The Meaning of American Sign Language (ASL) in Colorado: A Report

The meaning of ASL is shown,

In the logics of Life, language and leisure

And its basic and fundamental,

Liberty and function to reach,

Its equilibrium of happiness for all within it,

As individuals and thereby as a unity,

Of a whole universe.

The traditional, liberal, civil rights position on American Sign Language (ASL) is under powerful assault within the Colorado Association of the Deaf (CAD). Old allies in the liberal alliance have parted company. Deaf intellectuals now question the old notion that ASL is not a language is not only defensible but offers the best route to a language bigotry. Rather, the new critics  of ASL verities argue on a number of fronts that ASL disenfranchises the Deaf.

Two kinds of crime are singled out. First, there is hate speech. It is difficult to define this category precisely, but it generally includes offensive speech directed at ASL users. In its most vulgar form, it includes the linguistic epithet, such as initialized signs and Signed English. At a more subtle level, or as it is argued, it includes adult education underwritten by the CAD that demeans and denies ASL. For example, some adult learners view Signed English as an example of hateful speech.

Hate speech is criticized as lacking any of the elements that warrant constitutional protection of speech--ASL is a form of speech and it must never be depicted as emotional speech without intellectual content.  Worse, the new critics of the First Amendment argue that hate crime is false, lacking any basis in science or enlightened culture. Worse of all, such speech degrades the objects of language abuse, silence them through fear, does them psychological damage, and creates a smarmy and nauseating culture that harms the Deaf.

Let me argue that our American society is so inherently hateful that, as I have indicated above, the constitutional protection of ASL as a form of speech actually serves to subordinate the Deaf. Why should we permit hateful offensive speech against ASL? In this blog, I attempt to answer this question. Let me now advance a skeptical, pragmatc basis for a strong version of the First Amendment, one that protects the most offensive form of speech, including hate speech. The human conversaton as a path toward knowledge can never end, because we are not and do not. Indeed, even those among us with the use of ASL should not wish to end the dialogue, because we see as through a muddy jar darkly and can profit from argument. 

Let the muddy jar stand, it becomes clear.

Socrates and I

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began,

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet,

And whither then? I cannot say.

__J.R.R. Tolkiens

One sunny morning last week, woke up by a sunlight, I was thinking when, to my complete astonishment, into my bedroom stepped a well-known ancient thinker, Socrates, not looking any diffferent than his statue that I saw in Greece in 1983. And he had taken out from my bookcase a copy of Cratylus by Plato and said in ancient Greek Gestural Language (please allow me to translate to the best of my understanding), "Hey Buddy, in this book, Plato got a lot of things right but he left some points out of focus. Let me explain some of them."

After philosophizing with Socrates, I’ve come to the following short story about American Sign Language (ASL) storytelling art:

I am a well-claimed ASL storytelling artist whose magic helps my audience to understand the language and culture of the Deaf. This magic also raises a larger question: What then is ASL? My reply is that we must simply trust our other senses, yet whatever we perceive only reflects our personal reality filtered through these senses. ASL is not a spoken language; since ASL is a visual-gestural language, voicing is not included.

Even the most intelligent among us can mistake spoken sounds for reality. For example, an acquaint of mine with cochlear implant (CI) told me how she had witnessed a little girl with CI speaking. She couldn't believe it so she ran to her hearing mentor to see whether or not it was real. She did it because she's still stone-deaf, which makes a lot of sense.

I encouraged you to visit my blog as if Socrates himself had written them. Because, in a paradoxical way, perhaps he did.

Index Card Activities and Critical Thinking

 

First and foremost, I teach to change the world.  The hope that undergrids my efforts to help my students of American Sign Language (ASL) is that doing this will help them act toward each other, and toward ASL, with compassion, understanding, and fairness. But, I must admit, my attempts to increase the amount of love and social justice are never simple, never unambiguous.  What I think is democratic and respectful in my classroom, for example, can be experienced by the students as intimating and constraining.  The cultural, psychological, and political complexities of teaching ASL complicates all other educational ambitions.

I solicit "index card" reactions from my students to foster critical thinking and to create and maintain healthy democracy.  Critical thinking can be seen in the contexts of their personal relationships with ASL, learning to acquire and apply ASL, and academic participations.  Before examing how the "index card" reactions can be useful in the classroom, it is important to understand two central components of this activity.

• The "index card" activity is a productive and positive activity.  Students are actively engaged with critical thinking, learning to acquire and apply ASL.  They see themselves as creating and re-creating aspects of their personal lives.  They appreciate creativity, they are innovators, and they exude a sense that ASL is full of possibilities.

• The "index card" activity is a process, not an outcome. Students write to entail a continual questioning of learning how to acquire ASL.  This process causes them to question their previously trusted assumption about learning and acquisition.  Critical thinking is also triggered  by a joyful, pleasing, or fulfilling event--a "peak" experience.

The idea that students of ASL should place the acquisition of ASL at the center of their academic discourse is not new or original.  Learning ASL as a defining component of ASL acquisition has been practiced and conceptualized in all kinds of social movements, revolutions, and organizations.  The "index card" activity allows them to examine the learning task of acquiring and applying ASL, explore its multiple meaning.  Their questions or comments are also designed to temper their idealism and blunt their triumphalism in ASL acquisition and application.

:-)

Why Notate Signs?

When we talk about the parts of signs in the Hold-Movement model notations (HMH, HMHMH, etc.), we talk about eyes and eye training.  We are actually talking about visual perception.  Our eyes are merely linguistic filters which funnel American Sign Language (ASL) entering our consciousness.  As human beings, we acquire ASL; as ASL users, we perceive ASL.  It is a mental impression received through the sense of sight; comprehension of that received; understanding; awareness; insight.

You can reach a level of visual perception that will enable you to recognize and notate any part of a sign, which in turn will allow you to develop unlimited abilities in ASL.  This visual perception/notation process ties together all the parts of signs, from the inner world of thought to the outer world of sign production.

This training in the ASL Hold-Movement notations will allow you to improve your ability to acquire ASL and express yourself in ASL, starting at your present skill level.  Proceed at your own pace, propelled by your sense of discovery, pleasure and accomplishment.  You are in complete control of the pace and extent of your training in ASL.

It is important to focus on the fundamental skills of acquiring ASL.  Developing these notating skills is essential to understanding ASL.  This Hold-Movement model notations will consolidate your acquisition into a seamless, intuitive flow, as natural as breathing.

There are three stages of acquiring ASL: You inhale ASL, whether acquiring or reading about it. You process ASL, whether analyzing or enjoying it. You exhale ASL, whether using or notating it mentally.  Acquiring ASL is a very personal experience.  Once you have mastered ASL, you own it for life.

The Ten Rules of Being Deaf

1.

You will always be deaf.

You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period.

2.

You will learn lessons about being deaf.

You have a full-time informal education called Life.

Each day in this deaf life you will learn lessons

whether you think them relevant and doable ot not.

3.

There are no mistakes about being deaf, only lessons.

Being deaf is a process of trial and error, experimentation.

There are many road signs that are not clear,

but your being deaf shall always be obvious.

4.

A lesson about being deaf is repeated until learned.

A lesson about being deaf will be presented to you

in various modes of communication. 

If you repeat the lesson,

then it may be because of

a wrong mode of communication.

Once learned, you then move on to the next lesson.

5.

Learning about being deaf does not end.

There is no part of deaf life that does not contain communication.

If you discover American Sign Language (ASL),

a real learning process shall begin.

6.

There is no easy answer for being deaf.

When you have an answer, it usually becomes a question;

you will simply obtain another answer that will again

bring up another question.

7.

You will use ASL to describe your being deaf.

Use ASL to describe yourself or be at risk of being described

by others in their language.

8.

What you make of your being deaf is up to you.

ASL is here but the choice is yours.

9.

The answer to questions about your being deaf lies inside you.

All you need to do is to be honest about your being deaf and your use of ASL.

10.

You can not deny either ASL or being deaf.

However, ASL is here and there and everywhere.

Cutting An Arch Through The Panorama: An Idem-ipse Critique

The word education means "leading out of" (educere in ancient Greek meaning leading out of), exactly as if we the Deaf have to be drawn from the perils of ignorance that our being deaf seems to impose.  In today's education of the Deaf, the deaf children are taught to become themselves as another by learning "how to listen and speak" like their counterparts who can hear.  Their amplification and cochlear implants serve to reinforce this type of education, learning to become another from the nature of being deaf.

Most of the mainstreamed deaf children today are not taught American Sign Language (ASL) so that they could never become themselves as an independent idem-impse, in Latin idem meaning "same" and ipse meaning "self." If the children, for example, have handed in their assignment on time, they haven't merely made a mistake--which would be an idem behavior--however, how they have done their homework is an ipse action that they render themselves accountable.

Idem-ipse is all we the Deaf really are!  As tokens we the Deaf are counted in and out; such is the emphasis on our being present to justify a signed language interpreters and the rigor with which our absence gets cataloged and even evaluated.  No doubt this conflicts with ipseity: on the one hand, we are asked to take our ipse responsibility; on the other hand, we are just an idem number.

Many deaf children, especially in mainstreaming situations, lose their sense of individuality.  They also suffer a loss of privacy.  They are also being grouped, managed, and observed often in a self-contained classroom.  They've become stigmatized with limited communication, limited educational choices, and limited personalization that help them navigate the school system in a way that reduces its scariness.

ASL Education, "work in progress," would be like learning to ride a bicycle.  As Albert Einstein put it, when talking about riding a bicycle, "to keep your balance you have to keep moving!"

When I was young and learning to ride my bicycle in the country of my birth, The Netherlands, I apprehended the wide horizon in front of me, explored possibilities to cut an arch through the panorama, and became more purposeful in my life. When I came back home, I told many stories.

Analogically and philosophically speaking of the revolution in ASL Education, believe that deaf children need to acquire and master ASL in order to cut an arch through the panrama and to become idem-ipse individuals.

My Thoughts and Questions About ASL e-Portfolios

1. I would like to write this blog about the relational background of my personal and professional quest for an autonomous identity as a deaf professor and the ways in which my representations of those social connections offer new possibilities for my own growth as well as my students' growth in American Sign Language (ASL).

2. I do not affiliate myself solely on any specific professional organization or discipline, my self-representation does depend on my commitment to teach ASL in pursuit of "social justice."

3. My understanding of teaching ASL can be expressed through reflections of my commitment with my students.

4. I need to ask questions whether my ASL e-Portfolio model perpetuate and preserve a new understanding of that idea  as grounded in ASL education.

5. To what extent does the cultural ideal underlying my understanding of ASL?

6. Does it inform my understanding of ASL held by me with my students?

7. If authenticity of ASL is not central, then what alternative understanding of ASL stands in its place, and what are its implication for how I use my ASL e-Portfolio?

8. How might my e-Portfolio model better support creativity of my students?

9. How do my students develop a sense of ownership over their own ASL e-Portfolio?

10. How can I ensure that evaluative procedures are fair to my students being evaluated?

11. How might I help my students articulate ASL acquisition and development in their e-Portfolio?

12. How well shall the ASL e-Portfolio rubric (work in progress) I use support their acquisition in light of their values, experiences, and relationships?


~Professor Carl

Reference:

Reynolds, N. and Rice, R. 2006. Portfolio Teaching: A Guide for Instructors. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Demystifying Five Myths about Grading Your ASL and ASL e-Portfolio

Grades are a very real part of your acquisition of American Sign Language (ASL).  Many of you associate ASL classes with being graded, which is a necessary evil when the time comes.

Examine the following five myths about grading in light of your acquisition of ASL.

Myth 1. I love giving grades on your newly acquired language skills; I find it easy to decid what the letter grade should be on any particular assignment, storytelling, or quiz. Actually I hate giving grades for your heuristic learning activities and often find it difficult to decide whether a passing grade is, say, a B- or a C+.

Myth 2. I value only error-free ASL.  When I listen to your ASL activity, I look mostly at parts of signs: handshapes, palm orientations, locations, non-manual expressions, and modifier movements. I am interested first in your ideas; then I look to be pulled by ASL and the train of thought.  That is what I want: to be engaged in your ideas.  If your ideas are lively and intelligent, I am not going to notice mechanical lapses.

Myth 3. I spend most of my free time correcting your ASL e-Portfolio. It is important to remember that a professor is a human being, too, with a wide variety of interests and a number of responsibilities.  This doesn't mean that you and your e-Portfolio aren't important, but it does mean that you need to make an impression within a very small window of opportunity.

Myth 4. A letter grade is the only way or the best way to assess your skills in ASL. I may offer advice, but the decision to accept it and implement it is yours.  Letter grades really don't initiate the kind of dialogue that is essential to the assessment of your ASL proficiency.

Myth 5. I am the only audience you need to think about. Your e-Portfolio may be shared, both in draft and final forms, with a number of people in your class and perhaps in other ASL classes.  You need to develop it for those audiences as well as for the evaluator or evaluators. With your written permission, I may use it for my professional presentation on campus or elsewhere. (Your name will be changed but your video cannot, which is something you need to think about.)

Keep those above myths in mind as you prepare your e-Portfolio.  They address a dilemma that I struggle with everyday: how to encourage you to develop your strengths and have a positive attitude toward ASL acquisition despite the fac that your work is going to be evaluated critically.

Good luck!

~Professor Carl

Reference:

Cambridge, D. 2010. Eportfolios for Lifelong Learning and Assessment. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass.

Writing about American Sign Language: A Philosophy

Writing about ASL begins with Socrates.  Two features separate Socrates from those who have followed in his footsteps, especially today.  One is the fact that, as we have already known, Socrates wrote nothing himself. The Socrates is a literary figure we find in Plato's dialogues.  In Cratylus, published in 384 B.C. (2,395 years ago), for example, Socrates questions whether signs by the Deaf can be translated into spoken words.

The secondary feature that distinguishes Socrates from the rest of us is that we know much less about his life than we do about all others.  For example, when Socrates appears in Plato's dialogues, he is ready-made; he is a fictional character that believes the human soul, the self, is itself in principle indivisible.  That is a view that Socrates consistently exemplifies in his own life as Plato writes: Socrates always does what is the right thing to do.

Writing about ASL is like writing about Socrates--making oneself different from anyone else and doing ASL.  Plato is able to be ironic toward us as the writer and the readers because he beguiles us into identifying our point of view with Socrates' own.  Since Socrates' attitude toward his interlocutors is ironic, so are ours.  Irony does not usually allow us to peer into the ironist's mind.  Socratic irony is, in the broadest sense, a form of silence, especially when ASL is used with that point in mind: ASL does not have a spoken counterpart.  No voice is allowed!  ASL does not have a written counterpart. Writing about ASL is a skill that must be learned academically.

I identify with Socrates who loved life, Athens, and the world.  Like Socrates, I have devoted myself to the improvement of my students but I am primarily concerned with the care of my own self.  Teaching without learning is just talking.  Writing about ASL without thinking about ASL is just jabbering about ASL.

I offer an overview of our intellectual development, from the forbidding of sign language of 1880 to today's compassionate advocacy of ASL.

~Professor Carl