American Dead Languages

American Dead Languages
In today's society, there is an abundant amount of languages that we know. The most common
languages are the ones we hear people speaking more often; moreover, English, Spanish, French,
German, ect. Although, there are several other languages that most people do not know, for example,
according to The Linguist List, a list that provides information about linguistic issues and other
information, in the database there are at least 573 dead languages. Dead languages are described as a
language that is no longer being used or spoken. The most common dead language that we know is
Latin, except people are still familiar with the language because of the root base word we still study
today for the English language. Languages like Arin, Basay, Geez, Norn, and several more, are the
uncommon dead languages that a vast majority of people do not know. 2008 documentary The
Linguist, directed by Jeremy Newberger, Seth Kramer, and Daniel A. Mille, is a preview of a few
people traveling the world exposing dead languages and speaks why they are now dead. In one case,
they talked about how kids were forced to not speak their language which gradually led it to become
a deal language. Because of people not being able to live their heritage and be their true selves, that
is what sparked my interest to study more about dead languages. I feel people should be able to
express themselves and have the option to do and be who they want. In our class we watched The
Linguist documentary that showed people finding and interpreting dead languages and showing the
importance of what happens when a language dies. We see the joy in people when they find out
someone cares about their language, and how to help make it become alive again. ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
Because of the little knowledge people have of dead languages, I feel people should learn and grasp
the knowledge of a dead language; therefore, dead languages should be taught to keep more
languages alive and continuing to be
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

American Sign Language And Deafness Essay
American Sign Language and Deafness in American Culture Deafness has been an obstacle
thousands of people have had to overcome since the dawn of time. Even in the not so distant past,
the future was typically very bleak for individuals who were born or became deaf. However, the
future of an individual who is Deaf has become much brighter due to the development of American
Sign Language. As the name describes, this language relies solely on visible movements and facial
expressions with no auditory expression needed.
American Sign Language, often abbreviated ASL, is as complex and complete as any vocal
language and is complete with its own sentence structure pattern. ASL is often the language of
choice for deaf individuals living in the United States. As reported by the National Census of the
Deaf Population, there are nearly half a million people who use sign language as their predominant
language. The majority of deaf people were originally born hearing. Although people can be born
deaf, many become deaf due to an accident, illness, or old age. A deaf individual can sometimes
continue through life relying solely on an auditory language with the help of hearing aids and other
assistance. However, when students learn ASL they also discover the deaf community and the rich
vibrant culture that accompanies it. Many communities with large percentages of deaf individuals
have very close deaf communities where all the individuals know each other and can meet up

American Sign Language Analysis
American Sign Language is the way the deaf community communicates among themselves and with
people outside their community. It is the use of hand signals instead of verbally speaking. I made it
my responsibility to learn this language and be able to communicate for those who can't verbally.
The overall goal for the personal project is to be able to form a club who would join willingly to
learn American Sign Language. My personal goal is to be able to know sign language to the point I
am able to read when someone is signing to me and be able to understand. Deaf people have to work
twice as hard when communicating to anyone, they can get cramps in their hands when talking for a
while, read with their eyes and if they blink they miss a word and ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
But my plan changed when another student named Jordan Stokes had the same topic as me and
suggested I make a club with him at North, I agreed and I updated my product from teaching at an
elementary or middle school to teaching at my own school. We both checked with our advisors and
it is permissible as long as we exclude each other from our product goal, and how we present our
product. When Jordan came to me with the club proposal he already completed the necessary forms,
but he wanted a partner to help advertise the club and teaching the club. To teach the club sign
language I must learn it beforehand and I did, everything I have learned about sign language has
been from the Online ASL University."I am "Deaf/hh." What that means is I am physically hard–of–
hearing and have chosen to live in the Deaf World (e.g. marry a Deaf woman, use ASL, work in the
field of Deaf–Studies, worship at a Deaf church, devote my time to developing ASL–related
resources for others, etc.)"(LifePrint). This quote is from the president of ASL University, he teaches
classes at the California State University system and classes online. He is hard of hearing and chose
to live in the Deaf community and surround himself within the

Personal Narrative: American Sign Language
Rilke's words to the aspiring poet instantly brought American Sign Language to mind. Prior to
freshman year of high school, I had not possessed the slightest knowledge of the deaf community,
their language, their beliefs, or their customs. Since then, I have immersed myself into these things
to the extent that was then possible. Once this came to mind, what followed was the thought that
with as much passion and intensity as I feel towards this matter, I'm still naive to the entirety of what
it truly encompasses. Could I live knowing that there are others out there who need help; help to not
only go about daily excursions without the unnecessary complications brought about through the
barrier of language, but also for the more imperative

American Sign Language Learning
The quality of education a child receives in America is a primary concern of parents. Demanding
longer school days, harder subjects, and an overall stronger core curriculum, parents seem to
overlook one of the key reasons why they enroll their child in school; the child needs to learn how to
communicate effectively with others. Enrichment of a student's communication skills occurs
gradually through his use of English alone, but combined with additional modes of linguistic
learning he is able to unlock new potential for his future successes. Here in America, most foreign
language learning starts freshman year of high school, yet in Europe, linguistic learning starts before
the student enters primary school. Could this be why the United States ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
In a study by Annie Moses, Debbie Golos, and Colleen Bennett a video was created using ASL and
and English to help young children develop early literacy skills and therefore improve the child's
ability to effectively communicate. The program, SUPER WHY!, had fantastic results among the
tested children. The children watched SUPER WHY! for about nineteen hours total, and all children
in the test group performed significantly better on many literacy tests. Furthering the authors claim
that ASL helps a child become readily literate and helps communication skills, the authors explicate,
"More specifically, preschool children demonstrated significant growth on targeted early literacy
skills featured in SW including indicators of language development, letter knowledge, phonological
and phonemic awareness, print conventions, and a combined early literacy skills task," (An
Alternative Approach...). Along with the increased ability to read and recognize words, a higher
level of communicative ability was reported from parents of the children. Though communication
skills weren't able to be measured by the researchers, they were able to conclude, from the results of
many parents that, "Watching SUPERWHY! improved the substance of a child's verbal
communication." A mother of a child in a study states, "'I'm a teacher who specializes in

Sign Language In American Culture
TITLE The Deaf community have their own culture that often goes misunderstood by those who are
not involved with it. A lot of hearing people believe that the Deaf are sad to be deaf and that they are
stupid and not capable of mundane tasks. American Sign Language is the language used by the Deaf
community in Canada and the United States; ASL is not a universal language. In 1814 Dr. Thomas
Hopkins Gallaudet wanted to teach his neighbors daughter how to communicate because she was
deaf. At the time, America didn't have a Deaf community or culture so he went to Europe to learn
deaf education; they already had a forming language. He studied the language in Europe and
decided that he would return to the US to establish a language there. In 1817, Gallaudet returned
with Laurent Clerc, a teacher in Europe and founded the American School for the Deaf in Hartford,
Connecticut. As mentioned above, ASL is not an international language. Studies find it hard to
receive information on how many people use sign as their first language. The high end of the
numbers ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This is because lipreading and writing are not the most effective use of communicating. Lipreading
doesn't work well at all, hearing people can't even do it well. Mouths don't move that much when we
speak and the form of the mouth is similar for many words. Writing is also used but is too slow of a
form to hold a good conversation. Tactile signing, TTY's and other technology are used to
communicate other than sign. Tactile is used mostly for deaf–blind, it is like signing but on the back
or hand so they can feel the signs too. TTY is like a phone but for the deaf, words come across the
screen so they can read and type back to respond. TTY's are not used as much today because texting
has become a popular form of communication in all communities. Sign is the most used form of
communicating amoungst the Deaf, but TTY's and tactile sign are just as

Differences Between American Sign Language And Certain...
However, Opposing views believe that American Sign Language and certain other languages are
already used enough throughout culture. There are not as many people in the world who are deaf as
there are people who speak different and foreign languages like spanish or french. For that reason,
learning sign language as a foreign language may not be as helpful to some people as learning other
foreign languages. There are some studies that have been done that explain the reasons why many
people do not want to discover how to learn sign language. The number one answer was that they
already had too much of a workload. This makes sense due to the fact that when people get older
and have jobs they do not have a lot of time on their hands to learn a whole

Personal Narrative: American Sign Language
The first time I was ever introduced to American Sign Language was when I was a four–year–old in
Sunday school. I remember that our Sunday school class was learning the song away in the manger
in sign language for our upcoming Christmas pageant, at the time didn't quite understand the
complexity of the language and just thought that it was so cool how some people could understand
each other and they didn't even talk. As I got older I began to understand that sign language wasn't
just something that was used during a church Christmas play, but it was an intricate language with a
rich and unique culture. It wasn't until I was in high school that I began to feel the desire to learn
sign language once my older sister Bethanny started taking sign ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
It has never ceased to amaze me 1when my sister signs to the Deaf members of our church their
faces light up with excitement and the desire to share their language with her. Watching my sister
interact with members of our church and the Deaf community was how I knew that like my older
sister, I also wanted to have the privilege of communicating with these members of our church
family and other members of the Deaf community. When I enrolled in Liberty University I knew
that the language the Lord was calling me to take was American Sign Language. ASL is a course I
am excited to start learning because of how unique and beautiful the language is it compared to
every other language. Although I currently have little knowledge about ASL I'm greatly looking
forward to learning more about the language and about Deaf Culture. When I become more
proficient in American Sign Language I feel that the Lord will allow me to use this language while
fellowshipping with people who I otherwise wouldn't have been able connect with or get to

American Sign Language Summary
This article describes how Deaf people in America and in Britain convey humor through the use of
American Sign Language and British Sign Language, respectively. It gives examples of jokes and
their origin pertaining to hearing people, rejected members of the Deaf community, and other topics.
It is probably safe to say that every community has created humorous stories and jokes based on
their real–life experiences whether in relation to their particular culture or concerning their
interaction with people of different cultures and/or communities. Likewise, the Deaf community has
fashioned humor about themselves and their experiences through the use of their visual, signed
language. It was interesting to learn that, in addition to hearing ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
"Anthropomorphizing" which is attibuting human form and characteristics to non–human objects is
a new term for me to add to my mental file cabinet. I liked the fact that the authors expounded on
the creative use of sign language to convey meaning in a visual manner. This information will be
incorporated into my work. One example for the creative use of sign language was the sign used for
a person who volunteers but later, changes his or her mind. By raising one hand to indicate
VOLUNTEER and using the other hand to pull the hand down and place it in the pocket, indicating
that the person decided not to do so, was a more visual way of conveying the message (para 2, p.
321). I enjoyed reading about how sign language humor is also based on a variety of visual
experiences. The authors stated that Deaf humor contains the same topics of life that other cultures
experience such as marriage and medical events along with humor that makes fun of experiences
with hearing people, interpreters, and even themselves (Deaf community). I thought it was
informative to point out that cultural meaning is an important factor when translating Deaf humor
into

Language In American Literature
Freedom, perhaps the most reoccurring theme throughout the history of America. For this theme is
what prompted the earliest American literature, freedom is the reason colonists first set foot in the
new world, the reason for fighting against British rule, and so on. From then to following the civil
war and on to today, literature has played a significant role in the shaping of the nation. Through the
writings of many influential American authors, literature has dominated the ever–changing
American culture. Through using various literary devices in their works such as dialect, symbolism,
and conflict, they were able to demonstrate race, gender and culture to express the constant
development of the America we know today. "The Goophered Grapevine" by Charles Chesnutt was
first published in Atlantic Monthly in 1887 (Baym 1642). The renowned short story became best
known for its use of southern dialect, reflecting the style of language spoken by everyday African
Americans in the south. With the majority of the story narrated from Julius's point of view, a black
individual speaking with a regional dialect, he seeks to share aspects of the background of blacks to
the white congregation in hopes to bond together the divide highlighted by the contrasting dialects
between the two races. Throughout much of the story one is able to find examples of this regional
dialect reflecting race in the south. For example, when Julius stated "w'en de darkies see dat Yankee
runnin' 'roun de

American Sign Language Essay
Some hearing parents oppose teaching their deaf child American Sign Language (ASL) believing
that learning and teaching it will be difficult. Studies reveal, out of the deaf children who have two
hearing parents only 12% of those parents can communicate in ASL (Gray n.d.).
This is because research shows when people get older, the ease with which they acquire and grasp
new languages lessens (Rice University, 2016). Plus, hearing parents are given research from
audiologists and organizations which advocate for forbidding sign language exposure through
oralism. This medical and educational advice is rooted in the idea that deaf children are defective
hearing people. Moreover, hearing parents are also taught that there is research aiding in ... Show
more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Plus, 83% of students did not have the required reading and language skills to enter a baccalaureate
program in their first year when admitted to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (Gallaudet,
n.d.). ASL is needed in order for a deaf child to have academic language development. By amassing
sign language beforehand, the child can develop a theory of mind and achieve eye tracking for
reading, which helps them to be prepared for schooling. Academic language development is what
the school system expects of children to understand. Children have to access and exhibit knowledge
in a language. By being able to communicate in ASL with a teacher and with educational peers, it
grants the deaf child socially and intellectually engaged interactions. This social development is
pivotal to a students' capacity to learn (Mellon et al., 2015). Not being exposed to ASL early proves
to have a trickle–down effect on the deaf child's future, especially in higher education or college. If
the school system requires a child to have knowledge of a language, not teaching a deaf child ASL
obstructs their learning. If hearing parents allowed full access to ASL for their deaf child, that child
could demonstrate their knowledge of language and in turn, could communicate with a teacher to
have better success in their education. Since all of this is true, hearing parents have to teach their
deaf child

Accepting American Sign Language In The Classroom
Throughout the world, many people are unable to communicate with each other due to the language
barrier between them. When doing business or talking with people from other countries, most need
an interpreter or translator of the certain language in order to understand each other. A language
barrier is an obstacle within the United States of America as well between the deaf and hearing
impaired and the hearing people. Most people do not know American Sign Language (ASL) and are
not given the opportunity to learn Sign Language while in school. More colleges are starting to offer
American Sign Language classes, but several elementary and secondary education level schools are
not offering it to the students. Instead, they are offering languages ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
There are many uses of Sign Language in the classroom besides just speaking with it. ASL can be
used to manage students' behavior in the classroom and keep students actively engaged in lessons
being taught. It also helps students on an academic level by helping them in literacy development of
phonics, reading, and spelling. It aids students with speech and language development issues. Sign
language promotes students' communications and interactions with each other as well. According to
Andrea Simpson, a pediatric audiologist and speech and language pathologist, declares, "Studies
have shown that students who learn Sign Language for specific sight words learn to read at a faster
rate." Incorporating Sign Language in the classroom can have beneficial aspects to the students'
education and skills. When students are able to pair words with Sign Language, it creates a mental
picture in their brain and they are able to recall the words better. They are also using muscle memory
to remember the word better because the children are using more senses. Simpson declares,
"Children learn faster when they can hear, see, and feel the words they are learning." The more
senses the students use, the more ways of remembering the material. Dale Gross, who has studied
Sign Language and the benefits of learning it, declares, "Children who have learned American Sign
Language at a young age average a higher IQ of 8–13 points." Sign language is a way to keep the
students excited to learn and engaged in the lesson being taught. Barbara Cooper, who writes for the
Reading Teacher which is a peer reviewed journal and has researched this topic immensely and is
well informed on the information she wrote about, discovers, "I have found that incorporating Sign
Language in a diverse curriculum

Language Loss: Native American Languages Essay
If one walks through one of the large cities' streets in our country. They will hear and experience a
variety of languages. Our history and tradition of being a land of immigrants is reflected in the
languages we speak. This means that the USA is home to a vast number of languages, one would be
hard pressed to find a language that is not spoken in the U.S. The official list as the number of
languages spoken in the United States go as high as 322. The most spoken and prominent languages
in the country being English, Spanish, and French. English has the highest number of speakers with
215 million. Spanish is the second most spoken language with 28 million speaker. The French
language is the third most spoken language with a million and a ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
But the case of the Kalispel language is not even the most extreme example.
The Native American people, which lived in what it is now the state of Oregon, spoke the language
of Siletz Dee–ni. While the language once thrived in that part of the country, now there may be only
one fluent speaker. A man by the name of Alfred Lane could be the last remaining speaker of Siletz
Dee–ni (Moskowitz). This is the most extreme case of an endangered language with the life of the
language hinging on the life of its last speaker.
In this way, the Native American languages can be compared to an endangered species. As with
endangered species unless something is done, the species in question is unlikely to remain on the
planet. These endangered languages are the same way, with such a few number of speakers unless
something is done, the language will disappear from the earth. This is a situation that Native
Americans face today.
In all cases, language is a part of their culture, something that binds the speakers of that language
together. Speaking the same language identifies one Native American group with another. The
language itself is passed from generation to generation along with that tribe's history, myths, and
ways. Language encompasses all parts of our lives, from our everyday conversations to our own
religious beliefs. The same goes for Native Americans, they learn their language through these
everyday conversations

American Sign Language ( Asl )
Classifiers are handshapes we use in American sign language (ASL) to show the movement,
placement, orientation, size, and shape of a noun. Since ASL is a rule–governed language when
using classifiers you must first identify the noun, then you can use the classifier to show how the
object moves or is placed in relationship to other objects (Aron). American sign language uses eight
different kinds of classifiers for specific categories.
Since classifiers cover a wide variety of uses there are several categories that a classifier can be used
for, as a Descriptive classifier (DCL) which is used for describing an object or a person. The story
"TIMBER" the signer describes a lumberjack's appearance. The signer describes the lumberjacks'
large muscles and large chest; he describes the plaid shirt the lumberjack is wearing as well.
Locative Classifiers (LCL) are representing an object in a specific place and sometimes movement.
The handshape is given followed by spatial or locative information. In the story "TIMBER" the
signer uses several Locative classifiers, one of them is when he shows the forest being in front of the
lumberjack.
Another classifier is the Semantic Classifier (SCL) that represents a category of nouns such as a
vehicle or a person. The handshape is given then information about specific movement. In the story
"TIMBER" the signer uses the semantic classifier to show a person walking in the woods as well as
a tree about to fall. Plural Classifiers (PCL) indicates

Asl And The American Sign Language
American Sign Language is the interesting, logical, and fun to learn. ASL is the fourth most–used
languages in the United States. ASL is used for hearing people to get the messages across to Deaf
people and Deaf community. Deaf people use American Sign Language to communicate with their
friends, family or their loved one who is deaf. Now parents are teaching their babies to learn ASL.
The American Sign Language gives children, their confidence, and self–esteem in their lives. Deaf
Community vs. Hard of hearing is a different point of view, and their impact was to have
opportunities to have new friendships, connection to other people in the hard–of–hearing
community and to be able to talk with hard of hearing people easier.
The hard of hearing or non–signer could be friends with deaf people by using American Sign
Language. The deaf people, hard of hearing and hearing people interact with each other in American
Sign Language. The most of the deaf people are usually comfortable communicating with hearing
people and people are happy that the hearing people are attempted using American Sign Language
to communicate and instead ignoring them. American Sign Language has overcome the
communication barrier for hard of hearing, hearing people, infants, toddlers and elderly
grandparents who could not hear. American Sign Language is a visual language, for example, the
facial expression, body movements and hand gesture. The deaf people priority was in person
interacting and eye contacts

American Sign Language Advantages
In Marion County we pride ourselves on giving each child what they need to thrive. For many of our
Deaf and Hard of Hearing students, American Sign Language is their first language. It has become
more and more apparent through educational programs and research that being proficient in
American Sign Language leads to proficiency in reading and writing in English. Being proficient in
two languages is called bilingualism. Research has proven that early exposure to bilingualism
provides fundamental advantages in cognition, language, and literacy. The cognitive and language
benefits that come from being bilingual continue throughout the lifetime.
The Deaf and hard of hearing program understands that proficiency in American Sign Language has

American Sign Language, ASL or Ameslan, is a visual–gestural language of the Deaf community
that was made for and by Deaf people. It is visual due to its use of body movements rather than
sounds, so receivers are using their eyes to understand what is being said. While by gestural it refers
to the elements that are comprised of "specific movements and shapes of the hands and arms, eyes,
face, and head and body posture" that act as the words and tone (Charlotte, pg. 1).
Personally a great deal of what was mentioned and discussed in this brochure I did not know nor
realized, especially about its history. There are several different sign languages like Chinese, French,
Danish, and Taiwanese Sign language. American Sign Language was actually a combination of sign
language(s) used in America prior to 1817 and Old French Sign Language. Since there is hardly any
information about deaf people in America before 1817, it is assumed that foreigners brought
knowledge of sign languages used in their countries. However, if one was not known they probably
made their own signs or home signs. In 1817, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc
established the first American school for deaf people and an important outcome was that it was the
first time that large numbers of deaf ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
It is made of deaf and hard of hearing individuals who not only share a common language, but also
experiences, values, and way of interacting with each other and hearing people. Attitudinal deafness
is a basic factor of determining who is a member of the community, which is when an individual
identifies themselves as a member and the other members accept them. Likewise a person's actual
degree of hearing loss does not seem important as to their identification, or acceptance. In the Deaf
community its members must know and use ASL because it is the major identifying characteristic,
so even Deaf people who do not know ASL are not a part of the

Essay On American Sign Language
Imagine you have experienced a horrible accident resulting in significant damage to your brain. Due
to your accident, you have lost your ability to express and understand the primary language that you
have used to communicate your entire life. You can no longer say what you feel, or even understand
what your family and doctors are trying to saying to you. Now imagine that your speech and
language pathologist begins to introduce you to a completely non–verbal language that you start to
understand. American Sign Language (ASL) is the language that deaf individuals use to
communicate in their everyday life. This language is made up of gestures, word signs, hand
classifiers, and facial expressions that are produced by the signer's body in order ... Show more
Aphasia impairs a person's ability to hear, speak, read, and write. Those diagnosed with aphasia may
also experience swallowing problems, dysarthria (difficulty to articulate speech), or apraxia
(inability to perform actions needed to produce speech based on brain damage). The most common
cause of aphasia is stroke, but any damage done to the left hemisphere including brain tumors,
traumatic brain injury, or progressive neurological disorders can cause the communication disorder
as well. Symptoms and severity of aphasia all depend on the person and the intensity of the brain
damage. If an individual has damage to the front portion of their brain their language will be choppy
and influent, however they are still able to understand what people are saying to them. If damage
occurs in the posterior region of the brain they are able to speak fluently, in the sense that the rate
and rhythm of the speech is normal, but they may just use made up words or words that don't make
sense in the context, and they have difficulty understanding what is being said to them. Treatments
for aphasia vary and the amount of treatment needed is based off of the

The Pros And Cons Of American Sign Language
The Essence of Language: American Sign Language is the Solution, not the Problem Language is
communicated in various ways. Yet, there are still children who are denied the privilege of having
one. Only ten percent of deaf children are born to deaf parents. This means around ninety percent
are born to hearing parents. Most hearing parents have never been exposed to American Sign
Language (ASL), so they do not teach it to their deaf child. One of the main reasons this happens is
hearing parents tend to deny their child's deafness (Gray, n.d.). Instead, they choose to have their
baby get a cochlear implant (CI). Parental decisions regarding cochlear implantation may be
influenced by what they understand it means to be deaf. Basically, they see being deaf as a disability
and are more apt to consider ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
(n.d.). Part one: the deaf community and cochlear implants my child can have more choices:
reflections of deaf mothers on cochlear implants for their children. Cochlear Implants: Evolving
Perspectives. Retrieved February 09, 2018, from http://gupress.gallaudet.edu/excerpts/CIEP.html
Physicians News (2015, June 15). Should deaf children with hearing parents learn a sign language?
Physicians News Digest. Retrieved February 09, 2018, from
https://physiciansnews.com/2015/06/15/should–deaf–children–with–hearing–parents–learn–a–sign–
language/ Rice University (2016). Psychology. Houston, TX: OpenStax CNX. Retrieved from
https://openstax.org/details/books/p
Walker, M. (2017, June 12). Deaf kids with cochlear implants do better without sign language.
General Pediatrics. Retrieved February 09, 2018, from
https://www.medpagetoday.com/pediatrics/generalpediatrics/65968
Winn, J. (2016, November 3). The importance of early exposure to american sign language with
deaf Children. Signing Savvy Blog. Retrieved February 09, 2018, from

A Study On American Sign Language ( Asl )
The area of focus for this study is memory development, and the use of gestures, specifically
signing, in aiding memory development. Gesturing has traditionally been considered
communicative, but has also been shown to aid learning when used as a teaching strategy. Signing is
a type of gesture used as a form of communication. The focus of this study will be on American
Sign Language (ASL). The purpose of this study is to test the effects of actively signing while
performing a visual–spatial memory task. Gesturing has long been seen as a teaching technique for
more visual learners. A study by Cook et al. (2008) looked at the use of gestures in promoting
learning and lasting memory. To investigate this issue, researchers experimentally manipulated
children's gesture during instruction in a new mathematical concept. Eighty–four children in the
third and fourth grade were recruited to be participants in the study. The study found that requiring
children to gesture while learning the new concept helped them retain the knowledge they had
gained during instruction. In contrast, children who were required to speak but not gesture while
learning the concept saw no effect on solidifying learning. The results of this study are significant
because they found correlation between gesturing while learning and retaining information for a
longer period of time. However, this study only looked at the effects on learning when the teacher
gestures, not when the learner is

Essay On American Sign Language
I first learned American Sign Language through a TV show. It was one of the shows that were
trending lately, just like the current Stranger Things and Thirteen Reasons Why. I was a
bandwagoner so I would always watch all the shows that were talked about. Switched At Birth
educated me so much about ASL, deafness, and more. Because of this show, I have wanted to learn
sign language more than ever. More than just learning a language, I wanted to know what
experiences accompany a hearing person beginning to learning ASL but mostly how does a deaf
person feel throughout their day? American Sign Language, or more commonly known as ASL, was
founded more than 200 thousand years ago from different sign languages around the time. ASL, as
suggested by its name, is not a universal sign language. If you were to go to and any other country, a
person might be at a loss when the signs do not match up. Most people assume that sign language
comes from just the hands, but everyday speakers add facial expression and some movement of their
body. ASL requires a hearing person to do things very differently than how they normally act. For
instance, when signing to a deaf or hard of hearing a person, one needs to face ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
I entered the ASL club meeting that was located in a study group in Rivera library. It seemed like
any other meeting. The club talked about elections, and we started the lesson about learning how to
sign signs for family and animals. At first, there were a lot of signs given to us, then the teacher, Jai,
slowly point to each individual person and randomly choose a word for the person to sign from the
whiteboard. After that, we got into groups of two in order to find more about our partners only
through signing. This was very interesting because at the end, Jai made all of us talk about our
partners through signing, which I thought was a very interesting and effective way to teach the

American Sign Language ( Asl ) Is A Visual And Natural...
American Sign Language (ASL) is a visual and natural language. It is used widely by the members
of the deaf community in the United States (Valli & Lucas, 2000; Andrews, Leigh, & Weiner, 2004).
About 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents (DOH) (NIDCD, 2015). 10% of deaf
children are born to families with one or both deaf parents (DOD) (Mitchell & Karchmer, 2002).
Deaf children of DOD will use ASL as their primary language rather than spoken English or a
different language such as Spanish, Chinese, or other than English (Mitchell & Karchmer, 2002).
Deaf families understand the importance of having language access early and their deaf children's
vocabulary will be as big comparable to hearing children who are learning a spoken language
(Baker, 2010). Deaf children from DOD have full access to ASL whereas most deaf children from
DOH have limited access to ASL. Deaf children of DOH are typically not given the same early
opportunity (Baker, 2010). Research suggested that the first few years of the deaf child's life are the
most crucial to a child's development of language skills and for establishing successful
communication (NIDCD, 2014). In Texas, there are nine hundred–eighty Early Childhood
Education (ECE) programs that offer either full–day or half–day pre–kindergarten programs (LBB,
2007). One of the ECE is the deaf education program for children who are deaf and hard of hearing.
One setting in the deaf education program is a public school setting. A

ASL: American Sign Language
The visual language used by most deaf people in America is American Sign Language. Within ASL,
fingerspelling is an important part of ASL. ASL signs are referred as fingerspelling signs.
Fingerspelling creates a way by representing the symbols of written English (Valli & Lucas, 2000).
Research on fingerspelling conducted by Robbin Battison, an ASL linguist, found English word in
print is characterized with ASL signs because of the letters of fingerspelling represents the letter
handshapes resembles the English print which has direct contact. Some deaf children receive an
opportunity accessing and acquire ASL at home before entering school (Padden & Ramsey, 1998).
Previous researches have demonstrated early acquisition of ASL fingerspelling

According to National Institute on Deafness and Other
Communication Disorders, one in thousand infants is born deaf, while an additional one to six per
thousand are born with hearing loss of different levels [13]. Sign language is commonly used by
Deaf and Hard–of–Hearing(DHH) people to communicate via hand gestures. American sign
language (ASL) is the third most commonly used language among monolinguals in USA and is used
by around half a million of people [18]. An automatic sign language recognizer enables an ASL user
to translate the sign language to written text or speech, in turn allowing them to communicate with
people who are not familiar with ASL. With recent advancements in Internet–of–Things (IoT)
devices, there is a tremendous rise ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
These devices are primarily controlled through voice, and hence, their functionality is not readily
available to DHH users. An automatic sign recognizer can also enable the interaction between a
DHH user and a personal digital assistant.
Most of the current system dealing with ASL recognition use RGB video data [8, 9, 23]. An ASL
sign is performed by doing hand gestures, facial expressions and postures of the body. Sequential
motion of specific body locations (such as hand–tip, neck, arm etc.) provide informative cues about
a sign. Using video data, it is hardly possible to single out each different body location and
associated motion sequences from a series of RGB frame. Microsoft Kinect is a
3D camera sensor which can use the depth information of a person in front of it to provide specific
3D coordinates of his/her body location across a video. This sequence of 3D body location is called
skeletal data [30]. To the best of our knowledge, there is no publicly available skeletal dataset in
literature for ASL recognition. We used the Kinect sensor to collect data for ASL recognition.
With skeleton data, an ASL sign can be seen as a sequence of 3D coordinates or a 3D time series [4].

The Development of American Sign Language Essay
The development of American Sign Language in the United States dates back to as early as the
1600s. On Martha's Vineyard there was a relatively large Deaf population due to genetics and
heredity. This was thought to trace back to the first people of the land, who traveled from
Massachusetts and carried this genetic deafness with them. Because there were so many people that
were deaf living there, it was extremely common for all people, deaf and hearing, to learn their own
version of sign language. This early form of sign language was known as Martha's Vineyard Sign
Language (MVSL) (Lapiak, 1996–2014). Little did the creators of Martha's Vineyard Sign
Language know, MVSL would be incorporated into the first school for deaf students ... Show more
The time came that Gallaudet had to come back to the United States, but he had not felt that he had
learned enough sign language to bring this method of communication back to the American people.
Laurent Clerc agreed to come on the journey back to the United States with him, teaching him more
sign language along the way as Gallaudet taught him English. When they arrived in the United
States, the two were able to put together the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut
in 1817 ("Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet," 2013). This school educated students from surrounding areas
that included Martha's Vineyard. The students from the Vineyard were able to bring with them their
land's created version of sign language and intertwine it with their new schooling (Lapiak, 1996–
2014). This was only the beginning of education and schools for deaf students. Later in the 1800s,
one of Thomas Gallaudet's sons, Edward Miner Gallaudet, had a strong desire to begin another
school for deaf students. He chose Washington, D.C. as the location for Gallaudet College, the first
national college that was created specifically for the needs of deaf students. In 1864, Edward Miner
Gallaudet solicited President Abraham Lincoln to sign the charter allowing for the establishment of
this college. The student enrollment was very small at first, but over time enrollment grew and
eventually the college was able to gain the title of

American Sign Language
American Sign Language is considered a natural and true language. A person who is able to speak
ASL in addition to another natural true language such as English, Spanish, French, etc. is considered
to be bilingual, just like any other person who speaks two languages. ASL classes are relatively easy
to find. They are taught at many schools and universities across the country. Classes are also
frequently found at community centers, churches and in some workplaces.
For people not able to attend sign language courses, there are many tools available to help them
learn ASL on their own. Books and DVDs are great initial resources for anyone interested in
learning sign language. Books that teach about ASL contain step–by–step photographs or
illustrations ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Online websites offer free video dictionaries with models demonstrating each sign. Many sites offer
teaching resources such as downloadable guides and worksheets and the ability to create
personalized quizzes for students, all of which can be printed for use in the classroom. Some
websites offer complete printable workbooks, lessons plans, and practice cards. as well as
downloadable PowerPoint presentations. There are online communities with the goal of helping
people studying ASL to find mentors to guide them. These sites have forums where people can
discuss ASL learning methods, post information about local classes being offered, and look for
support.
Each of the resources mentioned above can be easily obtained and utilized to help you learn to
communicate using ASL. A superb supplement to these resources is a set of flash cards. Homemade
or store bought, flash cards are one more useful tool to further your ASL skills. Flash cards can be
used to help people of all ages become more familiar with hand signs. Cards typically have a photo
of a person demonstrating an ASL sign on one side and the meaning and description of the hand and
arm motions on the reverse side. Practicing with flash cards is an excellent method to help commit
signs to

English : The American Language
English: The American Language Scholars have named English the world's "most influential
language," due to the number of speakers (360 million) and the number of countries in which it is
spoken (Nicole Martello). The United States, contrary to popular belief, does not have an official
language. The U.S. Constitution did not set English or any other language as its official language.
However, the United States should set English as its official language because it would not affect
first amendment rights, it unifies American citizens, and saves tax payer money. Establishing
English as the official language does not cause ethical problems to Hispanics or other races. The
passage of an official language only applies to government functions. Language policies in private
business would not be affected, and private citizens would be free to use any language they wish to
use in their daily lives (Official English). Free speech would not be jeopardized by the passage of an
official language. Government papers and functions would be converted all to English only but, the
citizen's freedom to speak another language will not be altered.
Instituting English as the nation's official language would help unify American citizens. An article in
the New York Times stated that in the same way that the Pledge of Allegiance and the National
Anthem bring this nation together, English is something we share and should promote (James
Inhofe). If every citizen took the initiative upon themselves to

Summary: The American Sign Language
Nelson Mandela once said, "If you speak to a man in a language that he understands, it goes to his
head. If you speak to him in his language that goes to his heart" ("Nelson Mandela", BBC).
Human beings are unique creatures as we possess the ability to communicate, to learn in more than
one language. It is displeasing to say that the day when a gorilla is able to teach a bonobo in the
language that a chimpanzee uses, may never arrive. The case was different for Koko, the gorilla and
Kanzi, the bonobo as the American Sign Language was involved (Prince–Hughes, 1987). What sets
human beings apart is that we are the same species that are inhabiting various regions around the
world and thus, we inherit individual languages. Our arterial language is determined by many
factors such as, race, ethnicity and even religion. However, the occurrence of a person learning in a
non–native language does arise. For example, a child that is raised in Britain who learns English in
school might have a family that is from the Philippines and thus, speaks Tagalog. The child may be
more fluent in speaking Tagalog than English and thus, may lead to learning difficulties in school as
an English Language Learner, which ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
With the drastic measures that non–native language learners are driven towards, it illustrates how
the demand of a certain inflection in an individual's voice is valued. Nonetheless, studies conducted
with semantic development in non–heritage language learners provides evidence that information is
processed slower, which implies that learning a non–native language is a long procedure. The
spectrum of issue associated with learning a non–native language is undeniably an ongoing concern
that requires the attention of many, as ignorance would only exacerbate the matter at

Summary : ' American Sign Language '
Harmony Kelly
Mrs. Barbara Carr
American Sign Language 1
20 October 2015
Alice Cogswell What would you do if you were Deaf and living in America during the early 1800's
and before? Think of how hard it would be to learn when the teachers in the classroom would talk
out loud and you couldn't hear what they were saying. It was very difficult for Deaf students who
lived before the 1800's to get any education. Rich people would send their children across the ocean
to Europe where they could attend the Braidwood Academy in Great Britain among other great
schools for the Deaf. The many who couldn't afford it just had to live in silence looking on from the
outside. One of the problems besides having trouble getting an education, was that many people
misunderstood Deafness. Many people believed that because Deaf people couldn't hear and usually
couldn't speak, that they also couldn't think intelligently or reason. Some believed that Deafness was
a curse for bad behavior. One young Deaf girl by the name of Alice Cogswell helped to change that
thwarted thinking. She motivated and inspired Thomas Gallaudet to study education for Deaf people
and then later open the 1st school for the Deaf in America.
In Hartford Connecticut on August 31 1805, Alice Cogswell was born. She was a bright little girl
and very intelligent. When she was two years old, she had a severe bout of "spotted fever" which is
thought to have been a form of meningitis. Because of that illness, Alice lost her hearing

"What is sign language?" The book is written by Deborah Kent. The book commences with the
narrative of Beanca, a girl who was born auditory impaired and uses American Sign Language
(ASL) to communicate and then goes on to elucidate the history of ASL. Beanca Turner was inborn
auditory impaired. Since she was not able to hear anything around her, she did not learn to verbalize.
She would make up hand signals to express some words such as EAT and HOUSE. Those types of
designations are called "home signs." Even with Beanca's hand actions, she nevertheless could not
ask a question or tell a story. If she was delighted or anguished, she could not clarify why or what
wasn't right. At school, things improved for Beanca. Every student was auditory impaired and the
instructor utilized America Sign Language. As Beanca was instilled this new language, she could
make inquiries, converse with other students and her instructor, and express to others how she felt,
what she mentally conceived, and could tell a story she created. Beanca could verbalize with her
classmates as well. All of Beanca's family members also learned ASL so that they could
communicate with her. Currently, Beanca is studying how to ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
The grammar of ASL is very different from the grammar of English. A significant word might come
at the beginning of a sentence, or be saved for the end to give it more meaning. For many years,
utilization of sign language was prohibited in schools for the deaf. Deaf students instead
concentrated on lip reading and finger spelling English. American Sign Language comes to be
acknowledged as a legitimate norm of communication in 1990. It made ASL more available to deaf
people in the United States. Many people found out ASL to be extremely expressive, to convey
thoughts and feelings through motions with their hands, faces and bodies to connect with

Benefits Of American Sign Language
American Sign Language also known as ASL is the use of hands, facial expression, and non–manual
markers. ASL is the main language for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. ASL gives them a
way to communicate with the world that is hearing. I propose that teaching children who have
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can have a beneficial advantage to producing language, creating
opportunities for social interaction, and giving a starting point to learn English both as a written
language, and spoken. Examining closely the history, importance of language, and how ASL can be
applied towards TR. The history of ASL starts back in 1814 when Dr. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet
saw how smart a neighbor's daughter, who was deaf, and could not communicate ... Show more
One of the bigger aspects that happens in schools is the use of standardized tests and scores. The
missing element in the scores and tests for children with disabilities is the use of correct of
accommodations. In an article written by Cawthon and Leppo there is a section that states
"accommodations on student scores are available for students with disabilities as a whole as well as
in disaggregated form, by type of accommodation" (Cawthon, Leppo, 2013). This is saying that
having the correct accommodations could assist in doing better in standardized tests which will then
place children in correct grade placement. Written English is harder to understand for those with
ASD and other disabilities. By giving ASD children a base of ASL as an infant and continued on
through their schooling years can provide even more accommodations. The only question that
remains is how does Therapeutic Recreation (TR) play into all of

American Sign Language In learning about the deaf culture I have taken on a new understanding
about the people it includes. Through readings and the lessons, I have learned that being deaf has
both its hardships and its blessings. The beauty of the language alone makes one want to learn all
that he or she can about it. In this paper I will discuss the beauty of the language and the
misconceptions the hearing world has about deafness. The deaf culture has often been labeled as the
deaf– and– dumb culture. This is not only an insulting term it is also very inaccurate. Deaf people
are just as intelligent as hearing people. In the early 1800's when ASL was first brought about in the
United States Being deaf was considered shameful ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
An adult that goes deaf feels they can lose alot; friends, a job, a marriage. I have watched three
movies about the deaf culture, each has helped me to understand the Deaf World a little better. The
first movie I watched was "Mr. Holland's Opus", which was about a musician whose son was born
deaf. This was very upsetting to the musician because his son would never be able to hear the music
that was so important to him. As a result father and son drifted and never really had the connection
that a father and son should have until the father realized that his son wasn't so different after all. I
could relate to this movie because the one thing I think deaf people are missing out on is the beauty
of music. Music is such an important part of my life that I would dread to have a life without it. The
movie "Love is Never Silent " consisted of a hearing child left alone with deaf parents when her
younger hearing brother dies. This movie shows how she was her parents sole link to the hearing
world. It also showed how her parents were looked at by the hearing world and how they looked at
the hearing world. They had a certain distrust for the hearing. The daughter was ashamed to have
deaf parents and to sign in front of hearing people because she didn't want to be different. Her

Language In African American
Speaking English is a way of identifying with home, peers or a certain way of life in America. It is
not a matter of speaking English the correct way, but of speaking in a way that makes people
comfortable in their world and that accurately projects their identity. Ultimately, the way we speak is
intrinsically tied to a number of complex factors, including ethnicity and socioeconomic status. In
the documentary, it is stated that Americans are full of notions about how not to speak. Americans
are opinionated when it comes to language, and this is shown when Dr. John Baugh exhibits the
phenomena of language profiling. People are judged according to how they speak, and so when Dr.
Baugh spoke in African American Vernacular English and Chicano

Language Barriers In American Culture
In today's American culture we are known as the 'melting pot'. There are multiple races,
backgrounds, traditions, and ways of life in America. With this comes different languages and
difficult barriers to overcome weather it be at work or in the education programs. Currently in the
U.S there are 311 different languages spoken (Gadling.com). English is no longer the primary
language of America, with a whopping total of 14 million households alone that do not speak
English as their primary language (Gadling.com). Therefore, how should we fix this language
barrier? In today's schools ten percent of the students are Ell students. There are currently 50.1
million students enrolled in public schools (fastfacts.com). This means five million ten thousand

American Sign Language Research Paper
There is a plethora of information about American Sign Language that I was unaware of. Growing
up, I had never known anyone that was deaf, nor taken any classes about sign language. Therefore,
some of the information I was able to learn throughout the class surprised me. As a start, it was
disappointing to discover that deaf culture and sign language are only passed down through deaf
families and residential schools. This can limit the amount of knowledge a hearing person has about
the deaf culture, and this knowledge is important because it is still relevant in today's day and age.
In fact, the topic should come up in more schools across the country. Another aspect of sign
language that surprised me was the importance of facial expressions.

Language And The American Sign Language
A few of the important factors that I thought were important in this unit were the American Sign
Language itself, the rules of social interaction in the Deaf culture, and Deaf literature. American
Sign Language is well described in the book, "Introduction to American Deaf Culture" by Thomas
K. Holcomb. Holcomb explains how American Sign Language is often confused with "English on
the hands." However, Holcomb cites, "Research has clearly determined that ASL has an independent
grammar that happens to be quite different from English (Holcomb, p.115). It is an honest mistake
to believe that ASL is the same as English except instead of orally communicating, it communicates
with the use of hands. I myself also believed in that same concept. When I started to learn ASL, I
couldn 't help myself from asking my deaf friends how to sign the word "to" or "the." The concept I
learned from interacting with my friends is that ASL is a completely different language with its
different set of rules and grammar. Even until today, I cannot have a good established conversation
in sign language because I need to adapt to the different grammar. It is important to know these rules
about the language itself because that way it will be much faster to progress with the language. In
terms of social interaction, in this unit I learned the importance of staying connected and reporting
back to the deaf community is essential. "Social contacts are cherished and often infrequent, it is
expected that Deaf

I attended Kathryn Davidson's lecture about deaf children and the association with American Sign
Language. Kathryn discussed experiments with deaf children, their education options, and the level
of their language development. The experiments compared deaf children that were educated strictly
through the oral philosophies and deaf children that only learned through American Sign Language.
These experiments also compared the ages at which the children were introduced to these education
styles and how it affected them. It's fascinating to associate the lecture to ASL 102; because
throughout this quarter there were discussions revolving around education options for deaf children.
Before this quarter, I never thought about deaf children and their ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Some people seem to think of ASL as a type of "accommodation" for the deaf. Personally, ASL is
simply another language. Even though this lecture was intriguing, the lecture could've incorporated
deaf culture. Overall, the lecture was more focused on how education options affect the deaf in the
terms of the development of a language. Even though the lecture was not what was expected; I still
learned a massive amount about the fine details of languages. One of the experiments concluded
that, native signers, meaning these children grew up with ASL as their primary form of
communication; had an easier time learning English. While the deaf children that learned sign
language later had delayed English skills. Unfortunately, an extensive range of parents desire for
their deaf child to be educated strictly through English; interestingly enough, this study concludes
that children will have an easier time learning English if they are native signers. Another intriguing
factor that Kathryn mentioned was a study that dealt with a combination of deaf and hearing
children. All of these children took a test to demonstrate how well they were progressing in school.
Interesting enough, the

American Sign Language Is Not A Universal Language
We exchange thousands of words everyday with people around us. Most of us gifted with the ability
to listen to a friend, process it in our brain and respond through our mouth. However, there are some
people who lack these kinds of ability, unfortunately. Unlike us, this group of people use sign
language to communicate with others. For everyday life, deaf people use sign language to
communicate with one another. It is a complete language that involves hand movement added with
facial expression and body movements. According to National Associates of the Deaf (NAD),
"American Sign Language (ASL) is a visual language. Through signing, the brain processes
linguistic information through the eyes. The shape, placement, and movement of the hands, as well
as facial expressions and body movements, all play important parts in conveying information."
American Sign Language is not a universal language. Just like spoken language, different types of
sign languages are spoken in different countries. For example, United Kingdom use the British Sign
Language (BSL), and Japan uses the Japanese Sign Language (NAD).
Like many other linguistic groups, deaf people have their own culture and community. According to
the World Federation of the Deaf, deaf people as a linguistic minority share common experiences in
life, and this establishes itself in Deaf culture. They often have same or similar beliefs, attitudes,
history, norms, values, literary traditions, and art. There are many local and

Koko And American Sign Language
Animals do not really understand human language. To animals, it is like performing a specific action
for a specific command. In this paper, through a widely popular example, I would like to argue that,
although animals have their own language and seem to understand human language, in reality,
animals do not really understand human language.
Koko (born July 4, 1971), a female western gorilla, was known for having learned signs from an
adjusted version of American Sign Language. Her instructor and caregiver, animal psychologist
Francine "Penny" Patterson, reports that Koko can understand more than 1,000 indications of what
Patterson calls "Gorilla Sign Language" (GSL) (Fischer). Patterson reports that Koko's utilization of
signs and her activities, which are predictable with ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
A. Petitto). Koko the gorilla made headlines when she appeared in a video calling on world leaders
to take action on climate change. It might appear that Koko has mastered the ability to communicate
a complex message using signs. However, the video was a campaign message, so it is possible that
she is copying the signs being asked of her, rather than sending us a message of her own. But if this
is true, is Koko really showing any such ability? In short no. What Koko can in fact do, is
manipulate her vocal chords to create an assortment of sounds. It might likewise be conceivable that
Koko's normal activities like scratching or embedding her thumb in her mouth might be confused
with American Sign Language. The comprehension of human dialect by Koko might be relatable to
Chinese Room Experiment with Koko being the individual inside the room. For this situation, the

American Dead Languages

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

More from Julie Potts

More from Julie Potts (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

American Dead Languages