University of Michigan-Flint accepts sign language as a foreign language

By Beata Mostafavi | Flint Journal on January 30, 2009 at 9:16 PM, updated January 31, 2009 at 9:24 PM Print
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Ryan Garza | The Flint JournalJill Maxwell talks with a student Friday at the Michigan School for the Deaf while substitute teaching. Maxwell fought to get the University of Michigan-Flint to accept American Sign Language as a foreign language. FLINT, Michigan -- A student's fight to defend her heritage has prompted a historical curriculum change at the University of Michigan-Flint. For the first time, the university will accept American Sign Language as a foreign language - two years after graduate Jill Maxwell argued that it was discriminatory not to. The move adds the campus to a small list of growing colleges, including UM's main campus in Ann Arbor and Michigan State University, that count ASL for second language requirements.

It's a language that isn't spoken but that Maxwell, 32, grew up around, with grandparents, great-grandparents and about 25 relatives who are deaf. "I knew when I fought this that it was going to be too late for me," said the DeWitt resident, who graduated from UM-Flint in December and substitute teaches at the Michigan School for the Deaf in Flint. "I didn't do this for me. I did it for the deaf community, my deaf family and future students." Maxwell petitioned for a curriculum change after the university denied her request to use ASL to fulfill the requirement. Two years later, the university has agreed with her. D.J. Trela, dean of UM-Flint's College of Arts and Sciences, said faculty studied the issue for 14 months. The biggest question was whether ASL came with the same cultural component as other world languages. "There was a lot of discussion and arguing back and forth," he said. "I think what was important for most faculty was that they recognized and believed that ASL is a distinct language and that there is a deaf culture." He said some details are still being worked through. But students who go through the ASL class sequence offered at Mott Community College or have other acceptable ASL credits may use them to fulfill the foreign language requirement. "I think nationwide, we're still on the minority side in accepting ASL as a foreign language but I think that's the wave of the future," he said. "I think it shows the university in a very progressive and inclusive light. I'm personally very pleased the faculty made this decision." He noted that ASL -- now added to the list of recognized foreign languages alongside Spanish and French-- could be very beneficial to students going into different careers such as nursing. Maxwell originally protested in 2005, then again in 2007 when she unsuccessfully tried to test out of her language requirement with ASL. "I was very upset with my university," said Maxwell, who ended up taking French to graduate. "I felt discriminated against, like my family's language wasn't good enough."

Stevie Naeyaert, MCC's coordinator for the American Sign Language and interpreter education program, lauded UM-Flint's move. Naeyaert, who is deaf, hopes UM-Flint's efforts inspire other universities to make the same change to encourage more people to learn ASL -- which she said would improve access to community resources for the deaf community. She said she was happy to see Maxwell take on the cause. "I am very proud of her," she said through an interpreter. ASL is considered the third most common language in the country behind Spanish, but many colleges have been reluctant to allow it to meet foreign language requirements. Some say the language is too close to English and does not come with the kind of culture other world languages do. But many in the deaf community disagree. Maxwell isn't deaf but grew up learning that it took hand shapes, facial expressions and a particular cultural understanding to communicate with her grandma. She has studied ASL's long history -- including its birth in France, political struggles that include a time when it was outlawed and how it developed its own syntax, grammar, ethnic variations and cultural norms. The biggest misconceptions she fights against -- that ASL is simply English on the hands and that deafness is a handicap rather than a language minority. Genesee County had 38,034 residents who were deaf or hard of hearing in 2003, according to a report by the state's Division on Deaf and Hard of Hearing. "This is monumental to the deaf community," Maxwell said of the change at UM-Flint. "It validates that there's acceptance and that ASL is being accepted the same way any spoken language is.