Five Myths and Facts About American Sign Language
Perhaps one of the least understood aspects of the Deaf experience in the larger hearing world is American Sign Language. The following are five myths I have heard about American Sign Language, with the facts that clear each of them up. Myth: ASL is just English expressed in gestures. People who don’t know ASL frequently think this is the case, most often because their only exposure to ASL is through ASL interpreting, which goes back and forth between English and ASL. In reality, this is no different from translating between English and any other language, such as Spanish or French. Fact: ASL is its own unique language with its own set of vocabulary and grammar rules. Just as with any other language, sometimes English words and ideas don’t translate to ASL, and vice versa. ASL signs have their own meanings separate from English words. They convey ideas. Grammar in ASL is also different. The most common sentence structure in ASL is “topic-comment,” which establishes the subject of...