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.
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 a sentence before expanding into a description or explanation. Tense always comes at the beginning of a sentence, and wh-questions (who, what, when, where, why, which) always come at the end. These are just a few examples of unique ASL grammar rules.
Myth: ASL is not attached to a culture separate from American culture.
One of the most defining attributes of an authentic language is an attached culture. People who share a language in common share life experiences, traditions, and history in common as well. Many people argue ASL is not really a language because, being American Sign Language, it is just a small piece of American culture.
Fact: Deaf culture is a unique culture filled with its own history, philosophy, and life experience.
Deaf culture is an integral part of ASL, and vice versa. There is a Deaf identity associated with the culture, which is an attitude of confidence and competence. Deaf people believe (rightly) that they “can do anything hearing people can do, except hear” (I. King Jordan, first Deaf president of Gallaudet University). Deaf culture also has its own fascinating history, including times of oppression, times of ascent, and influential people. When one Deaf person meets another, they can immediately connect based on the shared experience of being Deaf, common language, and common culture.
Myth: Everyone who signs ASL signs the same way.
Having acknowledged that ASL is a language, and a primary language for many Deaf people, it makes some sense to assume that everyone who knows ASL signs exactly the same things, exactly the same way. However, it is important to remember that ASL is just as spread out in America as English is.
Fact: ASL has its own dialects and accents.
If you listen to an American from Boston and an American from Birmingham carry on a conversation, it probably isn’t hard to tell the difference between the two, even not knowing much else about them. The phonetic structure of each word, as well as their word choice, varies because of the cultural and social differences where they are from. The same can be seen in ASL. People from different parts of America sign certain words and phrases a little differently, they sign at different speeds, and they use their sign space a little differently. These aspects of signing can also just be influenced by personality. Just like English speakers may have lower or higher, softer or louder, slower or faster voices, signers sign differently based on personal qualities and preferences.
Myth: Every Deaf person signs ASL.
As you know, ASL stands for American Sign Language, which means people who are not from America are unlikely to learn it or know it. But not even every deaf person in America signs ASL. Due to the lingering trend of oralism as a method of education, many deaf people learn English, use hearing assistive technology, and never learn ASL. Other deaf people learn sign systems, like Signing Exact English, Pidgin Sign English, or Morphemic Sign System, that are essentially just English put to gestures that sometimes borrow from ASL.
Fact: Many countries have their own sign language completely different from ASL.
In fact, ASL was not the first sign language developed; it was just one of the first to be recognized as an official language. ASL actually borrows many of its signs from LSF, (Langue des Signes Française, or French Sign Language), as the first Deaf education in the U.S. was brought over from France by Thomas Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc. LSF is one of many sign languages, complete with its own alphabet, vocabulary, and grammar, which is different from the native spoken language in its country.
Myth: People who learn ASL as a first language can’t learn English as well as people who learn English first.
Many hearing parents with Deaf children are hesitant to allow or encourage them to learn American Sign Language as a first language, or sometimes even as a second language, because it is so different from English and can lead to confusion. And since a larger proportion of Americans speak English than sign ASL, people worry that people who know ASL before they know English will be closed off to most of American culture.
Fact: Learning sign language at a young age can actually supplement language learning and ultimately make English easier to learn.
The latest research has led to strong encouragement for parents to teach their young children “baby sign.” Children have a capacity to understand gestures and make associations with meaning long before they have the physical or mental ability to form words and sentences in a spoken language, so allowing them to start building a vocabulary of associations will better prepare them to associate words with concepts when they learn a spoken language. CODAs (Children Of Deaf Adults) are also an example of how this is not true. Most CODAs with two Deaf parents learn ASL before they learn English, but because of an encouragement to interact in both environments, most CODAs are fluent in both languages, which actually allows for a broader understanding of metalinguistics, as well as a more well-rounded experience of different cultures.
As I said, these are just a few examples of common misunderstandings of American Sign Language; there are many, many more. I would encourage you to follow up reading this post by doing a little research of your own. Try to learn something new about Deaf history, Deaf culture, American Sign Language, or even another sign language. Even in just searching for one piece of new information, you might be surprised by how much is out there.
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 a sentence before expanding into a description or explanation. Tense always comes at the beginning of a sentence, and wh-questions (who, what, when, where, why, which) always come at the end. These are just a few examples of unique ASL grammar rules.
Myth: ASL is not attached to a culture separate from American culture.
One of the most defining attributes of an authentic language is an attached culture. People who share a language in common share life experiences, traditions, and history in common as well. Many people argue ASL is not really a language because, being American Sign Language, it is just a small piece of American culture.
Fact: Deaf culture is a unique culture filled with its own history, philosophy, and life experience.
Deaf culture is an integral part of ASL, and vice versa. There is a Deaf identity associated with the culture, which is an attitude of confidence and competence. Deaf people believe (rightly) that they “can do anything hearing people can do, except hear” (I. King Jordan, first Deaf president of Gallaudet University). Deaf culture also has its own fascinating history, including times of oppression, times of ascent, and influential people. When one Deaf person meets another, they can immediately connect based on the shared experience of being Deaf, common language, and common culture.
Myth: Everyone who signs ASL signs the same way.
Having acknowledged that ASL is a language, and a primary language for many Deaf people, it makes some sense to assume that everyone who knows ASL signs exactly the same things, exactly the same way. However, it is important to remember that ASL is just as spread out in America as English is.
Fact: ASL has its own dialects and accents.
If you listen to an American from Boston and an American from Birmingham carry on a conversation, it probably isn’t hard to tell the difference between the two, even not knowing much else about them. The phonetic structure of each word, as well as their word choice, varies because of the cultural and social differences where they are from. The same can be seen in ASL. People from different parts of America sign certain words and phrases a little differently, they sign at different speeds, and they use their sign space a little differently. These aspects of signing can also just be influenced by personality. Just like English speakers may have lower or higher, softer or louder, slower or faster voices, signers sign differently based on personal qualities and preferences.
Myth: Every Deaf person signs ASL.
As you know, ASL stands for American Sign Language, which means people who are not from America are unlikely to learn it or know it. But not even every deaf person in America signs ASL. Due to the lingering trend of oralism as a method of education, many deaf people learn English, use hearing assistive technology, and never learn ASL. Other deaf people learn sign systems, like Signing Exact English, Pidgin Sign English, or Morphemic Sign System, that are essentially just English put to gestures that sometimes borrow from ASL.
Fact: Many countries have their own sign language completely different from ASL.
In fact, ASL was not the first sign language developed; it was just one of the first to be recognized as an official language. ASL actually borrows many of its signs from LSF, (Langue des Signes Française, or French Sign Language), as the first Deaf education in the U.S. was brought over from France by Thomas Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc. LSF is one of many sign languages, complete with its own alphabet, vocabulary, and grammar, which is different from the native spoken language in its country.
Myth: People who learn ASL as a first language can’t learn English as well as people who learn English first.
Many hearing parents with Deaf children are hesitant to allow or encourage them to learn American Sign Language as a first language, or sometimes even as a second language, because it is so different from English and can lead to confusion. And since a larger proportion of Americans speak English than sign ASL, people worry that people who know ASL before they know English will be closed off to most of American culture.
Fact: Learning sign language at a young age can actually supplement language learning and ultimately make English easier to learn.
The latest research has led to strong encouragement for parents to teach their young children “baby sign.” Children have a capacity to understand gestures and make associations with meaning long before they have the physical or mental ability to form words and sentences in a spoken language, so allowing them to start building a vocabulary of associations will better prepare them to associate words with concepts when they learn a spoken language. CODAs (Children Of Deaf Adults) are also an example of how this is not true. Most CODAs with two Deaf parents learn ASL before they learn English, but because of an encouragement to interact in both environments, most CODAs are fluent in both languages, which actually allows for a broader understanding of metalinguistics, as well as a more well-rounded experience of different cultures.
As I said, these are just a few examples of common misunderstandings of American Sign Language; there are many, many more. I would encourage you to follow up reading this post by doing a little research of your own. Try to learn something new about Deaf history, Deaf culture, American Sign Language, or even another sign language. Even in just searching for one piece of new information, you might be surprised by how much is out there.
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