Enrolling in a foreign or second language class is becoming increasingly popular at universities as jobs in the global marketplace continue to put a premium on foreign language skills and multiculturalism.

At UC San Diego and many other universities, however, students with an interest in sampling diversity and multiculturalism are perhaps as likely to enroll in American Sign Language (ASL) as they are to take a foreign language such as Japanese, Italian, or German.

After Spanish and French, the most popular language offered through UCSD's Linguistics Language Program is not a foreign language, but ASL.

Furthermore, the interest in ASL, which has been offered at UCSD for only two years now, appears to be on the rise, reflecting what many language specialists believe may be a national trend. At UCSD, the enrollment numbers for this fall show a 25% increase in students enrolling in Spanish, a 20% increase in French, a 12% increase in Italian, a 10% increase in German, and a 40% increase in ASL.

According to Professor Sanford Schane, director of UCSD's Linguistics Language Program, ASL is now offered at many but not all universities, and enrollment figures across the nation appear to be on the upswing, as more and more students are now able to take ASL courses to fulfill foreign language requirements.

"ASL enrollments tend to be fairly robust in those colleges that offer it," said Schane. "As to why it is so popular here, I think there are several reasons. Some students get interested in it as a result of taking a course in deaf culture, others are looking for careers in interpreting or have other career reasons for learning ASL, and some are interested in learning a language that uses a different modality. Others are just plain curious."

There are numerous career paths associated with learning ASL, including teaching, child care, interpreting, mental health, social services, government services, and research. It has also become an extremely useful language to know in the workplace. Professionals and service people who sign are now commonly employed in restaurants, hotels, department stores, doctors' offices and a variety of public places.

Although in the past there was dissension in the linguistics community as to whether or not ASL was a bona fide language, ASL is now widely accepted by most linguists as a full-fledged language with its own distinctive grammar, vocabulary, and culture. What ASL is not, according to linguists who study sign languages, is a signed version of spoken English or miming, but a gestural language whose rules are similar to those of spoken languages.

By Dolores Davies, UC San Diego Communications Office

1st appeared 12/11/97

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ASL at UCSF

The UCSF Center on Deafness offers courses in American Sign Language for members of the campus and the community. For information, call Nils Ossa at 476-4094.

The Center is offering an introductory American Sign Language (ASL) class beginning Wednesday, Jan. 28. The 14-week session, to be held from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. through April 29, will be held at Laurel Heights, Suite 115. Elisabeth Ann Prinz, a deaf bilingual professional who has more than 20 years experience teaching ASL, will be class instructor. A member of the faculty at San Francisco State University since 1988, Prinz holds a BS degree in Individual and Family Studies from Pennsylvania State and has taught at several major universities, including UC Berkeley and Boston University.

The non-refundable course fee is $60, which may be paid to the UCSF Center on Deafness, 3333 California St., Suite 10, San Francisco, CA 94143-1208. Checks should be payable to the UC Regents/American Sign Language class. For more information, call 476-7094.