Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2021

Publication Title

ADFL Bulletin

Volume

46

Issue

2

Publisher

Modern Language Association

DOI

10.1632/adfl.46.2.93

Abstract

With the skyrocketing interest in American Sign Language (ASL) courses and the increase in programs in two- and four-year institutions offering ASL, it is important to understand ASL as an autonomous language independent of English. Studying ASL can, alongside other benefits, offer perspective on American life and culture and provide dynamic employment opportunities in the sectors of education, government, and business by way of interpretation, now in high demand. While Spanish and French have been the two most-studied languages since 1998, ASL made the jump to third place in 2013, surpassing German, Italian, Japanese, and Chinese (Looney and Lusin 48). In this piece, we take Clemson University, a comprehensive landgrant research university with nearly 26,000 students and our home institution, as a case study to glean insight into the ways in which studying ASL can provide important cultural, critical, and professional opportunities for students of modern languages (Oropesa).

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