Isabella
Hello,
My name is Isabella and I am 20 years old! One of my passion in life is horseback riding more specifically my horse Magic. I also love to read if I am not with her I have my nose in a book. I also love to take pictures but I wouldn't call myself a photographer. I am currently studying languages, German and Spanish.
For my project, I am thinking of looking into learning ASL (American Sign Language) as a second language. I like this subject because i really like sign language and I actually know a few signs.
This is how I first discovered ASL, by watch some many videos of people doing sign language covers of popular songs. I would watch them and then i would watch the tutorials to learn each song. It may seem easy but ,especially with faster song, it can get really hard to follow.
My topic: The History of American Sign Language
So, the topic I have chosen is the history and evolution of ASL. Where did it come from, how did it evolved into the language that it is today.
The Story of ASL
This video is a brief look into the complex history of ASL. ASL started before America was even the country that we know. On a little island some of you may know called Martha's Vineyard. The founder of ASL travelled all over Europe to find a school to figure out how to teach this new and different language.
Definition:
American Sign Language (ASL), visual-gestural language used by most of the deaf community in the United States and Canada. ASL is a natural language with a structure quite different from spoken English. It is not a manual-gestural representation of spoken English, nor is it pantomime. Instead, ASL is a full language, with all of the properties of spoken natural languages, but one that has developed independently of and differently from English. The role of ASL in the education of deaf students has been characterized by conflict and controversy. (https://www.britannica.com/topic/American-Sign-Language )
Source #1 : A Historical and Etymological Dictionary of American Sign Language
This book talks about the evolution of different signs and compares them to the french signs that they originated from. I will mostly be looking at first chapter that talks about the history of ASL but I will also be looking some of the signs that have changed over time because that is also a very important part of the language. It is more of a dictionnary so it will not be my main source.
Source #2 : Trough Deaf Eyes
This documentary looks into the lives of deaf americans and how the deaf community has changed over the past 200 years. They also discuss how different ethnicities had their own way of signing. Since many politicians tried to separate deaf people from eachother, ASL evolved in many different ways since they didn't have contact with many Deaf people. It includes people of all ages and all walks of life and they talk about growing up deaf and how it was persived. This movie also features 6 short films made by deaf filmmakers and although they are not directly related to my subjet, they really helped me understand what it is like to be Deaf in America.
Source #3 : Sign Language Archaeology
This book is very much a historical book. It talks alot about the early beginning of ASL. This book also talks a lot about the historical context to help us better undertsand early ASL grammar. It describes how the language changed over each century. He also talks about a set of films produced by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) in the early 1900s. These films, which show samples of “sign masters” the model signers of the time, which shows us a lot of previously unknown characteristics of early ASL and a better understand the older and newer forms of ASL.
Source #4 : Significant gestures
This book is also more of a historical book. Tabak starts by looking at the the french origins of ASL. It was then brought to America which led to the openning of schools for the deaf. He also talks about how race and deafness are actually interconnected. Another interesting subject he talks about is the evolution how to educate deaf children. Should you teach the ASL or is signing a crutch that is stoping them from learning to speak? all this many other questions are mentionned in this book.
Source #5 : The Study Of Language
In this book, I will only be looking at the chapter "Gestures and Sign Languages". In this chapter, Yule talks a lot about the structures of signs and the meanings behing the gestures. He also talks a bit about other sign languages. At the end of each chapter, he mentionnes other book we can read so I will definitely be looking into those. I have read other chapters from this book before and really enjoyed his way of writing so I was happy to see that the book had a chapter about Sign Language.
Learning more about ASL
If you are interested in learning some basic signs, this really short video shows 25 signs that can be used everyday. These signs are some that I think everyone should know!
Source #6 : The Development of American Sign Language–Based Analogical Reasoning in Signing Deaf Children
This research looks into wether or not ASL is a language that supports and enables the development of language-based reasoning abilities in deaf children as much as oral languages and at the same pace are hearing children would develop. The abilities they looked at were “ funds of knowledge (basic understanding of various parts of the world), vocabulary knowledge, familiarity with taxonomic and part– whole relations, causal reasoning, and executive function skills, such as maintaining task goals and resisting the imperfect match ”. This article was very interesting but it is more complexe so I will have to reread it a few times.
Source # 7: The enchanting music of sign language
In this TED talk, Christine Sun Kim talks about her experience with sound and art as a deaf artist. She explains how music and ASL are connected more closely than you would have thought. it is a very interesting ted talk from the point of view of a deaf artist and makes you realize that even though she is deaf she can still enjoy music.
Deaf History Timeline
This is a time line of all the major events to happen in deaf cultures in the states.
Source # 8: Arbitrariness and Iconicity: Historical Change in American Sign Language
Grammarians have insisted that language symbols are arbitrary, though conventionalized, in form. Sign languages in general, however, and American Sign Language (ASL) in particular, have been noted for their pantomimic or iconic nature. This paper examines some historical processes in ASL, and shows that there is a strong tendency for signs to change in the direction of arbitrariness, rather than maintaining a level of iconicity. Changes at the formational level can be seen as contributing to language-internal consistency, at the expense of transparency.
Source # 9: The American Sign Language Phrase Book
You can easily learn ASL with help from The American Sign Language Phrase Book. With more than 500 phrases, this is the reference guide to everyday expressions in American Sign Language, providing a quick way for you to converse with deaf people.
Clearly illustrated with hundreds of line drawings, this book focuses on areas such as health, family, school, sports, travel, religion, time, money, food and drink, and small talk. This edition's new chapter on technology boasts 50 phrases to help you communicate about the Internet, computing, video relay, and more. There is even a chapter that gives you phrases for communicating about signing: asking people to sign slower, indicating your fingerspelling ability, and requesting help with your fledgling skills.
Source #10 : Sign language: Its history and contribution to the understanding of the biological nature of language
Sign language has been a part of the linguistic experience from prehistory to the present day. Data suggest that human language may have originated as a visual language and became primarily auditory with the later development of our voice/speech tract. Sign language may be categorized into two types. The first is used by individuals who have auditory/oral language and the signs are used for special situations, such as communication in a monastery in which there is a vow of silence. The second is used by those who do not have access to auditory/oral language, namely the deaf.
Applause for ASL interpreters amid pandemic
This article shows just how important ASL is to the deaf community in times of crisis. These interpreters help deaf people stay up to date with everything going on during this pandemic. One wrong move and many people will no longer have the right information on hand.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/coronavirus-asl-interpreters-1.5517380
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed working on my subject. It was really interesting and I learned so much about a language that has always fascinated me. I think that working on the blog really helped me stay on track of my work and it was a fun way to keep track of my sources. It was also interesting to see what everyone else was working on especially once we were no longer seeing each other in class. It was also very nice to have one of my classes not change completely because our work was all online, it gave me one less thing to stress about.
I hope everyone has a great summer and good luck on your futur projects!!
Stay safe and stay healthy! :)