Topic > The Importance of Learning ASL

According to Dr. William Sears, “The key to language development is for children to learn to speak comfortably before they learn to speak correctly. Children love signing, they love gestures, so signing is a wonderful way for children to learn to communicate.” During the ages of nine months and two years of a baby's life, they develop motor skills that allow them to coordinate their tongue, teeth, breathing and vocal cords for speaking and conversation. Incredibly, fine motor skills are not mandatory in sign language. Learning baby sign language has become increasingly popular, as it is accessible through many sources such as books and videos. The number of parents and researchers learning how useful it is for parents with young children is increasing enormously, as the connection between the child and the parents increases enormously until the development of their motor skills. Recently, Linda Acredolo and her colleagues at the University of California at Davis determined that children have a desire to communicate. Acredolo and his team discovered that children unconsciously produce signs and gestures to communicate with their parents. Unfortunately, some parents often reject the use of signing because they have the misconception that if their child spends time focusing on mastering signing, it will take them longer to learn to speak. According to Acredolo, Catherine A. Brown and Susan Goodwyn, signing accelerates the process of verbal language. Parents can decide whether they want to start teaching their children American Sign Language, use gestures and signs of their own choice, or use signs derived from ASL. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay More and more research is being published showing numerous benefits for preschoolers learning sign language in school. Researchers in Maryland found that preschoolers who were introduced to ASL, such as time signs, colors, feelings and numbers, showed better scores on vocabulary tests than students who were not no ASL taught. In sign language, almost all signs tend to resemble what they mean. In this way it helps children to connect signs to words and grasp the meaning of the vocabulary. Research has also shown that learning sign language helps children learn the alphabet and spelling. In ASL many hand symbols resemble what the written letter looks like. Young children who use the ASL alphabet to write simple words like DOG may have that mental image of how the word is written. Many children of this age do not have the vocabulary to express how they feel to adults or other children of the same age. Having some knowledge of sign language gives your child the ability to communicate how he feels differently. According to Wendy Crawford, principal of Grenloch Terrace Early Childhood Center, in Sewell, New Jersey, “We learn gestures before we learn words. When we are frustrated, we sometimes revert to those instincts. A parent can teach their child some signs and once they master them; the parent is then able to teach the child the signs of mad, sad, or happy. Likewise, teach a child how to sign “sorry.” Children more often use sign language as a way to apologize rather than apologize verbally. As sign language is becoming more and more popular today, it can be useful and increase benefits in the workplace for many adults. As it becomes more and more accepted, more and more deaf and hard of hearing students are attending,.