Approximately half a million people use American Sign Language in the United States, according to the Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
Pepperdine does not offer American Sign Language classes, according to the Academic Catalog. Students argue ASL is still an essential language to understand.
Disability Awareness Week occurred March 11-15. Various events on Pepperdine’s campus celebrated the week, including an introductory class on American Sign Language in the Appleby Center on March 13.
Resident Director Mimi Dao taught the class. She said she learned the language in college and fell in love with it, and she then went on to teach ASL classes in college for two years.
Senior Maggie Bendle, a student coordinator of Disability Awareness Week, said she wishes she lived in a world where everyone knows ASL.
“I think that learning ASL is very important,” Bendle said. “I hope to live in a world where it [ASL] is just part of the curriculum to provide access from the start.”
While Bendle’s sister had the chance to learn ASL in college, Bendle said she did not have that same opportunity.
“Since the focus is on global understanding rather than simply second language acquisition, American Sign Language does not meet the requirements set forth by this definition,” according to the Academic Catalog.
Students like Bendle aim to bring awareness to the importance of the language despite the University’s lack of recognition toward it.
Bendle said she is part of the disability community herself but not in the way where she is hard of hearing or deaf. Her goal for the week was to bring awareness to various disabilities in the community.
The ASL class primarily focused on teaching students the most basic concepts of ASL so they would be better suited to have a conversation with someone hard of hearing or deaf.
Sign language is not just about doing the signs but also the expressions on one’s face, Dao said. Not everyone signs the same, Dao said.
Just as people speak differently, people sign differently as well, Dao said. She compared it to having an accent.
Dao went on to teach students about the alphabet, common phrases and important facts about the language.
Some students attended the event for class credit but also to understand the importance of learning the language. Students learned both important and fun facts about the uniqueness of the language.
First-year Aralyn Cooper attended the class because she needed extra credit, but she said her interest in ASL goes beyond that.
“I’ve been interested in ASL because I think it’s important to accommodate those with disabilities in the best that we can,” Cooper said. “I’m currently taking a self-led class that the Oklahoma School of the Deaf has online.”
Cooper said there are a variety of other apps similar to Duolingo students can use to practice the language as well.
A “sign name” is something that people can only acquire if a deaf person gives them one. It is a special aspect of the deaf community.
Cooper said that ASL has become important to her life and hopes other students can learn it as well.
“I’ve been learning a little bit of sign,” Cooper said. “I like practicing signs that are fun to use with friends.”
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Contact Kylie Kowalski via email: kylie.kowalski@pepperdine.edu
