The foreign language classes Monica McGee teaches in Maryville look and sound different. The students have no desks, and they do their best without making a sound.
About 150 students at the junior high and high school are taking the first American Sign Language classes the district has offered since the state approved ASL to meet high school graduation requirements.
Several students liked the idea of studying something different than Spanish or French, while others have personal reasons for their interest.
Ashley Parrish, a junior, uses ASL with an older sister who has hearing difficulties. “I can have a full conversation with her in sign language,” Ashley said a few months into her Maryville High School class.
For sophomore Darien Talley, ASL is an opportunity to communicate with others at Faith Promise.
“You don’t think of it as being a different language,” observed Kinley Frey, a sophomore who previously studied Spanish.
Estimates range from half a million to more than 2 million people using ASL in the United States and place it between the third and fifth most common language. ASL is used not only by people who are deaf or hearing impaired but also by people with other communication difficulties.
ASL is not a direct translation from American English and has its roots in French Sign Language.
ASL is the native language of McGee, a “CODA,” or child of deaf adults, who taught in Texas for a decade before coming to Maryville.
Many students assumes ASL will be easier than other languages to learn, but they have to master not only the alphabet spelling and signs but also the proper syntax and grammar. Early this month they were practicing the order for describing people by talking about their family members.
While taking written notes for the class may be a challenge, McGee noted it can be a good option for tactile and visual learners.
By early November, Kinley said, “It feels like second nature to me when I sign.”
Studying ASL has other communication benefits. “It’s teaching you to be more observant when you talk,” Kinley said.
ASL relies on facial features and posture in addition to hand signs, which requires full attention to understand the message. “You have to stop what you’re doing and look,” she said. For example, you can’t be scrolling on your mobile phone during the conversation.
Maryville College students Molly Ridgeway and Joshua Anderson were instrumental in Tennessee passing the legislation four years ago that allows high school students to fulfill the world language requirement for graduation with ASL.
Students planning to continue their education need to check that the college they want to attend accepts ASL for foreign language requirements.