Which colleges and universities accept American Sign Language as a
foreign language to meet its admission requirements?

Hello doodah5227-ga,

Professor Sherman Wilcox maintains, and has recently updated, a list
of universities (137 at present) that accept American Sign Language
(ASL) in fulfillment of foreign language requirements.

"Universities that Accept ASL in Fulfillment of Foreign Language
Requirements" (January 9, 2003)
List maintained by Sherman Wilcox, Ph.D.
University of New Mexico
http://www.unm.edu/~wilcox/ASLFL/univlist.html

Prof. Wilcox puts a disclaimer near the bottom of the page, noting
that he has not contacted the schools, that the type of acceptance can
vary greatly from school to school, and that it is an informal list
and therefore not exhaustive.  However, it appears that Prof. Wilcox
continually receives information about these schools, and adds and
removes schools as appropriate.  Since this list is frequently cited
as the only such list on the Internet -- including a citation from
Gallaudet University, a recognized leader in education for persons who
are deaf or hard-of-hearing -- my sense is that the list is quite
accurate and comprehensive.

"Frequently Asked Questions: American Sign Language: Academic
Acceptance and Official Recognition" (Prepared by Tom Harrington
Reference and Instruction Librarian)
June 2002
Gallaudet University
http://library.gallaudet.edu/dr/faq-asl-recog.html

This Gallaudet web page also mentions a list of states that recognize
American Sign Language as a foreign language.  The referring page
states: "Unfortunately, this list has not been updated since June
1996, but remains the only such list that we are aware of."  So I
suppose that you can think of it as a somewhat accurate supplement to
the Wilcox list.

"States That Recognize American Sign Language as a Foreign Language"
(compiled 8/96 - last modified March 12, 1998)
Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center
Gallaudet University
http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/InfoToGo/051ASL.html

Here are four other pages by or relating to Prof. Wilcox that you
might find useful.

"American Sign Language as a Foreign Language", by Sherman Wilcox,
Ph.D,
Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics
University of New Mexico
http://www.unm.edu/~wilcox/ASLFL/asl_fl.html

"American Sign Language as a Foreign Language"
University of New Mexico
http://www.unm.edu/~wilcox/ASLFL/aslfl.html

"American Sign Language as a Foreign Language. ERIC Digest."
(Publication Date: 1999-02-00)
ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) Facility Extranet Site
http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed429464.html

"Foreign Language Requirement? Why Not American Sign Language? ERIC
Digests" (Publication Date: 1989-08-00)
ERIC Facility Extranet Site
http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed309651.html

I hope that this information is helpful.

- justaskscott-ga


Search terms used on Google:

"american sign language as a foreign language"
"asl as a foreign language"
link:www.unm.edu/~wilcox/ASLFL/univlist.html
link:clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/InfoToGo/051ASL.html

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Request for Answer Clarification by doodah5227-ga on 28 Jan 2003 17:38 PST

Dear Researcher - Thank you for your quick response.  I am already
familiar with Sherman Wilcox's list but cannot determine for sure if
these colleges accept high school ASL as a foreign language for
ADMISSION.  I find the wording vague - it could be read that ASL is
accepted at the college level in fulfillment of college level foreign
language requirements.  I would appreciate some verification or
further research.  Thank you very much.

---

Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 28 Jan 2003 19:01 PST

I see what you mean about the vague wording.  I have looked for
confirmation and for another list, but the best I could find is
another, more detailed (but not fully updated or complete) list of
state legislation concerning the status of ASL.

"ASL Legislation Report"
American Sign Language Teachers Association
http://www.aslta.org/national/legislative/

In the absence of confirmation or another list on the Web, I think
that the best strategy is to contact Prof. Wilcox to ask whether the
list relates to admission requirements, and, if not, whether such
information is available.  If anyone would know, presumably Prof.
Wilcox would.

Here is his contact information:

"Sherman Wilcox"
University of New Mexico
http://www.unm.edu/~wilcox/Home.html

If you would like me to contact Prof. Wilcox, I would be happy to do
so.  I assume that you would prefer to contact him yourself, so that
you can be sure of getting precisely the information that you want.

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Request for Answer Clarification by doodah5227-ga on 29 Jan 2003 06:55 PST

Hello again - I did contact Professor Wilcox and he confirmed my
"hunch" that these are colleges that accept ASL for graduation (exit)
requirements and not for admission as a high school student which is
the information we need.  I don't know where to go from here.

---

Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 29 Jan 2003 07:17 PST

If Prof. Wilcox -- an expert with many years of experience on such
issues -- did not know where to find this information (and I'm
assuming you asked him if he had any ideas where to find it), then I
don't think that anyone on Google Answers will know where to find it
either.  (The best idea I can think of is for you to contact the
persons responsible for the Gallaudet and ASLTA links I cited -- but
again, if Prof. Wilcox doesn't know, I doubt they will either.)