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From: James.Womack@f14.n300.z1.fidonet.org (James Womack)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Multiple Uses Of Sign
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Date: 15 Mar 91 04:47:40 GMT
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[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]

Dean, the college I work at also offers the kind of courses you mention.
What is happening is that our enrollment is profoundly hearing and
they gravitate heavily towards the ASL courses. Many of them have Deaf
associates or know a deaf person and it seems their experiences with
the same steers them toward ASL. Not only that, we have an ASL/English
class designed for deaf students. It is very successful. We team a
regular hearing English instructor witha skilled ASL user. They teamteach.
Many of the students fromthe school for the deaf go there and their
mastery of English progresses in leaps and bounds. Now here is a funny
thing. More and more hearing students are seeking to take that class
as well.

I am concerned that other sign languages will cease being taught because
the deaf don't care for them and the hearing gravitate away from them
by the end of their first school year. However, on the other hand,
I am not too surprised. The experiences that these hearing people have
with Deaf people would steer them to ASL for one thing. For another,
the universities here accept ASL as a foreign language so the credit
could be transferred. SEE 1 and 2 don't offer much social or academic
incentives.

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