Discusses the challenges of learning American Sign Language (ASL) for hearing individuals, including social-dominance patterns and attitude, grammatical differences, cultural differences, and motivation. Posits that learning ASL should be approached with respect and with the knowledge that mastery only occurs over a substantial period of time. (CR)

Recent sociolinguistic research is used to show that the American Sign Language (ASL)-English contact situation does not result in the emergence of a pidgin as supposed. Variation along the ASL-English continuum can be accounted for by interplay of foreigner talk, judgments of proficiency, and learners' attempts to master the target language.…

This text on teaching language to students with hearing impairments stresses the use of multiple language learning pathways to meet the individual needs of students. The introductory chapter looks at language issues in the context of history, instruction, technology, culture, and the law. Chapter 2, on language acquisition, discusses the nature of…