The Importance of Children Learning American Sign Language The Importance of Children Learning American Sign Language The Importance of Children Learning American Sign LanguageLanguage is a factor that influences all peoples’ lives. It allows people to communicate with one another to create relationships and to relate to one another. It is used for communication, and is necessary for all living people. Understanding and developing a language is very difficult for people when they begin the process too late in life. When children are young they can learn how to speak two languages at the same time, their brains are just beginning to develop. The brain is very flexible in the early stages of life, which is why it is so important that children who are deaf should learn ASL as soon as possible. Having ASL as a primary language helps children later in life because it allows a child to have a solid understanding of the language from the very beginning of language development. Deaf people are not the only one who benefit from ASL, children with disabilities can also learn. Visuals are very important for the learning process because, people with disabilities can’t communicate verbally either, so they use what they have: vision. And lastly, the importance of expression through a native language is the best way to learn because people feel confident and knowledgeable in a language that they can call their own. Learning American Sign Language as a child can lead to improvement in the ability to understand and develop language, appreciate deaf culture, overcome learning disabilities, and allow people to fully express themselves in their native language. Improvements in cognition and language development are some of the benefits that children can receive from learning American Sign Language. Deaf children who study and learn American Sign Language learn to develop language and understand better. The great thing about learning ASL is that the learning process is much more stimulating and straightforward. According to Press, Heyes, Kilner, in their article, ASL is better because: “Experience in which observation of an action is correlated with its execution establishes excitatory links between sensory and motor representations of the same action. The components to this phenomenon are called mirror neurons, “Mirror neurons are a type of brain cell that fires when you do an action, and also when you simply watch someone else doing the same action”(Winerman, 2005). This is significant because the action of pairing a motor movement with a word allows children to make a stronger connection between the two and because of this they understand at a deeper level. When children are young, they learn and retain information very quickly. Language is something most all people learn throughout life. Research has been done that indicates that ASL helps reinforce learning, mainly because of this concept called “mirror neurons” which in their articl ...

1. The Importance of Children Learning American Sign Language
The Importance of Children Learning American Sign Language
The Importance of Children Learning American Sign
LanguageLanguage is a factor that influences all peoples’ lives.
It allows people to communicate with one another to create
relationships and to relate to one another. It is used for
communication, and is necessary for all living people.
Understanding and developing a language is very difficult for
people when they begin the process too late in life. When
children are young they can learn how to speak two languages at
the same time, their brains are just beginning to develop. The
brain is very flexible in the early stages of life, which is why it
is so important that children who are deaf should learn ASL as
soon as possible. Having ASL as a primary language helps
children later in life because it allows a child to have a solid
understanding of the language from the very beginning of
language development. Deaf people are not the only one who
benefit from ASL, children with disabilities can also learn.
Visuals are very important for the learning process because,

2. people with disabilities can’t communicate verbally either, so
they use what they have: vision. And lastly, the importance of
expression through a native language is the best way to learn
because people feel confident and knowledgeable in a language
that they can call their own. Learning American Sign Language
as a child can lead to improvement in the ability to understand
and develop language, appreciate deaf culture, overcome
learning disabilities, and allow people to fully express
themselves in their native language. Improvements in
cognition and language development are some of the benefits
that children can receive from learning American Sign
Language. Deaf children who study and learn American Sign
Language learn to develop language and understand better. The
great thing about learning ASL is that the learning process is
much more stimulating and straightforward. According to Press,
Heyes, Kilner, in their article, ASL is better because:
“Experience in which observation of an action is correlated with
its execution establishes excitatory links between sensory and
motor representations of the same action. The components to
this phenomenon are called mirror neurons, “Mirror neurons are
a type of brain cell that fires when you do an action, and also
when you simply watch someone else doing the same
action”(Winerman, 2005). This is significant because the action
of pairing a motor movement with a word allows children to
make a stronger connection between the two and because of this
they understand at a deeper level. When children are young,
they learn and retain information very quickly. Language is
something most all people learn throughout life. Research has
been done that indicates that ASL helps reinforce learning,
mainly because of this concept called “mirror neurons” which in
their article, Learning to Understand Others’ Actions, Press,
Heyes, Kilner explain this by saying, “We have abundant
experience of matching relationships between observed and
executed actions during our lives. Following such experience,
observation of an action is sufficient to activate its motor
representation” (2011). Learning ASL is a way for children to

3. develop “mirror neurons” the benefit of this is that the child
learns more information in same amount of time. For example,
when a child learns the word “kitchen” at first the word just
means an area in the house. Using sign language, allows a child
to draw out the walls in the kitchen, the colors seen and the
appliances in it, a greater understanding is created and stronger
language and visual associating which allows more learning to
take place. Children can recollect better because there is muscle
memory involved and the more difficulties involved the less
demanding it is to learn, this is why learning ASL is so easy.
The brain naturally connects ideas this way, ASL combines
motor skills with thinking, which allows a person to see the
work going on their brain on their hands. The benefits of
learning ASL are outstanding. Using physical action and pairing
that with a mental visual of what the word is, is the most
beneficial aspect of sign language. If children understand the
language to the best of their ability in the early stages of life,
an assumption can be made that they will be more successful in
their education. Having a concrete foundation of language can
only be a benefit. Lastly, learning ASL allows children, and
others, to gain appreciation of the deaf culture.
Appreciating deaf culture is not only for the deaf. Some
families around the world have a mix of deaf and non-deaf
people. They have to learn to embrace each other’s cultures.
The deaf and the hearing people have to work together to create
mutual understanding. In the documentary Here and Now,
(2007) by Irene Taylor Brodsky tells the story of her own
family. The film director, Irene, shares the story of her parents
Paul and Sally when they decide at age 60 to get Cochlear
implants. This surgery would allow them to hear for the first
time in their life. This an exciting and nerve raking event for all
members of the family. What is important to take away from
this film is that Irene and her siblings were never deaf. They
learned to sign as children in order to be able to communicate
with their parents. This shows how significant ASL can be in
the lives of people who aren’t even deaf. The benefits are

4. endless. These children, unknowingly were benefiting from
ASL, their brains were working at a much more intense level
because they had the opportunity to use both languages at the
same time. This allowed them to retain information very well.
They did great in school, learning ASL did nothing but benefit
them. This is significant because according to the National
Institute of Deafness and other Communication Disorders,
“Indeed, children who are DOD (Deaf of Deaf) have been found
by some studies to be "linguistically superior." Their command
of both ASL and English often exceeds that of peers not born to
deaf parents, because ASL tends to be their first language with
English being the second language.” (NIDCD, 2015). This is
significant because it shows the correlation between ASL and
English and the impact that they have on the learning process.
When a child learns the action associate with word before the
word is learned, they have something to “verify” that it’s the
same thing. In ASL a child can explain what he or she is trying
to sign by using their hands and body, and this is natural for
them. In English, on the other hand, if a child doesn’t know a
word or how to spell it, there is no way for another person to
understand them. This is why children who learn ASL first and
then English are linguistically superior, they learn how to
describe the language and then the language itself. This makes
the learning process solid because at this point the child knows
what to look for in the English language, and they go into the
English language with a visual in mind. ASL allowed children
like Irene and thousands of other people around the world to
create better relationships and bonds with their parents and
entire family; American Sign Language creates unity. The
impact that language has on people is universal, it helps
encourages and supports differences in culture.Overcoming
learning disabilities can be an enormous challenge. American
Sign Language may also be helpful to help non-deaf children
overcome communication and learning disabilities. The
researchers who began this study created the model “bridge of
signs,” which means teaching children with disabilities, and

5. people who work with them, a way to have meaningful
communication by using sign language. For example, in a study
done by Toth, a child psychologist, concluded the following:
“Teaching staff, speech language therapists, and parents noted
that hearing children who used the Bridge of Signs model
experienced language development with sign language and, in
some cases, went on to uses a that foundation as a bridge to
speaking the oral language of their caretakers” (Toth, 2009).
This is significant because American Sign Language helps
children in a very unique way. It forces a child’s brain to make
stronger associations with words and actions. The importance of
combining the two skills allows children with other disabilities
to learn in a more complete way. Research indicates that
changing the way children are taught has a much greater impact
rather than trying to change the way a child learns. In addition,
other methods for helping children with disabilities are being
experimented with. An example of this is The Picture Exchange
Communication System (PECS). This method has become a
widely known and used augmentative system for teaching
functional communication skills and potentially providing a
bridge to speech acquisition. In this method children with
severe disabilities are asked questions and then asked to point
to the correct answer to the question. Typically the answers are
similar and placed next to each other on the same piece of
paper. According to Early Childhood Education specialists
Schwartz, Garfinkle, and Bauer, the PECS method has been
proving to be helpful because, “The study analyzed the PECS
acquisition data for 31 preschool children and demonstrated that
young children with severe communication delays and disorders
can learn to use PECS quickly and efficiently” (1998). This
study done at the University of Washington studied preschool
aged children and found that even for children with disabilities,
this method still helped the children learn. This is significant
because it means that there is evidence behind the method and
the results can be trusted.ASL is native to deaf people, when
people feel comfortable to speak in their own language. They

6. express themselves more authentically. The importance of
speaking in a language that is native to the individual provides
a sense of comfort that nothing else can bring to a person.
According to the National Institute on Deafness and other
Communication Disorders (NIDCD, 2015), “It is the primary
language of many North Americans who are deaf and is one of
several communication options used by people who are deaf or
hard-of-hearing.” People feel calm and confident that they can
speak a language fluently because other people can understand
them very well. There is nothing more difficult than trying to
express yourself and not having the words to do it. In the case
of deaf people, they can draw out with classifiers or finger spell
anything they need to express without any complications, and
that is the goal of learning the language of their people. In
addition, learning sign language comes naturally for the deaf
people. They don’t have the ability to hear so the replace that
by using their hands and eyes to communicate. The NIDCD
explains the importance of visuals in sign language in order to
express oneself,In spoken language words are produced by
using the mouth and voice to make sounds. But for people who
are deaf (particularly those who are profoundly deaf), the
sounds of speech are often not heard, and only a fraction of
speech sounds can be seen on the lips. Sign languages are based
on the idea that vision is the most useful tool a deaf person has
to communicate and receive information (NIDCD, 2015).This is
significant because deaf people learn to work with what they
have. They lack hearing but don’t let that disable them in
communication. They learn how to communicate in a way that is
best for their development of language, signing comes naturally
to them. It is so effective for them because, they don’t have the
influence of another language. For most deaf, ASL is the only
language they learn as children and combine it with written
English.
Overall, learning ASL has many advantages from improvement
in language development, help overcoming other disabilities and
free expression. Language devolvement is essential for the

7. ability to communicate. Also people using communication in
their daily life that’s why it is so important for the deaf to learn
a language to in which they can communicate effectively. In
addition, American Sign Language is so special because it
helpful to many group of people to interact with each other. In
the case of Irene Taylor Brodsky, it allowed her family to bond
and learn each other’s native languages. Taylor and her siblings
accommodated to their parents deafness and many years later
when Sally and Paul were in their sixties they built up the
confidence to go through cochlear implant surgery to hear and
feel the native language of their children for the first time in
their lives. ASL creates community, it is a language that can
help people all around the world communicate. Every country
has their own version, but ultimately the same method is used.
Lastly, expression in your own language is the best way to
communicate because people can feel more comfortable and
honest. Language can create a barrier between people, ASL
helps tear that barrier down. The importance of ASL is that it
allows the deaf to learn and speak in a way that is natural to
them. It is much easier to learn when the learning has to be
connected and that is why ASL is so vital for the deaf
community and for all communities to interact with each other,
this is the true way to learn.
References
National Institute on Deafness and other Communication
Disorders (2015). American Sign Language. Retrieved from
http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/pages/asl.aspxPress,
Heyes, Kilner (2011). The Roya Society. Learning to
Understand Others'Actions.
http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/7/3/457.shortSch
wartz, Garfinkle, Bauer (1998). University of Wshington. The
Picture Exchange Communication System: Communicative
Outcomes for Young Children with Disabilities. Retrieved from
http://tec.sagepub.com/content/18/3/144.abstract.
Toth, A (2009). American Annals of the Deaf. Bridge of Signs:

8. Can Sign Language Empower Non-Deaf Children to Triumph
over Their Communication Disabilities? Retrieved from
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/aad/summary/v154/154.2.toth.html
Winerman, L. (2005). American Psychological Associaton, The
Minds Mirror. Retrieved from
http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct05/mirror.aspx.
Vermilion Films. Irene Taylor Brodsky. (Director).
(2007). Here and Now. [Motion picture]. USA.
WR222 – Final Draft – Fall 2017
Assignment 6: Final Draft
Due: Wednesday 6 December 2017 – bring FOUR (4) copies to
class
Points: 120
Your final draft should be nine to twelve pages long. Any and
all inserted graphics such as pictures and tables should take up
no more than one page of the minimum nine. That is to say, if
you only do the minimum page count and you have so many
inserted graphics that they constitute more than a page, you do
not have enough written content. You should have AT LEAST
eight pages that are nothing but text when all the graphics are
taken out.
Your final should have a minimum of six in-line citations in the
form of summaries, paraphrases, and/or quotes. Your citations
should be documented in some sort of works cited section,
usually at the end of your paper (if your format handles citation
differently, so be it).
What I am most concerned with is seeing that your paper has
evolved, that you have written processually. Do not worry too

9. much about whether or not you can make a strong
thesis/argument or make a strong claim at the end of an
exploratory paper. This is what many professors and the real
research world would eventually want from you, but for now,
attempting to produce a research paper is enough for our lower-
division purposes.
You will submit the paper on D2L by December 6th at midnight
(the flip from Dec. 6th to 7th. If you need additional
accommodations to turn it in, let me know—but NOT AT THE
LAST MINUTE!!! Be responsible, be communicative, plan
ahead as wisely as possible.
Guidelines:
· 9-12 pages minimum
· Minimum six citations, three of which can be found through
the PSU Library’s database
· A “works cited” or similar list with your citation properly
documented
· Format according to your convention (MLA, APA, AP)
· Turn in on D2L for plagiarism checking
You will NOT be workshopping your final draft in groups. If
you need help, you must use the many resources we have
discussed in class. In addition, I am available at office hours
and by email if you need anything.
Format – 20 pts.
Is the paper formatted according to your chosen style (MLA,
APA, etc.)? It is your responsibility to figure out how to make
this paper look perfect with all the tools at your disposal.
Think: spaces, margins, fonts, etc.
Content – 40 pts.
Does your paper follow an organized, logical flow? Does your
evidence work effectively? Does it move beyond analysis and

10. try to claim something new with a thesis or delayed thesis?
Citizenship – 50 pts.
Did you actually try? Did you follow all instructions? Seriously,
read all the instructions and follow them. It’s almost half of
your grade for the final. You automatically get 50 points just
for jumping through the hoops.
Grammar – 10 pts.
Am I convinced you tried to be grammatically correct? Are
there too many errors? Does it seem like you typed this out
without editing right before class?