Thanks in large part to a 2010 petition sparked by Daily Bruin Opinion columnist Asad Ramzanali, American Sign Language, or ASL, found its beginnings at UCLA in January 2012.For the first time, students were given the option to fulfill their language requirement by taking a placement test for ASL.
In the fall, sign language courses were offered by the school in the form of ASL 1 through 3, which comprise an introductory sequence of classes for ASL.
Now, the students who have successfully completed the pilot program of ASL 1 through 3 have drawn up another petition, demanding UCLA offer ASL 4 through 6. In the past month, the Change.org petition has garnered over 300 signatures.
Reporter Lilit Arakelyan speaks with ASL students and ASL Professor Benjamin Lewis about the petition, their experience with ASL and deaf culture, and why they believe ASL 4 through 6 are a necessary addition to UCLA academics.
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ARAKELYAN: The hustle and bustle of Bruinwalk is a common experience for most UCLA students, but the small minority who belong to the deaf community can’t say the same. When ASL 1-3 was established at UCLA in 2012, it was made possible through a student petition that spread and caught the attention of the administration. Now students are carrying on the tradition by drawing up another petition, demanding a complete ASL program that includes ASL 4-6, the second year of learning the language.
Mariam Janvelyan, a second-year linguistics and psychology student, is an avid advocate of ASL and the student heading the petition for ASL 4-6 at UCLA. She is also the external vice president of Hands On!, UCLA’s first and only sign language club. The club uses ASL outside of the classroom while forging a tight-knit community that is passionate about lobbying for its continued ASL education. Janvelyan explains that, though ASL 1-3 provides a strong foundation for students, 4-6 will give students the skills they need to communicate in the deaf community.
JANVELYAN: You’ll learn more about the culture, about the nuances of the language that you can’t pick up in 1-3 since you’re still learning the basics. 4-6 are more advanced and more necessary to immerse yourself into the community.
ARAKELYAN: Janvelyan herself is planning on a career as a sign language interpreter, making that second year of ASL essential to her credibility and performance. Many students advocating ASL 4-6 are baffled by the vast scope of languages offered at UCLA. Old Norse, Ancient Egyptian, Latin – essentially dead languages – are being offered while a full-fledged program for ASL has yet to be established. Here’s fourth-year philosophy student and President of Hands On, Justin Chang.
CHANG: It’s honestly really sad. And we teach, you know, German, Japanese, Korean, we teach all these international languages, but we don’t teach American Sign Language at this American public university?
ARAKELYAN: ASL Professor Benjamin Lewis, UCLA’s first deaf professor, is working with the administration to figure out the next possible steps for ASL and deaf studies at UCLA. The one thing Lewis is certain about, though, is the passion of his students. He speaks to me with the help of an interpreter.
LEWIS: In one year we’ve seen such a high demand for our classes. Our classes are full. Once my course is over, they’re hungry to see further education. So as a teacher I feel like it would be wrong for me to somehow, you know, stifle that passion and I feel like it’s my responsibility to continue their education in the field of ASL.
ARAKELYAN: Third-year environmental science student Charlie Falconer is another student among many taking advantage of the ASL courses offered, but his decision to learn the language stems from a particularly unique situation.
FALCONER: I have a condition called neurofibromatosis type 2, NF2 for short, where I have benign tumors growing on both my auditory nerves and so they’re kind of scrunching up the nerves and I’m losing my hearing gradually.
ARAKELYAN: Falconer began noticing a loss in his hearing during his freshman year at UCLA.
FALCONER: And so ‘cause of the rarity of the disease and that the tumors kind of have their own mind, at some point in my life I’ll probably go deaf, according to my doctors. They just don’t know when – could be five years, could be 50 years.
ARAKELYAN: For Falconer, continuing with ASL 4-6 is not something he just wants to do – he needs it, he says.
FALCONER: I’ve been in a loud restaurant, or a loud setting, or at a party, and you’re with your friends telling stories, you know, and you miss certain details, or you miss the punch line of the story.
ARAKELYAN: As he’s gradually losing his hearing, Falconer is more aware of the communication barrier that exists between the hearing and the hard of hearing – something he admits he’d taken for granted before.
FALCONER: And everyone’s laughing – you’re kind of looking around, you’re smiling and laughing too, you’re trying to fit in and, you know, on the inside you feel really alone ‘cause you’re just kind of embarrassed and humiliated, and you ask your friend, “What happened after this long three-minute story they told,” “Hey, what was the story about?”
ARAKELYAN: It’s not just current students who take advantage of ASL classes at UCLA. As a senior citizen, UCLA alumna Sherry Weld audits ASL classes with the aim of bettering her communication skills with her deaf daughter.
WELD: Mom now wants to be a part of everything and not come into a room at a party where it’s silent and everybody’s having a fabulous time because they’re just talking away with their facial expressions, with their hands, with their whole bodies and mom’s missing 90 percent of it.
ARAKELYAN: CODA stands for “child of a deaf adult.” Christina Pettus, a first-year english and linguistics major is a CODA. Her mother, who was born deaf, began teaching Pettus sign language at the age of six months. As a child, she didn’t realize her mom was any different from anyone else until she noticed the discrimination against her, which took shape in lost job opportunities, negative comments made my strangers seeing them sign, and even rejection by her father’s parents.
PETTUS: One day, they handed her a blank check and they told her, “I don’t want a deaf mother for my grandchildren. If you get an abortion, you can write down whatever amount you want and leave.”
ARAKELYAN: This was before Pettus was born; her mother was pregnant with her older brother at the time. Pettus’ experience with the language from a young age and the injustices she’s witnessed her mom battle with are both factors that fuel her desire to continue her formal ASL education at UCLA with ASL 4-6. She’s sharing a painful, personal story in the hopes of fostering a deeper understanding of the discrimination faced by the deaf community. When I ask Pettus, who identifies with both hearing and deaf culture, what she wants to do in terms of her future career, she says:
PETTUS: My future career is still up in the air, but I do know that no matter what, I will work with deaf individuals and be a deaf advocate.
ARAKELYAN: The paperwork petitioning for ASL 4-6 has been submitted, but there has yet to be an official announcement from the administration regarding whether or not a second year will be instated in time for Fall 2013. With deaf family members, friends, and ambitions toward careers oriented around ASL, many students cannot imagine the education they prize so much coming to a sudden halt. In the meantime, ASL students on campus like the ones in Hands On are doing their part to foster a culture that will continue to educate their community about deafness and deaf culture.
For Daily Bruin Radio, I’m Lilit Arakelyan.