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Loryell McNemar
Mrs. DeBock
English 4
14 April 2016
Do Our Public Schools Have a Lack of Certified Sign Language Teachers?
More often than not we see children who cannot communicate properly to their fellow
classmates because of the lack of certified sign language teachers. When a teacher of the deaf, an
ASL teacher or an interpreter is not in the school it makes it difficult for these children to learn
not just their classes but children learn from other children and when they cannot communicate
properly with these other children they do not learn everything that teachers do not teach like
things in the real world how people react when something wrong happens. We need more people
to become certified ASL teachers, teachers of the deaf and interpreters.
Beal-Alvarez talks about the abilities of a preservice teacher and an interpreter. To be an
interpreter the person would have to be able to hear and speak. Interpreters need to be able to see,
so that they can read body language like their facial expressions and their posture. They also
need to see so that they can see the person who is signings hands, like the handshape and the
movement it is making. The interpreter also needs self-control, control over their anger, body and
facial expressions such as with their eyebrows and mouth. It is important for an interpreter to
have these abilities so that that can work with their client properly. We need interpreters so that
people who do not know sign language can speak to people who are deaf or hearing impaired.

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Beal-Alvarez talks to multiple deaf and hard of hearing children from grades 2 to 4 about
working with an ASL teacher. The children state that it makes learning easier on them instead of
having an interpreter beside the teacher. Working with a teacher who knows ASL is easier than
having an interpreter because then they have to focus on the both people talking, one for body
language and one to actually know what is being said. After talking to the children they saw that
the childrens comprehension of what was being taught by the actual ASL teacher they knew
better than the teacher and interpreter. This shows that there should be more teachers who know
ASL and that there should be more teachers who teach ASL. This article shows that ASL teachers
are needed and that they are important and vital to the students learning. Students can work with
interpreters but working with a teacher of the deaf is easier for them and allows them to
specifically ask what they want to say instead of waiting for the interpreter.
Miller wrote about a woman Rhonda Leslie who goes around and teaches ASL to
students. She was taken by the beauty of the language and its culture. She was originally a
French major and she fell in love with the people, the culture and the language. As Leslie goes
around and teaches she also passes her love and passion because nearly every student either
major in ASL, use it to have a double major or become some sort of person who helps like an
audiologist, speech pathologist or interpreter. She believes when she shows a passion for her job
she influences others to create a liking, love or passion for the same. As she teaches ASL she
isnt just teaching the ASL she is teaching her passion and allowing people the opportunity to do
the same. From one person loving what they do, they get more people to do the same. If we had
more passionate ASL teachers we would have more students that turn into teachers themselves.
Kids who have implants can eventually hear enough to become teachers of the deaf. The students
need someone they can look up to and show them how wonderful signing is.

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The lack of certified sign language teachers is high. Too many people who are hearing
who know sign language do not become teachers of the deaf. Thus leading to the lack of teachers
of the deaf and making it harder on children who are deaf or hard of hearing. If students who can
hear or have implants to make it so they can hear have a role model who is passionate at what
they do then they see the love and passion and the effect on others so they want to be the same
and do the same that someone once was for them. If these students have someone to look up to
then they can eventually become a teacher of the deaf or an interpreter lowering the lack of
certified sign language teachers.

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Works Cited
Beal-Alvarez, Jennifer S.1, and Nanci A.2,3 Scheetz. "Preservice Teacher And
Interpreter American Sign Language Abilities: Selfevaluations And Evaluations Of Deaf
Students' Narrative Renditions." American Annals Of The Deaf 160.3 (2015): 315-333.
Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
Beal-Alvarez, Jennifer S.1, and Susan R.2 Easterbrooks. "Increasing Children's
ASL Classifier Production: A Multicomponent Intervention." American Annals Of The
Deaf 158.3 (2013): 311-333. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 15 Mar. 2016.
Miller, Michele. "Its All In Their Hands; A teacher busy spreading the language of
signing makes another stop." Tampa Bay Times [St. Petersburg, FL] 1 Sept. 2013: 11.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 15 Mar. 2016.