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ASL
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last year, he said, the issue was
scheduled for discussion — but as
of now no time or date has been set
for that meeting.
Gerdes believes now is the time
for that discussion to take place.
“There's been some significant
changes since the 1997 discus
sion,” she said, including the law
on which Evangelista based his
petition.
Another new development is an
apparently contradictory change in
the University's admission's re
quirements — as of 1998, incom
ing students can use ASL credit to
fulfill the high school foreign lan
guage requirement.
Despite these new develop
ments, Gerdes said she believes
the most important factor in the
council’s decision may be whether
members are convinced that ASL
is a individual language associated
with a unique culture.
That didn't happen at the 1994
discussion, former council mem
ber and biology professor Alan
Dickman said. He said while he
supported the motion, the majori
ty of the council did not.
“The big issue was: ‘Is there re
ally a culture associated with sign
language?’” he said. By the end of
the discussion, he said, most coun
cil members agreed that ASL was a
individual language separate from
English.
But members did not reach a
consensus that the “deaf culture”
often discussed in relation to ASL
possessed enough unique literary,
historical and artistic markers to
qualify it as a truly separate cul
ture, he said.
Michael Hibbard, a professor in
the planning, public policy and
management department, said he
felt that way when he sat on the
board.
“I have no doubt that ASL is a
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different language, with its own
grammar and syntax,” he said.
“But I think the purpose of the for
eign language requirement goes be
yond that.”
The controversy over the foreign
language requirement may lie in
the wording, said University Sign
Language Instructor Johanna Lar
son-Muhr.
“I think that what's happening
is that the foreign language re
quirement is mislabeled," she said.
"What we're talking about is a sec
ond language requirement.”
For example, she said, at many
universities, Navajo — a language
spoken only in the United States
— is offered to fulfill that require
ment. She also points to the
growing number of Americans
who speak Spanish, even though
that language is also considered
“foreign” under the University
guidelines.
Because ASL is relatively new
— it was not formally recognized
as a language until 1965 — people
often do not understand that it is a
separate language associated with
an individual culture, she said.
“It's been proven that ASL has
linguistic integrity,” she said. “In
fact, it has no roots in English at all.”
Evangelista, who began his sign
language studies in Larson-Muhr's
class, said he has learned more
from her class than just the lan
guage. From hearing her stories of
growing up with two deaf parents,
he said he has also learned to ap
preciate the deaf culture. It is a cul
ture that he says has its own histo
ry, folklore and traditions.
“The deaf culture is so rich and
diverse in tradition and culture
that to say it is not a culture ... is
not looking at the larger picture,”
he said.
But while the debate over the
merit of ASL culture may not be
resolved anytime soon, if Evange
lista has his way, the issue could
be decided based on the existing
law alone.
In 1994, the
Undergraduate Council
decided the foreign
language requirement
must:
allow students to gain linguistic
skills
make students familiar with other
cultures that have ancient and
distinct histories
provide intellectual discipline and
the challenge of learning a foreign
language
The council decided:
The deaf community is a subculture
of American culture, rather than a
culture foreign from that of the
United States in general.
If all available languages were placed
on a spectrum, most other languages
would receive a higher priority [over
ASL3
Dissenting opinion of the
council:
ASL clearly provides linguistic skills.
While slightly weaker in its cultural
component than standard languages,
ASL has enough cultural integrity to
carry it to a two-year limit.
ASL has rigorous intellectual content
equivalent to other languages.
Source: Feb. 3,1994, Council minutes.
Before writing his petition, he
consulted Sandra Gish, the ASL
program coordinator at Western
Oregon University, for help writing
his request. Her advice to him was
straightforward, he said: Tell the
committee he was requesting that
the University allow him to com
plete the degree requirements as
mandated by law and leave at that.
And when it comes down to it,
Evangelista said, that is what he
plans to do.
“I’m just respectfully asking that
the University comply with the
state law,” he said.
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