American Sign Language should fulfill foreign language requirement


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Shideh Ghandeharizadeh | Daily Trojan

Chrissy Marshall is a sophomore majoring in cinematic arts, film and television production at USC. She’s active on YouTube and TikTok, where she posts videos about accessibility, American Sign Language and her experiences as a deaf student. Marshall is just one of millions of deaf and hard of hearing people around the world who depend on sign language for communication, yet USC, which boasts inclusivity and global perspectives, fails to recognize it as a foreign language.

In 1988, California recognized ASL as a foreign language, allowing it to satisfy language requirements for a high school diploma. ASL isn’t just pantomime — its expressive, intricate movements and gestures are vital to understanding the language. It has its own grammar and syntax rules that separate it from traditional spoken English. 

Recognizing and offering ASL as a foreign language would be a practical choice for students. ASL is the third most studied foreign language among college students. That’s because ASL is the primary language of an estimated quarter to half a million Americans. This is extremely important considering the implications for deaf children, who will likely need this language to communicate and develop throughout their lifetimes. Offering ASL as a foreign language option will lead to better child care for deaf children.

USC’s main arguments against ASL as a foreign language are its lack of a written component and the fact that it is indigenous to America, thereby making it not foreign. However, multiple languages that the United States recognizes as “foreign,” such as Navajo, have both of these qualities. Navajo, the most-spoken Native American language in the United States, is purely verbal and is indigenous to America.

Other arguments against ASL call it a derivative of English. While ASL was created for the purpose of non-verbally conversing in English, ASL has been such a powerful resource for the deaf and hard of hearing that it has spawned many varieties around the world, from French Sign Language to Puerto Rican Sign Language. The fact that it originated from English doesn’t mean it isn’t an incredibly useful tool, can’t be translated and shouldn’t be taught. 

As it stands, USC does not accept ASL transfer credits, but one of USC’s biggest transfer schools, Santa Monica College, offers two ASL courses. We should not punish students for wanting to make the world an easier place for those who are hard of hearing, especially in a time of increasing inclusivity and awareness.

Not only is rejection of ASL as a language audist, but it also fails to understand the true purpose of learning a foreign language — to break communication barriers. It’s imperative to give the deaf community the respect it deserves by offering courses that will allow us to communicate more fluidly with it.