. We have to change that barrier and viewpoint. Another example is constantly correcting English skills but bypassing ASL skills as “good enough,” in addition to not recognizing or accepting the rules within ASL structure. Just as errors exist in English, errors exist in ASL. Errors in both languages can be corrected. This barrier and ideology has to be changed to recognize ASL as equal to English.
It is also important to consider technological difficulties. One example is digital cameras; when requiring homework in videotaped forms, students are often stuck in finding a camera. Some can afford cameras, but usually of a lower quality (i.e., not digital, subpar editing quality). Students are stuck due to high costs and limited quantities of cameras lent by the university. I have to find solutions in which cameras are readily available or sold at low costs so students can videotape their work. This needs to be improved. Secondly, filming and editing consume time greatly. Ensuring that the process of filming lighting goes smoothly is difficult. Individuals aren’t trained, which usually results in bringing in additional people. People often state that sitting at a computer and typing up their work is far easier; at the same time, why let that interfere with the process? The same principles apply to editing: training and finding the correct and most user- friendly program isn’t necessary, as basic clean editing will suffice. It appears that the concepts of filming themselves and editing the work intimidate people. Burning DVDs is also a time- consumer and often leads to discouragement due to the lack of time. People struggle with difficulties such as a non-working DVD, due to the wrong DVD, or other technical details, and all these details can be quite confusing. If we could provide workshops explaining the basic technical details and techniques, I think people will pick up and the process wouldn’t be as intimidating. It only appears so because people do not understand. Increased awareness leads to decreased intimidation. As a teacher, it’s clear that watching DVDs consume more time than reading papers. With papers, I can proceed at my own pace. This doesn’t hold true for DVDs because, for example, if I pause the DVD and later return to it, I have to back up a bit to ensure I don’t miss details. It isn’t as convenient as reading papers. Again, this doesn’t stop me from proceeding with videotaped assignments, because I pick it up as I go along. I typically require DVDs in my courses. When I first began this, I stumbled as I went along, but luckily I only had 7 students in this first course. I realized it took 5 to 6 hours just to evaluate their homework and provide feedback. Once I had more experience, however, I became quicker in this process and felt more confident. I think once we realize it isn’t as terrible as it seems, and is user-friendly, more people will utilize this approach. I encourage others to attempt this. Now we have to think about solutions for these difficulties. The ASL and Deaf Studies department at Gallaudet provides a course entitled “ASL 709: ASL Media Production,” and I think students should take this course. In fact, I think the university should require all students to take media courses including media production. Gallaudet is a deaf university, and the fact that students aren’t required to take such courses seems silly. I think all students should enroll in such courses and a media production program be formed. Media is becoming “in” nowadays; it only makes sense to go with it, especially with improved technology nowadays, such as blogs and vlogs. This fact has helped me improve myself with media and to better utilize it in the classroom, with emphasis in classwork, projects, theses, dissertations, and so on.
Now I will focus on the outcome of these ideas presented. Becoming successful in establishing an ASL curriculum and developing skills in media will lead to many positive outcomes. For one, academic ASL will be recognized. This is a new concept for many; we are aware of academic English and how to utilize it, but in regard to ASL, we have a sense of what academic ASL entails but no formal assessment of this due to limited data. If we increase this through teaching and using media, then we can easily identify academic ASL. A second positive outcome is status ASL. What we discussed earlier about ASL being inferior to English will no longer be true. No language is better than another; all languages are complicated and entail structures and rules just the same. People may argue this, but no language is better than another. So why do we keep thinking English is superior to ASL? This thinking has to stop. ASL is equal to English, to French, to Japanese, to Spanish, and so on. ASL is also equal to LSF, to LSQ, to LSB, to JSL, and so on. Status will become equal in all languages and we will recognize that all languages have rules and structures, and then we will view them in a more advanced light. The third positive outcome focuses on fighting linguicism, or rather, defeating what is considered like racism or any other –ism to a specific language. The prior discussion regarding our acceptance of correcting English but accepting various ASL expressions applies to this, as well as viewing English as a language of intellect and ASL as an “everyday” language, and English as a formal language and ASL as a colloquial language. This view needs to change; ASL can be formal, intellectual, advanced, and the list goes on. People can then recognize improper use of ASL and adjust appropriately rather than leaving it be, resulting in children learning from the wrong model and making errors themselves. We should correct ourselves and others as appropriate. Linguicism will then change for the better. The fourth positive outcome will see faculty, staff, and other people recognizing their own skills and improving. Currently, with no one providing feedback, their singing becomes subpar, often resorting in simultaneous communication. Incorporating both languages at once becomes a huge mess. If we all see the standards as presented by an ASL curriculum and recognize our skills or the lack thereof (and if we recall the discussion of integrating ASL in every course along with English), faculty and staff will improve their skills into more genuine ASL. In regards to interpreters, we have always known the issue with signing skills in which their signing is not always genuine ASL, and we end up frequenting the same small group of excellent interpreters. Once we promote ASL and improve its status, and increase academic ASL, interpreters’ ASL skills will improve. This will result in better access to information and the world through interpreters. We’ve always been able to see the world around us, but that has been limited through interpreters. This will not only benefit deaf people, but also hearing people through improved voicing skills. Currently, the messages of deaf people signing at a PhD level are translated into high school English levels, in turn impacting listeners’ viewpoints. Improved interpreters means a high level of ASL will translate into a high level of English. All of these outcomes will come from the recognition of ASL’s importance, changes in ideology and curriculum, and improved fluency. Changes will occur within status, academic ASL, linguicism, fluency levels of faculty, staff, and interpreters, and all for the better.
When we reflect on what literacy means and how we’ve always viewed it, we often emphasize only reading and writing. With changes in curriculums, improved fluency, increased use of media, and other changes, the impact of ASL will be paramount.
In closure, I encourage you all to revisit your curriculum, revisit yourselves, revisit our views of ASL and English, as well as their statuses. I think it is important that we recognize deaf people will exist, and ASL will exist. As George Veditz said, “As long as there are deaf people, there will be sign language.”