The New Mandatory Language Being Taught In Some California Schools
In May, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) board approved a policy change that would teach both American Sign Language (ASL) and spoken English to deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The bilingual program sounds like a positive move forward, but it has been cloaked in controversy over whether deaf and hard-of-hearing children should be taught sign language or focus only on developing speech skills. Confusion over the program has resulted in resistance in implementing it.
People who support the policy view it as a way of correcting longstanding bias against American Sign Language. They feel that it’s best for deaf and hard-of-hearing students to have equal access to ASL and spoken language. When the curriculum focuses mainly on spoken language, they feel that deaf students are being deprived of a major connection to the broader deaf culture.
People who oppose the LAUSD policy are concerned that it takes away the parental right to navigate their child’s education. The bilingual program is now the official default for deaf and hard-of-hearing children ages 0 to 3, but some parents don’t want to feel pressured to have their children learn American Sign Language. Though the parents have the choice to opt-out, many adhere to what some consider a dated belief that learning ASL negatively impacts their ability to learn spoken language.
The LAUSD is the second-largest school district by enrollment in the United States. Bilingual American Sign Language programs already exist in many areas of the country, but this is the largest school district to set it as the default. LAUSD’s special education department is in charge of implementing the program but they are facing resistance from within.
“We have some people who have been in the special education department in our district for a very long time and who don’t believe that [a bilingual program will benefit deaf and hard of hearing kids],” said LAUSD board member Jackie Goldberg, author of the resolution. An unnamed LAUSD spokesperson told NPR that the American Sign Language bilingual program is critical for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. “The Division of Special Education…have been steadfastly working to ensure this program meets the needs of Los Angeles Unified students.”
A group of LAUSD professionals involved with the program said they have felt “left in the dark” over the board’s plans surrounding the American Sign Language bilingual policy. Two of the professionals are deaf themselves. One is the assistant principal of the district’s only day school for the deaf, and the other is an audiologist who works with hearing-impaired students.
The group stated that they had not been contacted on how to get involved. The policy stipulates that an advisory committee of deaf and hard-of-hearing people is supposed to guide LAUSD on program implementation. However, the district’s spokesperson did not provide details about the committee or whether it was actually being formed.
The drive to provide integrated bilingual American Sign Language education is intended to cover the district’s deaf and hard-of-hearing children from birth through high school. But the focus is on the younger children because that’s when it’s easiest to learn more than one language. Wyatte Hall, a professor at the University of Rochester who studies early childhood language experiences in deaf communities, says that hearing-impaired children suffer when denied the ability to learn ASL early on.
“There’s no research that signed languages in any way interferes with the ability to use whatever residual hearing — whether with technology or without, or with spoken language development,” Hall said. “The end result of denying deaf kids visual language has life-long outcomes…all kinds of developmental areas are affected, everyday functioning is affected, and we especially see that cumulative effect in the deaf mental health system.”
Many see technologies like cochlear implants as a way to eliminate the need for American Sign Language. But they fail to provide perfect hearing ability, leaving many deaf and hard-of-hearing children struggling to communicate without ASL. Deaf and hard-of-hearing professionals at LAUSD hope to resolve the conflicts over the new bilingual deaf education policy soon.
