How is asl different from signed english

The basic signs for words are the same; however, with Signed English SE a sign is executed for every word in a sentence whereas American Sign Language seeks to convey a concept. Signed English is used most often in a classroom setting where sentence structure is being emphasized. As a classroom teacher of the hearing impaired, I have used both.

When I taught science, for example, I used ASL because the point of the lesson was to focus on the science content. Hearing impaired students often have a difficult time writing in complete sentences that utilize tense or in making use of articles, conjunctions, and prepositions.

Families learning sign language will first learn single signs, most of which are nouns, that will help a non-verbal child communicate his or her needs and thoughts. Once the child has lots of nouns and verbs, adding prepositions and adjectives provides more opportunity to communicate clearly. All these words can be strung together in English word order, even if the signing vocabulary you learn is ASL.

They teach ASL vocabulary, but they use English word order in their songs. Children with Down syndrome typically become fluent English speakers who outgrow the need for sign language eventually. Your choice may also be influenced by other factors. For example, if your child with Down syndrome is also deaf, ASL may better serve your child and your family in the long run because communicating in sentences and paragraphs is much more efficient and natural in ASL.

SEE become burdensome as sentence length and structure becomes more complex. Additionally, ASL word order is much more natural for people who are deaf. If your child hears but has some hearing impairment, he may easily confuse words that he hears.

For example, to a hearing child with hearing impairment , mom, Bob, mop, and mob may all sound the same, as will cub, come and gum , do and two , dime , and time , diaper and timer , or Sue and zoo. They instead choose to use sign language as their primary mode of communication. Through sign they utilize interpreters in order to communicate with the hearing world.

Instead they want to be identified as Deaf or Hard of Hearing, depending on their degree of hearing loss. I give you this brief history just to give you some background before answering the ASL verses English question. This topic can become very involved and very political and we at Signing Savvy are not wanting to lose our focus of being a sign language resource for all, so we choose normally not to get too involved in these kinds of debates.

ASL American Sign Language is a complete, unique language developed by deaf people, for deaf people and is used in its purest form by people who are Deaf. Being its own language, it not only has its own vocabulary, but also its own grammar that differs from English.

Signed Exact English is a system to communicate in English through signs and fingerspelling. Signed Exact English, in most cases, uses English grammar that is, you are signing English. The reason English signs often vary from ASL is to add clarity to the sign so that the exact English word meant for the conversation is understood. One example would be the sign for CAR. In ASL, this sign is used for any automobile you control with a steering wheel, including a car, truck, bus, van, etc.

If you wanted to specify what type of car, the hand shape is modified to include the initial of the type of vehicle c for car, v for van, b for bus, j for jeep, etc.

This is where the term "initialized sign" comes from. You clarify the meaning by initializing the sign with first letter of the intended English word. Therefore, using the English version allows one to specify exactly what is communicated in English.

In ASL, you would just use the ASL sign for car and if it was important to clarify the type of vehicle, you would follow the sign with a fingerspelling of the vehicle type JEEP , for example.