Argumentative Essay On American Sign Language

Mary McVay
Jenkins
American Literature
27 April 2018
To Language or not To Language
In life, there will always be people who we can not talk to. Whether it be because they do not speak our language or because of some other barrier, this is just a fact of life. However, for those who are deaf or hard of hearing within the United States, it is exponentially harder to find people who are able to understand and talk to them. This can leave them with a sense of isolation that can only be healed if someone takes hold of the tools needed to speak to those who are deaf. This tool is American Sign Language. American Sign Language should be a language offered in schools like any other foreign language due to the improved ability to communicate with others,
furthuring academic achievements, and job opportunities that come with being fluent in sign language. There are several common arguments against the implementation of foreign languages, including American Sign Language, into schools. These include the fact that foreign language programs are often extremely expensive for schools to put in place and maintain through the years, as well as if the skill is not practiced on a consistent basis from an early age, foreign languages become a futile effort to teach students. Although foreign languages have many benefits that students can gain from, the programs schools must use to teach them can be extremely expensive. At one upper-level school named Hackley, the director of the school had this to say about the headmaster’s risk in implementing their vigorous foreign language program. “It’s expensive for the school, and he has to hold down three salary lines for very small enrollments.” (Gilinsky 1) At this school, many students take more than one foreign language course, which lead to the school funding many different language programs. In addition to this, one charity known as the Qatar Foundation International has donation 2.5 million dollars to fund the study of one foreign language, specifically Arabic, in United States schools. This is an epic amount of money to be spending on the United States foreign language program, as only twenty percent of the school-aged population of American is studying any foreign language. (Corey 1). These show the exorbitant cost of foreign language programs within the United States, a cost that would naturally transfer to the implementation of American Sign Language into American school systems. Therefore, this argument is a valid point against Sign Language being put into schools as an elective course. Yet another argument against foreign languages in schools is that of the retention of the languages that are being learned.
It is thought that if the language is not taught and maintained on a daily basis, the skill will not be maintained well enough to achieve fluency or even retain enough of the language to make the foreign language class worthwhile. It has been found that the prime years for language learning and retention are between zero and three years old, as Patricia Kuhl found when she worked on a study involving a group of children learning english in Madrid. It was found that by being exposed to english for an hour each day, the children in this specialized track Kuhl observed learned English much faster than the children in the normal Madrid language program. (Bach 1) This study showed that the first year of development is in fact extremely important to learning a second language, as once the one year marker is passed the child will start to have a more complex grasp of their mother language. However, if they are raised in a bilingual household, or are given constant attention towards learning another language, both languages will develop simultaneously. This would be the same in American Sign Language, as when children grow up in deaf or hard of hearing households where the primary language is sign language, they will go through their babbling stage signing nonsense instead of speaking nonsense syllables. The primary age for retention and learning of languages,
including American Sign Language, is that of infancy, when the children can learn two languages at once and their brains will form knowing how to speak those two languages. These arguments have some validity, however, as they bring to light the situational issues with learning a foreign language. The money spent on foreign language programs in the United states can be extravagant to some people, especially when compared to the amount of students taking the foreign language courses, and the difficulty in learning a new language as an adult or even as a teenager has to be taken into consideration when implementing courses in languages, due to the natural plasticity of the developing brain being lost as people grow older. However, foreign languages are still a vital part of the school system, as they provide an interesting way to learn and communicate with others, further academic prowess, and provide future job opportunities. Sign language gives people an increased ability to communicate with other human beings.
Fluency in American Sign Language give people the ability to communicate with everyone from those who are hearing, hard of hearing, or deaf. This leads to an ease of communication with those who they would otherwise not be able to easily speak with. This can lead to those who are deaf or hard of hearing being included in groups where they would otherwise not be included, or even to simply go to the store and talk to cashiers and clerks.(Lead With Languages). In one study done in a first and second grade combined classroom, it was shown that children that were taught some sign language every day were eventually able to communicate with each other, as well as teach some signs to others that they encountered. They were also shown to use the sign language they acquired during the school day outside of school, usually when talking with their parents. At the end of the study, students admitted to finding learning sign language and communicating with each other fun. This shows how easy it would be to implement sign language as a class in school, due to the ease of which students were able to pick up on the language.(Lack). Studying sign language also gives those who are hearing a look into the lives of those who are deaf and hard of hearing, giving any potential class a cultural basis to it as well, much like other foreign language courses. This means that sign language has its own set of
rules and restrictions, alongside the history and culture surrounding it, the meanings behind each gesture and motion made can be lost to those who are not at ease with the language. The study of the intricacies of sign language is a beneficial one, as it allows a wider range of communication than most people ever thought, with those who would otherwise be left isolated and cut off from the rest of the world. The study of American Sign Language can also help further academics. As the Auburn checklist of reasons to study a foreign language states, “A second language improves your skills and grades in math and english portions of the SAT and GRE,” (Auburn University). Standardized test scores such as the SAT are extremely important ot high school life. High school students stress out for weeks and months on end, trying to make a high enough score to get into a college of their choice. By learning a second language, which includes sign language, scores on the standardized tests can be boosted, thus helping a student heighten their chances of getting into a good college. Students attention to detail also improve when a foreign language is studied, as a foreign language will build mental flexibility and help students retain and learn information faster than those who are monolingual. This goes doubly so for American Sign Language, as the sign movements must be remembered in addition to the corresponding words, making it an extremely rewarding experience.(Key Points about the Benefits). Finally, knowing a foreign language can help students comprehend their mother language at a higher level of understanding. This is especially important when considering American Sign Language, which directly corresponds to english spoken words. This gives someone who is fluent in sign language and english a better understanding of both languages.(Auburn University). Learning and achieving fluency in a second language, and especially in sign language, is a beneficial feat to a students grades and academic studies, thus giving a multitude of reasons for American Sign Language to be offered in the school system. Finally, there are many job opportunities that arise when one knows American Sign Language. It is shown that foreign languages can lead to better career opportunities, as a multilingual person is considered to be ahead of the game in the search for upper-level jobs and positions. Companies often prefer to hire those who know a second language as opposed to those who only know one language, as people who know more than one language can reach a wider customer base, gaining the company a wider audience. As stated in the Trinity publication, “A doctor who can communicate...diagnosing them...Any hiring manager… would tell you that the ability to speak a foreign language is a prized commodity.” (Trinity Washington University). Communication between people of different nationalities is key when it comes to many field of work, so being multilingual is a sure way to get a good job early on. Any second language is a resume builder, as hiring managers are often willing to hire people who know more than one language due to the customer service that can be given to those who don’t understand english by a multilingual person. (Trinity Washington University). Sign Language is an especially good language to achieve fluency in due to the amount of deaf or hard of hearing customers companies in the United States get on a daily basis. With other languages, those who are fluent in it as a second language often do not get to exercise their knowledge as much as they possibly could, but with American Sign Language there is almost always a need for a translator. Hospitals, courts and other legislatures, and community outings often in need of sign language interpreters due to the lack of people knowing how to sign. Even if there is a deficit of all other jobs, sign language translators will almost always be needed in a multitude of places, due to the versatility of the language. They could be needed to run messages between people, or to translate what someone is saying at a show or play, or even to serve as a translator between cops and someone being arrested.(Trinity Washington University) Fluency in sign language leads to a multitude of jobs, which is just one more reason American Sign Language should be a class offered in high schools across the nation.
While foreign languages are often only taught in upper level education, long after the prime time for learning and absorbing them, foreign languages are extremely important to the school system. Although, in some cases, a second language is unnecessary, in many it is a nice thing to have. Job opportunities abound for someone with even a rudimentary knowledge of a second language, alongside the academic benefits of knowing a second language and the appreciation of other cultures. Therefore, as sign language qualifies as a foreign language, it should be taught in schools of all levels.