For Hearing People Only Assignment: American Sign Language

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Oyinkansola Lapite October 2nd 2015 ASL 101 For Hearing People Only Assignment # 1 In every part of the world, there are many different types of culture and languages that makes up the society we live in today. One of the most interesting parts of our society is the different types of languages that makes the world so diverse, especially ASL which stands for American Sign Language. This form of communication is so delicate and yet so fascinating by how a group of people came together and developed their own language. There is not a clue in the world that can tell us where and when sign language began, but over time the language developed into something so diverse, and…show more content…
Words in ASL varies depending on the expression and the “sort of visual-kinetic-poetic license that ads vividness to the simplest statement” (Moore, Levitan, pg. 37). In American Sign Language a person can choose put words in the sentence in different orders, depending on the dialogue. ASL structure is similar to Navajo, their word formation are the exact same thing. They are both highly visual, and barely any written form. People wonder is ASL is a written language, well the answer is no. ASL is a visual and gestural language. For a person to full understand it, you would have to see the signs first hand to actually understand what the signers are saying. Although, they have many dictionaries for people to see the signs, it is still difficult because the signs might incorporate different facial expressions that a person would not be able to fully see while reading. Likewise in my perspective, I do understand why sign language is more visual because it is hard to learn what the signs are without seeing it firsthand. I remember when I missed my sign language class one time, and the next day I came back, I had no idea what was going on. I tried to google up what signs were which, but it did not help. It made things harder, and I eventually had to ask a student what the sign meant, and how to do it, I had to see it firsthand. When it comes to humor, puns, and jokes that involves homonyms.…show more content…
(Moore and, Levitan, pg. 89). They give us specific examples such as the signers who live in Thailand. Individuals who live in Thailand, according to different observations tend to be more formal, they have a tighter face, and more of a deadpan look. This also relates to signers from different regions, such as deaf blacks who reside in Georgia. They have more of a sassy attitude while signing, you can feel their attitude by looking at their emotions, the way the sign certain things, the attitude they give back after signing something. I personally experienced this, when I went to participate for deaf awareness week by attending the art and craft program. I saw different accents, for example Professor Jayme taught us how to say good morning, but when I got there, the way they sign good morning is completely different than what I learned in class. So, I do agree that there are accents among signers from different regions and
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