American Sign Language

American Sign Language (ASL) is a rich, complex language that uses signs made with the hands and other movements, including facial expressions and postures of the body. ASL is the primary language used by an estimated 500,000 Deaf members of the ASL community in the United States and parts of Canada. The ASL community is a rich, vibrant linguistic community who share a common set of social beliefs, behaviors, art, literary traditions, history, and values. Clemson University is the only public university in South Carolina that offers a Modern Languages baccalaureate degree in American Sign Language (ASL). ASL has been offered at Clemson University since 2000 and Clemson is one of 172 other four-year institutions including Brown, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Virginia Tech, and Yale (Wilcox, 2014). The Modern Languages Association (MLA) indicated nationwide enrolment in ASL courses increased 6,583% change from 1990-2016 which repositioned ASL as the third most studied languages on college campuses in the United States. “Students find that studying an indigenous American language gives them another perspective on American life and culture. Those who receive advanced training and certification in sign language interpreting will also find that there is demand for highly qualified interpreters in education, government, and business (MLA, 2009, p. 3).”

In other words, according to the Modern Language Association (MLA), ASL is America’s fastest growing language and is an exciting part of the Clemson Department of Languages. Like any spoken language, ASL is a language with its own unique rules of grammar and syntax. The linguistics of ASL are very different from English. As a visual-gestural language, the shape, placement, and movement of the hands, as well as non-manual markers, all play important parts in ASL discourse. As a visual language (modality difference) ASL can be slightly more difficult to learn than other languages (Jacobs, 1996; McKee and McKee, 1992). Again, ASL is not mime or a coded system of English, rather, it is a rich, vibrant language with its own morphology and grammar.

The origins of ASL can be traced back to Abee de l’Epee in Paris, France in the mid-18th century. From there it can be traced to Laurent Clerc and Thomas Gallaudet bringing French Sign Language (LSF) to America in 1817 (Lane, Hoffmeister, and Bahan, 1996) The blending of LSF and the signed language of the early 1600’s used by English settlers on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, were the linguistic skeletons for modern ASL. As all languages grow, so too did ASL and it has been passed from one generation among members of the Deaf Community to the next to remain a viable language to this day. ASL is truly an American language and at Clemson University, you are able to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern Languages with a concentration in ASL.